Promotion for the rest of the month is pretty sick...$500 for royals is back!!! Room should be packed nonstop.

Finally I'll be justly rewarded for the many royals I hit, God bless the USA

lol. was thinking the same thing. i was almost thinking $500 doesn't even sound like much for hitting that. but it must hit often enough i guess. i have never in my life hit a royal flush. i have never in my life hit a straight flush.

but if it brings gamblers to the room then it's good for all of us. and by "us" i mean "you guys" cause i'm in jersey.

i am however contemplating a permanent relocation to your beautiful area. i expect the poker room will be run as well as the borgata by then!

It sounds fishy to me. When the room is moderately empty, there are about 30 tables running. 30 hands per hour that's about $900 per hour. It's more like $1500 per hour during peak times. Take away about $150 for the .60 cents per hour (that is not always utilized) and the jackpot capped, it's a joke they are paying natural royals $500 which is much much much less than an hourly event. They are raking in the BBJ money and not paying nearly it all out. Maybe they are building it for something else, but to me it seems like a scam.

They're giving away those 1650 wpt seats for high hands out of the jackpot money

For those that asked me before (and anyone else), the latest version of my tournament comparison calculator for Tampa Bay tournaments (and anywhere else) is now available for download, no charge. PM me.

i love the "back by popular demand" royals back, wtf?? who are the popular demand people? what happened to rumors of 2 or 3.00 an hour comps? still almost 300k in promo money even after paying out all the 1650.00 tickets? what gives? oh wait, everyone at the final table of Sunday's tourney gets a 100.00 gas card! that still leaves 299K to give back.

i love you marc. we know this, its all a giant sham at the hard rock.

Q: What Gives?
A: Robbery.

LOL - I have been playing poker recreationally for 9 years. My Royal count is ZERO.

The tribe paid 1 billion to the state (and the politicians got who knows how many suitcases full of money) so that they could remain a non-regulated casino without competition. That expires in 2015. The latest legislative proposal calls for two real casinos on the east coast. So we're never getting any real competition here on the west coast. My advice - if you want to see a real poker room wait five years and move to Miami.

Florida Senate Rolls the Dice With Gambling Bill

"House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, insists his chamber will not pass any gambling measures unless Gov. Rick Scott renegotiates a deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida."

I hit the Spade Royal two weeks after the BBJ took over. Was the worst $500 win ever!

Scott, any word on satellites to the 5 million down in Hollywood? it starts April 10!

Its a secret. You have to go there to find out. And even then ....

Shhhhhhhh......

April 1-3 and 6-8
11am $200 with 1 in 20 getting a seat
7pm $385 with 1 in 10 getting a seat

As I've said before, I'm not a big tournament player, but went up for the $15K ($110) on Saturday. When I heard it was a rebuy, I asked how much and he said $110 again. So I guess they're hitting you for the whole rake and rebuy every time. (Let's leave aside the fact that it was $85+15+10 add on, which is ridiculous.)

Is this normal these days? If so, it just seems obnoxious to me - at least on the rake. (But the whole add-on thing is getting out of hand as well, although that's a whole other topic.)

I know back when I was playing in LV a lot, the few rebuy tournaments I played were no rake on the second, third, etc. bullet.

In the Tampa Bay area, and I think most places now, it is standard that tournaments are re-entry instead of rebuy, i.e. you pay the whole thing including house fee to get back in when you bust. Some poker rooms make the dealer/staff add-on optional, so you wouldn't have to pay that part again and could get back in for a little cheaper with a less than full starting stack. But it is usually worth the extra money for the extra chips.

You also get re-assigned to a new seat when you re-enter, like you are coming in new to the tournament. I find this somewhat a disadvantage as you have to learn the players at your new table. Then again, you aren't sitting back at the same table where the players already know you.

Thx for the info. I guess this is just one of the reasons I'm not a tournament fan, even though I've had decent results overall in the past couple of years.

Between starting at 10 a.m. (What are we? Farmers?) and being forced to tip people in advance, it's just not for me normally.

