Mt airy and the sands serve liqs

Davey, not sure if you're from the area or not, and I won't comment on the "poker play" aspect, but Musikfest draws over 1 million visitors in its 10 day span into Bethlehem. Casino traffic will be greatly increased.

So I guess that means even more traffic up the PA turnpike? FML

Yesterday I had my first experience at the Sands. I had read this thread before I went so I might have had a better then average experience due to preparation. There are a few key points I think the readers here would be most interested in:

1) The waits are no joke! I got there at 10:30am and only had to wait about 10 minutes but from noon-9pm the wait was at least 90 minutes for $1/$2 and an hour for 2/5 then at 1pm they got a table of 5/10 going. “Build it and they will come”, indeed.

2) The room will expand. I heard from many dealers yesterday that they are adding 6 tables to the room ASAP and that a new space in the casino will be designated for tournaments in the beginning of 2011. 6 tables will be a huge increase for this room and will likely help dissolve the wait list for weekday games. Nonetheless, the Sands will not be bringing you a luxury Borgata like experience any time soon.

3) The $1/2 plays is more weak passive then any I’ve ever seen. I confess, I play a lot of live poker. Mostly $1/2 and 2/5 so I see the constant bad play but from my VERY limited time at the Sands yesterday this is the weakest live poker I have ever seen.

4) The commute from NYC is great! Yes it is shorter but it is also scenic unlike the trip to AC.

GG and GL

I know this is a stupid question for a Saturday evening. But anyone currently at the Sands that can give some info on how bad the wait list is for 3/6 LHE? Thinking about heading out to play for a few hours, but not if the wait list is going to be several hours just to play 3/6 LHE.

was there last night around 1am the wait was about 2 hours

Omg why is Davey banned!!

I would be willing to bet because of B&M Forum FAQ #3.

I haven't been there yet, is there enough room to add 6 tables? Will it still be comfortable for players?

Hello, ive headed to PA in a couple weeks but am really stuck on whether to goto Sands or Mt airy casino...Any help would be appreciated thansk.

You will probably wait longer to get a seat at Sands, particularly if it's in the evening. During the day you probably won't have much of a wait even at Sands, unless it's the weekend.

Judging by reports on the threads, you will probably enjoy the Sands more.

If you like live straddles and the ability to re-buy chips from the dealer rack instead of waiting for a chip runner(which often takes way too long) choose mt airy. If not, there is not that much of a difference imo.

Mt airy is doing these things against the gaming board. Rumor had it that they're getting fined for those things.

The major difference is the quality of the staff
The Sands is far superior in that rehards

Where do you get your info? Sands already stated that they forgot to include selling chips from their rack when they first sent their regs to the PA gaming control board and are waiting for approval to get it changed. I'm not sure about Sands allowing live straddles or not but this also was included in Mount Airy's initial regs sent ot the state so they're not breaking any rules. Mount Airy breaking rules and getting fined lol @ that.

Most of it seems like poor planning and forsight by the Sands and The Sands chooses to blame the Gaming board instead of addressing the issues.

Are you allow to even buy Green/Black chips yet or is the "Gaming Board" not allowing them to do that either?

Whether they are being fined or not does not concern me. The game itself is better at Mt Airy because of the straddle and buying chips from the rack. I personally like both places and I think you are exagerating when you say the Sands staff is far superior.

Correct it was poor planning by the Sands. They can only blame the gaming board now for taking time to approval their new regs.

You may be right I suppose. I was told this by Sands staff. That being said straddling really doesn't really matter to me. The chip situation kinda sucks but I try not to rebuys anyway.

50 cent hr comps? reallllly????

Can anyone give a realistic drive time estimate from Staten Island to Sands on a weekday around 3pm? I am assuming that since google directions says it will be 1 hour 20 minutes that it will really take about an hour. Also, Sands is a quicker drive than Harrah's Chester, right?

1hr 30m - 45m I'd say is realistic if you drive the speed limit and maybe hit a little traffic coming out of Staten Island. If you drive fast 1h -1h 20m

There is not room in the designated space as it is setup now. There is railing around the poker area that they are going to need to expand to fit 6 more tables. Honestly the tables they have are too close together.

Why do people say the tables at the Sands are too close together. I have played at a few places over my time and the Sands ranks second on my list as having the most space. I said it once before on this forum try playing at Mount Airy. Unless they changed their room location like I heard they were going to then play there and tell me how much room THEY have. When I played there when they changed dealers half the room had to get out of their chairs so the dealers could get to their box.

And Bally's in AC.... the last tourney I played they were squeezing and I emphasize SQUEEZING 11 at a table what a joke that was.

I'm just saying that I have YET to have a problem with table spacing at the Sands. Of course I actually sit the way you are supposed to when I play poker not sprawled out like a lot of people do.

Given all the space they had to work with I can't understand why the tables are as close as they are to each other. There's a lot of wasted space between the tables and the rail. Enough to reconfigure and fit six more tables if they are smart about it.

The estimates others gave are reasonable. It really depends on where you are coming from on Staten Island, since it can make a pretty big difference (especially with traffic). I'd estimate that from the Goethals Bridge, it's probably an hour and 15 minutes so. Of course, if you live on the South Shore or away from the bridge, it'll be closer to 1 hour and 30 minutes.