Rivers Casino Philadelphia (formerly Sugarhouse Casino) (Philadelphia, PA)
03-11-2015
, 07:55 AM
03-11-2015
, 02:24 PM
03-12-2015
, 03:59 PM
03-13-2015
, 10:44 AM
03-13-2015
, 11:09 AM
03-15-2015
, 12:59 AM
Quote:
Have been in Philadelphia on Biz over the past month and have played at Parx and Sugar House. Thought some of you may want a more in depth review of some of the pros and cons of sugar house:
The Overall Room Layout: Cash Tables are 9 handed (10 for Tournies); there are 6 TVs. The spacing of the tables is nice.... and the tables are never cramped. They have charging stations at the tables. Some players complain that many don't work, but i've never seen a player who couldn't find one nearby to work. The food service is excellent, in fact many say it may be the best thing about the room. While the service can be slow the food is worth the wait. It's rare people complain about the food, and these are POKER players we're talking about here. GRADE: B+
Action: By far the best part of the room; with new rooms come new players. Get here while the getting is good as it won't last forever. The regs are already telling stories of several fish who have already gone by the wayside. The anywhere but the blinds straddle causes a ton of action. Play after 11 PM and it's not rare to see 75% of the hands or more straddled. GRADE: A+
Floor Personal: This is where we begin going downhill.... They are very understaffed. This caused delays to games and there are several floor people who just don't want to work... The ones who do work their butt off. My suggestion is play during the night. If you get frustrated easily stay away from day shift. Once the night shift comes in they work very hard. And once 3 AM hits that shift is allergic to work. GRADE: C+
Dealers: This is sugar house's biggest problem and one many new rooms face. Competent dealers.... the fact is there just aren't enough good dealers to go around and this room has very few. The culture for them is to be negative and that breeds negative culture with the players which in the long term will be bad for the room. Dealers complain they aren't making money , taxes are taken out, strings are too short strings are too long, too many dead games, they don't like brushing.... the list goes on. I frankly don't care about the plight of a dealer who in a WORST case scenario where everything goes wrong is going to make $100 for a day. Players in general don't like bad dealers who complain. This could be the biggest downfall of the room. GRADE: F
Comps/giveaways/Promotions: This room is trying, albeit in the wrong ways, but they get an A for effort. Comps are awesome. Over double what you get at Parx... 2+/hr for 1/3 & 2/5... plus they give away $2100/day in high hand money. They are running overlays in many guarantee tournaments so there is a bunch of free money to be had. They don't really think outside the box on promotions, but that's the state of the industry. Grade: A+
Misc: I think there may be some confusion as to where this is located. It's NOT in the ghetto.... I never worry about walking to my car. There are police and security everywhere. It's as safe to walk to your car as parx. But if you're the worrying kind you can Valet.. it's free and right next to the poker room. Playing in a dome is interesting and the weather inside is on a 2 day delay to the weather outside. It was 60 outside yesterday and felt colder in the dome. But there is FREE alcohol Grade: B
Overall: If you get frustrated by dealers who don't speak english, floor people who rule differently depending on shift and things of that nature STAY AWAY. If you enjoy good action and can deal with the cons by all means this is an excellent room, for now. With the bad beat on the horizon it becomes just like every room..... What will they do to stand out, to separate themselves from the pack? Time will tell. If they don't adapt they will get swallowed into the abyss. Grade: B-
The Overall Room Layout: Cash Tables are 9 handed (10 for Tournies); there are 6 TVs. The spacing of the tables is nice.... and the tables are never cramped. They have charging stations at the tables. Some players complain that many don't work, but i've never seen a player who couldn't find one nearby to work. The food service is excellent, in fact many say it may be the best thing about the room. While the service can be slow the food is worth the wait. It's rare people complain about the food, and these are POKER players we're talking about here. GRADE: B+
Action: By far the best part of the room; with new rooms come new players. Get here while the getting is good as it won't last forever. The regs are already telling stories of several fish who have already gone by the wayside. The anywhere but the blinds straddle causes a ton of action. Play after 11 PM and it's not rare to see 75% of the hands or more straddled. GRADE: A+
Floor Personal: This is where we begin going downhill.... They are very understaffed. This caused delays to games and there are several floor people who just don't want to work... The ones who do work their butt off. My suggestion is play during the night. If you get frustrated easily stay away from day shift. Once the night shift comes in they work very hard. And once 3 AM hits that shift is allergic to work. GRADE: C+
Dealers: This is sugar house's biggest problem and one many new rooms face. Competent dealers.... the fact is there just aren't enough good dealers to go around and this room has very few. The culture for them is to be negative and that breeds negative culture with the players which in the long term will be bad for the room. Dealers complain they aren't making money , taxes are taken out, strings are too short strings are too long, too many dead games, they don't like brushing.... the list goes on. I frankly don't care about the plight of a dealer who in a WORST case scenario where everything goes wrong is going to make $100 for a day. Players in general don't like bad dealers who complain. This could be the biggest downfall of the room. GRADE: F
Comps/giveaways/Promotions: This room is trying, albeit in the wrong ways, but they get an A for effort. Comps are awesome. Over double what you get at Parx... 2+/hr for 1/3 & 2/5... plus they give away $2100/day in high hand money. They are running overlays in many guarantee tournaments so there is a bunch of free money to be had. They don't really think outside the box on promotions, but that's the state of the industry. Grade: A+
Misc: I think there may be some confusion as to where this is located. It's NOT in the ghetto.... I never worry about walking to my car. There are police and security everywhere. It's as safe to walk to your car as parx. But if you're the worrying kind you can Valet.. it's free and right next to the poker room. Playing in a dome is interesting and the weather inside is on a 2 day delay to the weather outside. It was 60 outside yesterday and felt colder in the dome. But there is FREE alcohol Grade: B
Overall: If you get frustrated by dealers who don't speak english, floor people who rule differently depending on shift and things of that nature STAY AWAY. If you enjoy good action and can deal with the cons by all means this is an excellent room, for now. With the bad beat on the horizon it becomes just like every room..... What will they do to stand out, to separate themselves from the pack? Time will tell. If they don't adapt they will get swallowed into the abyss. Grade: B-
03-15-2015
, 04:46 PM
03-15-2015
, 05:10 PM
03-17-2015
, 06:50 PM
03-17-2015
, 06:51 PM
03-19-2015
, 03:11 PM
03-19-2015
, 04:41 PM
03-20-2015
, 04:29 AM
