Do the dealers shuffle or do they have a shuffling machine in Pittsburgh?

Also what's the rake on, say a $5-10 fixed limit hold'em game and a $15-30 Game? Same as in Atlantic City? 5% Rake on the smaller games and time on the larger ones?

I don't think the lack of a bet line adds more issues than it removes in the long run. Does it cause issues with inexperienced dealers? yes but they will get over that as the poker room staff addresses the items read about here and through their own monitoring.

I plan to check out Mountaineer but rivers is just too much closer so that'll be the one i frequent.

Give us a month before you see tournaments.

We are averaging three 4/8 limit games a day

1/3 PLO ran for about 7 hours last night. Buy-in 100-500. Two nights ago 2/5 PLO ran for about the same time.

Shuffle machine on all 24 tables.

You are spot on with your rake assumption. This is what we do

For clarification, is max buy-ins set by the state of PA or on a casino by casino basis? The $500 max buy-in for PLO just has me confused if there is a max limit in the law.

Just wanted to chime in now that I noticed this. I have played in about 30 or 40 poker rooms in my life and the top 3 are Borgata, Venetian and recently Aria in terms of dedication to customer service.

Each has a rep on 2+2 and while I don't think that is causal, I do think one is evidence of the other. Looking forward to trips home to see the in-laws in Pittsburgh like never before.

Was there Saturday and Sunday in the afternoon. The room was really nice and the dealers were mostly good. I played 4/8 limit and the game was fantastic. People would c/c down with top set, just call with their rivered flush on a non-paired board, etc. My only complaint is that the wait list wasn't really enforced and they were leaving seats open for way too long. I know part of this is the dealer's fault for not making the floor aware of empty seats, but there were at least 2 or 3 people who jumped on the table without being on the list. Other than that, I thought it was great and I'll definitely be going back often.

Thanks for the Map, see you in the near future

Could you elaborate more I'm not sure what your are confused about?
Our 1/3 PLO game has a max buyin of $500.
Our 2/5 PLO game has a min buyin of $500 with no max.

We set our own buy-in rules for each game

You answered it. I hadn't seen any definitive answer of the room or state set the max buy-in in BBs for each game. Thanks.

Hes probably confused about the fact that the PLO buy ins are different from the NLHE buy ins.

PLO plays bigger than the relative blind structure than HE. So the buy ins are always (or should be) consistently larger than the comparable buy ins for the same blinds as HE.

Played there yesterday. Overall, a very nice room. They should have bathrooms closer and the drink service moves at a snail's pace. I guess on your long walk to the bathroom, you can use the self-serve drink station.

It was really packed for a Monday, though I suspect that will dwindle over time.

Dealers were green. There were a lot of misdeals and you could obviously tell who the new dealers were.

The room is, thankfully, non-smoking, but the casino isn't, so you still walk away smelling like an ash tray and the room still stinks.

Play was generally bad. A few big pots won with TPWK. Although, I was able to make some relatively easy-to-spot bluffs on the turn and river. Only ended up around 150, but I lost a sizeable pot with my JJ vs AA on a weak board.

ATTN GARRETT:::SO if you wanted to. you cold raise the max buy in No Limit games to 150 or 200 bbs rather than only 100bbs. I would guess if your able to do this, a high % of players would want the max buy in raised.

Also, and this will be the 3rd time I've asked this, Will you be posting a separate page on The Rivers website for poker only?

Lastly Garrett, what do you think about using this ongoing thread as a platform of suggestions from players.
Rooms like the Bellagio and the V really take into consideration what the players have to say and do what they can to cater to their needs as much as possible, which is why ppl love to go to these rooms and don't go anywhere else.
I think if you can do something similar, your room can be super successful for a long time to come.

WAYYYYY less opportunities for angle shooting WITH an bet line than without!!!

Anywhere that I've ever played with a bet line its not a bet until your chips cross that line. Every player counts their chips infront of their cards and behind the bet line before moving them into the middle.

i played for like 8 hours the other night and i think it came up once. also a few dealers explained the rule upon sitting in the box.

How long do hands you're in usually last??? IMO 3+ minutes for a hand is rather short...don't you think?

Incorrect! Think about that: It is NOT a bet until it crosses the line. Plain and simple. Someone can count stacks and stacks of chips thinking they are angle shooting and then toss in 1 chip. Thats NOT angle shooting. A bet line is cut and dry...its either a bet or its not. In the cases where people push their bet out just before the line and dont cross it its the dealer's responsibility to say "can you push that across the line".

WOW! Horrible ruling if they made him show his hand to the players in the pot. If anything the dealer should soft muck the hand and show it to the players in the pot AFTER the hand is over. With the way they did it the following situation could occur:

10 handed...I'm on the button....my friend is in the cut off. Folded around to my friend who folds...I raise and show him my cards so he can sweat me. Then technically I would have to show everyone else in the hand my cards even though I am still in the hand???

That wasn't Gene Simmons...thats a random guy that resembles Gene Simmons and he milks it!

How are the crowds this week? Thinking about coming out to play this weekend coming up...

Bet line wasn't a huge issue but it did come up a few times.

One time, the guy cut his chips in front of him after announcing a raise and he had to min raise. After that, the dealer explained why to everyone and all were cool with it.

Later on, I cut chips BEHIND my cards, which I stuck further out in front of me than I normally do because of there is no bet line and some guy who wasn't in the hand started complaining to the dealer about it. Dealer said my action was fine. The guy tried arguing the one motion thing but didn't call floor. His argument was terrible anyway. He expected people to keep their chips a foot or so from the table rail so they could work with their chips behind their stacks.

So deepstacked NLHE tables are a possibility? Ante NLHE games possible?

Incorrect! Think about that: It is NOT a bet until there is forward motion. Plain and simple. Someone can scount stacks and stacks of chips thinking they are angle shooting and then toss in 1 chip. Thats NOT angle shooting. Forward motion is cut and dry ... its either a bet or its not. In the cases where people push their bet out just before the line and dont cross it, it doesn't matter because it is forward motion the dealer doesn't have to say anything.

You might get off your soapbox and realize that newbs can get angle shot with a bet line, and newbs can get angle shot with forward motion rules, and experienced players probably can't get angle shot with either. However, it is much easier to angle shoot a newb with a bet line.

i was at rivers last friday waited about half hour for 1/3 seat at 5 pm, got in a new game , i felf like i was playing 2/4 play was so horribble, only played for two hours , but one thing that irritated me was , in a 3 or 4 way pot players would fold there cards and show what they were folding, or the player next to them would see there cards ,and the dealer would yell show one show all in the middle of a freakin hand, saw this 4 times in 2 hrs , totally unacceptable, and iwas so pissed i got up and left, one dude at my table thought he was so good and was such a mark, if i had a better mindset ,and wasnt irritated , it could of been profitable, but i chalked up a buck 50 to the game and said screw this , casino is fille w/marks and people that dont have a clue(coolers) rivers' best friends , i must say i expected this , i saw a lot of familar faces at 2/5 from games around pgh over the years, basically looked like lot of folks waitin on marks, cant comment on play ,did not watch, my 1/3 game was an absolute joke players and dealers, as time goes by it will get better,