February tournament calendar is up. Good work on adding a black chip bounty on Saturdays!

Saw the sample chairs tonite. They were very nice. Leans forward and backwards. Also goes up and down to change the height. I always have to change my chair due to its angle, very uncomfortable. ..put those new chairs in asap.

I also heard February's promo 30/hrs $100 gas card.. unlimited. .. can u confirm this scott?

The gas card promo is great. Since there is a WPT in March,is there going to be any promo related to that? With the exception of the Main or maybe the 40k, i do not see those Guarantees(looking at the last series) being hit without a promo.I do think regardless that the first event buy in should be dropped to a $350-$400 buy in with a 100 or 125k Guarantee. Maybe do some high hand promos with event #1 tickets as the prize with some raffle for Main Event tickets as well.

Any comments or thoughts Scott?

30 hours Sunday-Thursday each week for $100 gas card. You CAN get more than one per week.

There are actually several different styles of sample chairs in the room. They are floating around to different tables but we are trying to keep them all at the same table to make it easy to compare. We would appreciate very much if you can let us know which one is your favorite.

I was looking for them at table 11 the other day before my session, but didn't see anything different. Where are they at these days?

can you carry over? say you do 47 hours one week does 17 carry over to the next week and say you can only play 13 hours, you get a gas card for both? or each week is separate?

I had a supervisor give me a chair for my whole session. The chair I had rolled and went up and down but do adjustment to the angle of the back was possible. It was definitely better than the current chairs but it offered very little lumbar support. I'm a tall guy at 6'4" and I think for some of the smaller ladies that chair would be very uncomfortable.

I thought the promo was to include Friday and Saturday. This is not a good promo,even worse if it includes no rollover. I guess that means you must be running the WPT promo as well, since you will not be giving that much away with this promo.No gas cards for me.

47 hours on a Sunday thru Thursday,good luck with that.The only games i expect to see an increase with next month on that promo are the low limit games during the day. This will have little to no impact at night.

Maybe the promo includes continuation of the high hands. That or WPT dollars or all three. It would be a terrible promotion otherwise, especially if the hours are not cumulative -- you could play 25 hours per week and end up with nothing for 100 hours played. I notice a banner runs at the bottom of the tournament board displaying the bad beat reserve total (I assume this means all promo reserves). Currently this is over $400K. The maximum payout for January's high hands would be $124,000. What's up??

Anybody have a credible estimate of the average total of promo funds available each month? Even if the current high hand promo ($124K per month max) ran simultaneously in February with the $100 gas card for 30 hours February promo and a very liberal estimate of 200 players were projected to play 30 hours per week all 4 weeks of the month ($80K) that only totals about 200K. If nothing but the gas card promo runs in February and the hours are not cumulative and don't include Friday and Saturday play, I doubt they would pay out more than $40K.

If the hours don't carry over and Fri/Sat don't count, then promoting the ability to get more than one gas card per week is pretty lol. How many people are gonna put in 60 hours in 5 days? C'mon now...

Is this gas card deflation, lol. Wasn't it previously 25 hours for a $150 gas card per week?...now 30 hours for $100, lol.

I believe it was 20 hours for a $150 gas card 2 years ago.

Scott,

there is still time to fix this.It needs to include all seven days with rollover. This will increase traffic on all of those days.If you create a promo that the average player feels as though they cannot get,they will not bother trying. Is not the idea of a promo to increase traffic? Trust me.Make the changes and you will see a nice boost.

Scott, I enjoy reading your comments here and appreciate the improvements you are trying to make. I also understand the suggestions of the local grinders here as to their thoughts on how to make the gas card promo, for example, more practical for them.

Let me share my own experience and dynamic in terms of choosing a room to play because I suspect my demographic is one that presents a tough situation in terms of promos and how to "get my business," for lack of a better phrase.

I'm on the east side of Orlando, 50ish, a professional and we play a lot on weekends for work reasons. We might play on a weekday 3 times a year, but play 6-7 hours at a time, on most weekends. The choice is really between you and Daytona.

For those on the east side of Orlando, Daytona gets the nod much more often because it's a total round trip difference of an hour of drive time. If we can play 6 hours, we need something to make that hour worth it.

As we are playing for recreation, I think any promo directed at us would be better focused on things that, frankly, represent short term entertainment. Honestly, I'm not sure what that is, but the lack of promoting single table tournaments pretty much at all, capping the bbj at a mathematically irrelevant $50k, and going with gas cards dependent on 20 hours in a week, are all just not doing you any favors with the kind of player I think I represent.

