LOL, awesome.

This. X-Box Live or PS3? Ship It Holla12 on XBox.

- Jason

Looking forward to getting some $1/2 PLO going. Can't wait!!!

Is plo played here at all or will that be included in the craziness everyones talking about? also when does it start?

I've had people reply interested in playing some $1/2 plo so I would love to get a game going during the weekend or some weeknights possibly too.

ohh boy the time has come.... i live ten minutes away and have been waiting two years for this to open! there is alot of rich guys who live within 15+ miles of that casiono. Bucks and Montco is dripping with rich fish.... See yall at the tables.

We will be offering comps, all the details will be available shortly.

All I can say is...this room seams like it's gonna be fabulous!! I don't know if I'm going to be able to make it there much this winter,but when caddie season starts (March/April) I should have plenty of gamble money!! I'm looking forward to meeting fellow 2+2ers!!

Ari..I'll have to say you've been doing a good job w/ updates and info here.I'm also looking forward to meeting you when the room opens.

Are there going to be daily tournies here btw? I like the 40-100 range. Sorry if this has been answered already, If it has i obviously missed it .

Jonathan

P.s. sorry about the divorces

Jonathan,

We will have tournaments, but not until the end of the year.

Thanks

Ari

You should petition to become a NAPT stop on the tour next year.

I think you would have to provide hotel rooms for people to sleep.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...&postcount=718

Incoming wall of text, I do not kiss the ass of any room and speak poorly of another to push players one way or another as it is inconsequential to me. So take what you will from this. Also my views and questions were that of a limit player.

Just took a quick tour of the space thanks to Ari. Here are my first impressions.

Location: The room is, as has been said in the old racetrack building, now labeled "Parx East", there is a soft banner on the sign so looks like a recent rebranding to unify it with the casino. Upside- Parking will be easier as you will not be contending with the bulk of the casino crowd, especially pertinent on weekends, as it can be a hike from the far ends of the lot. Downside- No passer by players joining in from table games and restaurants. To be honest though I am not sure how much value this type of traffic generates for any of the games that actually need support (ie games that need an influx of players like mid limit games don't generally attract passers by I feel). The distance is a little too far to just "hop over" if you prefer the food from the Parx building.

Building: They have cleaned it up immensely since it held the first electronic table games. It is now clean and modern. You don't feel skanky or smell smoke at all being there.

The Tables: Upsides- Cupholders to keep players square, and stop spillage. Foot rail at proper height. Rakebox drops away from table. Rail looks comfortable. Felt has no distracting logos to loose track of chips in. No hard racetrack. Downsides- The tables appear slightly smaller than usual. Not terribly small mind you but may add to some shoulder bumpage with larger patrons.

Chairs: Looked good, but can't say till spending a few hours in them packed around a table, or when leaning back (and hopefully not falling).

The Room: Very spacious, especially now with the smaller opening, but can easily handle the (60 I believe?) tables they intend to run.
The cage is close and has 4 windows which I am told will be active not just for show while one person does money handling. The cage was attractive, glass, and clean looking.
There is an attached private room hosting player safe boxes, the boxes were not in yet but I am told should be in place by opening and available to players after the first week or so. Cost was not discussed.
There is a food location directly in the room, I had heard snack counter which doesn't do it justice. It was about twice the size of the old food counter in the Borgata basement. I was told that there was intention for a pricepoint / comp ratio of those playing for several hours to get a meal there. I felt the manager was honestly doing everything he could to make that happen and was well aware of the impact it has on regular players. Also was glad to hear that healthy options would be made available.
Bathroom entrances were directly in the room space though I did not get to see inside. You surely will be able to take a bio without losing an orbit.
TVs are everywhere, and I mean everywhere. They were at a good watching height and were on adjustable height poles and swivels should they require future adjustment. Hopefully the station management wont swamp the floor and they are able to manage it nimbly.
The decor was bright and clean, with heavy patterns and bright colors. Has more of a "card room" feel than "luxory hotel" muted colors feel, which may be an up or down for you depending on your taste.

Staff: I happened to come in while the room was buzzing with activity. They are clearly working fervently on finishing the room. It was packed with not only construction workers hustling but with the managers and other people going over many details. It was not lethargic, there was a clear attention to detail.
Chip running will be in place, but I am told there will be 3 full time carts going around the room and 4 windows at the cage to handle the needs.
As the manager Ari was extremely personable and attentive. I feel it will be likely he will have no problems being the go to person for the room. His manner and focus was clearly coming from a regulars perspective. He was resilient to any grilling about time/rake in a balanced manner that was neither submissive/wimpy nor dismissive/aggressive. My big concern was they may not allow players to run time pots at least at the start.