Seriously, the whole add on thing is crap. What would people say if you were to go a restaurant, and the price for a steak was $36, which is "$30 for the steak, plus a mandated $6 tip".

I've always tipped 20% when I cash in a tournament, maybe 15% if it's larger, mostly because I tended bar growing up and so I know what it's like to live on tips. But when they do the add on thing, that goes down drastically. So they are costing themselves money, at least with me.

Figure this tournament had maybe 10 tables going, and I think over 200 players with the reentry. So $2,000+ split between 10 dealers before they make a penny from whoever cashes. Not bad.

I think first was around $6K. If I'd have won that without any add-on, I'd have given them $1,200 without a second thought. With the add on in effect - it would be $500 at the most.

I get that not everybody tips and so they are trying to "protect" the dealers in that situation, and that's fine. Just don't then expect anything like a "normal" tip from those who finish high up or win. It's already been paid.

If there's ten tables it's not just ten dealers they get tapped out just like at cash games so keep that in mind.

Abhorson, I tended bar and also delivered pizzas, so I share your thoughts on tipping well in general, as I think most people do. But just so you know, basically no one else is tipping 15-20% gross for a tourney cash-- and rarely even 10% for that matter. (Myself included; that is an enormous chunk, and far more than what is considered "standard".) I certainly respect your generosity though, and I'm sure dealers greatly appreciate it.

Guys we have a Tipping Containment Thread. Please use that before this turns heated (it almost always does, hence the need for the containment thread). Thanks.

Had a new experience at the table last night. It was about 3or 4 am Monday morning, not many tables going, a 1/2nl game. There is a guy I'd guess around 25 in seat 8, and a old reg in seat 9. Reg is always a whiny, grumpy guy; not in a mean spirited way, but sort of in just a grouchy way, and very vocal, bitching about everything.

I had just been at the table a couple of minutes, and old guy goes something like "Jesus Christ, you've got to stop ****ting at the table! I've asked you to stop, and I can't stand to smell that anymore!". he stands up, and moves over to seat 10 from 9. We all sort of look up, and basically old guy is saying that young guy is farting too much and he can't take the smell anymore.

Old guy tells dealer to do something. So dealer goes "what do you want me to do?" and old guy is like "call the floor! I can't play with that guy ****ting his pants next to me! It's gross!" So dealer goes "floor!" and over he comes. Old guy explains again how he doesn't want to play smelling **** all night, and the dealer has to make it stop. Floor is trying not to laugh, and asks "what do you want me to do?" . Old guy say "send him away. make him go to another table." Floor suggests maybe old guy go to another table, but he says he's not the one ****ting in his pants.

The entire time young guy hasn't said a word. He's sitting there with his hands under his chin, sort of like he's trying not to give off any tells. Floor asks "is there a problem" and he says "I didn't fart; I burped". Old guy goes "bull****! Burps don't have any smell, that was a fart! You can tell cuz it smells like ****!" All of these comments from old guy are very loud,easily heard by everyone in the room. Finally floor says "well, just keep playing and let me know if there is still a problem."

You think you've seen it all, and something new always comes up.

... or out.

This part reminds me of the guy named Michael Bolton in "Office Space". "Why should I change MY name? He's the one who sucks."

Awesome stuff. Thank you for a good laugh, sir.

Young guy should move up to where they respect his farts

Now that's pretty funny.

At the risk of getting into the gross stories re: live play....

That day I was there, a guy at the table gets up to go to the bathroom. I get up behind him maybe 5 minutes later to go. I walk into the bathroom as he's coming out of the STALL and heading straight to the door. He sees me, recognizes me from the table and veers to the sink to wash his hands.

What, you forgot where the sink was??????

On the plus side, it was really uncomfortable at the table after that since he knew that I knew that he knew that I knew, etc.

Someone should do a survey of relative smelliness/cleanliness of players at various levels and games. I'd be willing to bet good money that there's more hand washing at 5/10 HE and above vs. low level stud.


OK, it has just occurred to me there's a fair chance that I'm very bored at work today...