Like I said, I don't have any specific thoughts for you. I like playing there. I'd play more if I didn't dread the extra time battling the tourists on I4. Promos that created on the spot (or soon thereafter) entertainment would go a long way towards that.

Does February also have $3 an hour to WPT?

I also live on the east side of Orlando and Daytona is about 30 minutes closer than my drive to Tampa. I also play mostly on weekends. I would make the trip on a few more weekdays next month,if the promo also counted my weekend play.As a recreational casual player(full time job),you have little to no chance of putting in 30 hours sun-thurs for a promo.It would even encourage a weekend only player to stay longer and play more weekend days for a promo.

Great info that points out the underlying fault in the THR attitude towards promos. Many of their promos, like the Sun-Thurs gas cards, are generally designed to get the grinders to put in more time during the less busy hours because that is who is most likely to put in more time and thereby pay more rake during those times that the room isn't already full (i.e. other than Friday, Saturday). It's the same sort of thinking as the online poker rooms that encourage multi-table grinding through their rewards program structure. It's also short-sighted.

The poker economy is dependent on the disposable income of recreational players, not the earning potential of grinders. All promos should be designed to reward such recreational players and completely ignore the whining of grinders seeking to boost their immediate income via promo dollars. In the long run, this will most benefit both the poker room and the grinders, as well as give the recreational players the immediate better entertainment experience they seek out.

At the risk of being annoyingly repetitive, here once again are my recommendations, in case someone at THR is listening:

The real solution is to implement a variety of promotions, all running at the same time, all the time. This would really get any room rocking. Loyalty-based promos (gas/visa cards, etc.) favor the full time professional player. But really whatever promos get the room jamming with recreational players is more advantageous to the professional player than any loyalty-based promo. That's what the jackpot funds should be used for. Here are my suggestions (once again):

Bad beat: Keep the bbj. Recreational players love it. But instead of continuing to accumulate until won, cap it (e.g. $100K cap) and then start a countdown once the cap is reached: lower the hand requirements incrementally every week until it is hit (i.e., Aces full of Kings, then Aces full of Queens, et al). That way it gets hit more often, generating more excitement in the room and more attendance whenever the hand requirements start to get more attainable.

Freeroll tournaments: Two per day Mon-Thurs at 10am and 2pm; once per day Fri-Sun at 10am. Limit them to 50 players with a $750 prize pool, pay top five. Everyone who lines up to play has an equal chance for a seat: At ten minutes before start time, the line is cut off and counted (if lines are really long, give everyone in line a slip with the day/date printed on it to prevent more people cutting in line after the count). Have a pile of 50 cards that say "seat" and add an amount of identical cards that are blank equal to the amount of overage of players in line (e.g., if 102 players in line, add 52 blanks). Mix up the cards face down and everyone in line files through and picks a card. Those that say "seat" are given a tournament seat card. Turbo structure. One $20 re-entry per player available for first hour, but that money should go back in the jackpot fund (the house keeping that money is ludicrous). No reason this promo can't run consistently every month in addition to any other promo. The jackpot funds required to offer it ($32K less re-entries) will likely be made up by the extra cash game traffic generated.

High hands: This seems to be the favored promo by recreational players. I love it because it gets more recreational players in the room and it makes players play less than optimally in their chase to win a high hand. Anything that gets a player to make less than optimal decisions is a plus. The best (most attractive to recreational players) high hand promo I have seen offered is the one at Derby. Follow a similar model: Every high hand gets paid $100 immediately, plus $25 to one other player at the table based on a random card draw (drawn by the winner); the highest hand of the hour gets an additional $500, plus $50 to every other player at the table that was dealt in to the winning hand (the dealer at the table with the current high hand doesn't push, so they are still there to verify at the end of the hour who was dealt in); players must still be seated to receive their payouts, and the chips stay on the table to be in play next hand. Once again, no reason this can't be run every month at lower traffic times. Or run it in competition with the best high hand promos offered at Silks & Derby, at the same times of the week. Smaller high hand payouts can be in effect at all other times, like what Silk offers:
4 of a kind 2’s – 9’s = $40
4 of a kind 10’s – A’s = $80
Straight Flush = $120
Royal Flush = $250
Spade Royal = $500
(Note: There should always be a Royal Flush payout at all times. Nothing more discouraging than finally getting a royal and getting nothing for it. It's a downer for that player and all the players that witnesses it or hears about it - which becomes a small black mark against the poker room.)

Tournament entries: Another way to boost traffic at lower traffic times (e.g. weekday mornings) is free tournament tickets given for aces full or better (both hole cards must play). I'd make it something like a free seat at a $75-entry Sunday morning tournament. The jackpot funds pay the normal tournament entry fee, which will help fill the room early on Sunday as well. The free tournament tickets should be transferable, so they can be sold off if the player doesn't want to play in the tournament.