Games: Obviously clientele will make the ultimate decision by showing up and playing, but I was told the lowest limit game was going to be 4/8 which is good news. The other intended stakes to be pushed actively have been discussed ad nauseum, but again, they will be 2/3 SB games.
Comps/Rake: I discussed comps earlier on with the food counter, but another note is they likely won't be finalized or start accruing till the room has been open for a week or so to iron out the bravo configs. I can pretty much guarantee that rake will not be super low Venetian grade. As stated there is no BBJ so that takes some of the edge off. It was clearly not finalized or a statement from them but if I had to put money on it, I would guess a $5 rake (start your sky is falling posts now so we can get them out of the way). If they drop it to $4 we can all celebrate later, but for now brace yourselves.
Floor: There were floor managers there who were card room veterans. I can't speak as to their skill level or courtesy on an individual basis but at least they are not coming from a table games position. Hopefully they will recognize the fragile nature of a running game and do everything they can to maintain it and keep the players coming back.

Well there you have it, as always distance to peoples homes will be a large factor in any players choice of room and frequency of patronage. I feel the noted negative aspects of the other area rooms have been addressed at this point. We will obviously have to see the machine running with the floor in motion to get a final read on the other aspects but at this point I would say there is great potential.

Oh yeah. . you didn't hear it from me. . . but aim for 10am on Nov 3rd.

Do we know if 2/5NL...5/10NL will be time or rake?

I can't believe Parx is even dreaming of a $5 rake. Look what happened to Charles Town when they decided to POT RAKE a 1/2 NLHE game! They were forced to shut down for good only a week after opening because the five or six 2+2ers who preferred pot rake voted with their feet.

Parx, and possibly poker in Pennsylvania as a whole, surely is doomed if Parx goes through with the $5 rake. Parx, please do not charge a rake so that the sky stays in its upright and locked position.

Not sure. Ari said that the 30-60 limit will be time, and the 15-30 was not decided for sure yet, but may be leaning towards rake. if i had to guess, i would say that 2-5 would be rake and 5-10 would be time.

To make one clarification, I think I heard Ari say they will open with 20-25 tables (can't remember the exact number) in November, then move to 40ish in hopefully late December when the expansion finishes, then end up at 60ish sometime in 2011 when the high limit areas open up. This is all due to the PA legislation mandating a maximum number of non-banked games as a percentage of banked games. As an aside, the room can probably hold 60 or more tables as it currently stands, it is really quite large.

Thanks for the TR. I may have referred to the food area as a "snack bar" but I didn't spend much time evaluating the menu. If it is more than that, great!

I was also thinking about the foot traffic issue. I think this is only going to affect low limit games, specifically 1/2 NL. People who just want to take a shot playing for the hell of it, who wouldn't have thought of playing had they not strolled by the poker room, probably don't know how to play limit, and probably don't just happen to have a large sum of money on them. Plus I don't think there will be a shortage of players anyhow.

I think the separation of the room from the main casino is better for serious players. There won't be any slot machine noise to contend with. I suppose you may hear horse racing bettors cheer but unlike Harrah's Chester, the poker room is partitioned off pretty well from that.

In addition to the nearby hotels being a stop-gap for now, there's an article in the Bucks County Intelligencer from last month where a Parx exec said he envisions a two-tower hotel and nightclub in Parx's future.

They have plenty of space for such a move.

Great meeting yourself and Dinesh today, we hope to exceed everyones expectations.

We plan on opening Nov 3rd at 10am (Pending PGCB's approval).

Yes I said "opening Thursday" because I'm not sure I can play on the 3rd...but I should definitely be there on the 4th looking to play....

Who am I kidding, I'll probably be there on the 3rd too.

You are absolutely correct. Poker in Pittsburgh is doomed if Parx charges a $5 rake.

You are also spot on about how Parx shouldn't charge any rake at all. They should build and staff a first class facility not only without making any money, but by donating their time and money to the poker community gratis.

Oh, and one other thing - are you the one who dreamed about eating a giant marshmellow, and then waking up to find that your pillow was gone?

Just wondering.

Lee

Thanks very much for the report. I think I asked about this earlier, but I'm not sure there's been a reply. You mentioned the 2/3 blind structure. I'm wondering about 30/60. Are there plans to have a $10 chip made for 30/60, with blinds then at $20/$30? I think this would be much better than using a combination of greens and reds--3 chip/6 chip beats 2 chip/4 chip any day.

Any plans, or is the idea just to wait and see how popular 30/60 will be first?

Look at the highlighted area in his quote and look at his name...

How did I miss that?? Sigh.....

Lee

I think $10 chips are pretty standard in a 30-60 lhe game. I think every casino carrys $10 chips therefore should not be any different at parx. I cant imagine them running a mid-high limit LHE game using quarters and nickels ("Red chips hurt my eyes!!" -The Great Joe Moon)