Tournament jackpots: Award some sort of jackpot prize during first level of any tournament, which encourages players to enter and be at their seats by start time (which encourages more entries from players who watch the clock to see how many players are in the tournament before deciding to play). Maybe award some bling, or free entries to promo tourneys listed above, or even a special progressive jackpot (but something that gets hit fairly often, like first quads or better using one card in hand).

Aces cracked: Easily one of the most popular promos. And it gets players to play less than optimal. I love it. Payout could be min buy-in at whatever stakes they are playing.

Early bird buy-in bonus: Get a 10% bonus on initial buy-in before 10am daily, up to $50 free per player. Admin system to control this is a little complex. Probably have to give some sort of ticket at check-in desk and ticket has to be presented at table to receive 10% bonus to their stack (to ensure all chips are put in play).

In addition, changing monthly unusual promos could be added to the mix, to add variety and attraction. Examples:
Random seat drawings. (Must be in seat, not "walking".)
Spin the wheel for a prize.
Matching hand. (win with that day's/hour's matching hand to win a prize)
Double/triple comp points.
7-2 winning hand.
Splash the pot. (Bling, buffet or $ for the winner of the next hand at one or more tables.)
WPT main-event-super-satellite ticket.
Gas/visa card (bottom of the list).

Scott,
$100 for 30 hours Sunday-Thursday means players must average 6 hours per day every day for 5 days straight for a lousy "reward." This is terrible.
It used to be $150 for 20 hours or so Sunday-Thursday.

Not incidentally, in 2012 I made the trip to Hard Rock many times every month and put in a great many hours in no small part due to good rewards, such as $150 visa cards and the 3-month long ipad / Beats Pro promotion during the summer.

In 2013, however, I probably played at Hard Rock 5 or 6 times the entire year. It wasn't worth my time and effort to drive so much when there are good alternatives much closer to me.

With the current policies you're losing business, especially from those of us that don't live next door to you.

I disagree with most of what pokerxanadu says and am annoyed that he posts the same lengthy nonsense over and over. Gas/visa card promos are at the top of the list not the bottom. They don’t target “professional” players if by “professional” xanadu means those that make a living playing poker at the Tampa Hardrock. I doubt there are more than a couple of dozen at most such “professionals.” The “grinders” are not “professionals.” Instead the “grinders” are the hundreds of recreational regulars that play more than 20 hours per week and lose many thousands each year. These multitudes of players are attracted to gas/visa cards and put in extra hours each week to obtain such rewards. These loyalty based promos are what gets the room jamming not tournament related bs. It is the recreational grinders that generate the rake and should be rewarded and motivated. Of course $3 per hour for 30 hours of play Monday-Thursday is not going to motivate anybody. The new poker room manager has implemented a lot of positive changes, but so far he has struck out with promotions. I’m guessing he will get it right eventually, though, since he seems driven to improve things.

If those grinders already play more than 20 hours a week, there isn't much point in running a promo for them from a business perspective. They will be there regardless. I think the main thing should be competing promos with the local rooms. This will drive all traffic to thr. Local even going so far as competing with daytona, as there are quite a few players from orlando who chose either thr or daytona.

I'd much rather see high hand promos and things that will drive less serious recreational players to the room. I believe these will add much more value than $100 or even $200 for lengthy amounts of play. Also lowering the requirements for the bbj to get hit would add more excitement and make players feel there is actually a chance for us to hit it.

Anything to do with promoting tournaments, such as freerolls or high hands during tourneys i am strongly against unless those players have their own jackpot fund.

Totally agree with lowering bbj requirements. Keep dropping it til it gets hit, then start back at the top. Plenty of rooms do it this way and good times are had by all.

I live in Altamonte Springs about 20 mins north of Orlando. I usually play at DBKC (45 min drive) but decided to try out THR (1.5 hr drive) yesterday since I had a free day. Pretty good poker room. Seems that having it in the back of the casino hurts it though.

To input a bit on the DBKC vs THR debate (from another Orlando-area person's perspective): I didn't really see anything at THR that made me want to go there over DBKC. The $5k guarantee tourney on Sunday morning did seem nice, but aside from that, not much :/ The driving time certainly didn't help either. If THR had more/better promotions, I'm sure that would help them out a lot. The high hands at DBKC seem to be a lot better as well. If there were better promotions, I'm sure it would pull some of the DKBC people away and help out THR more

Just my 2 cents