Its until 8.

Did a trip down Rte 80 (non-rush hr) today from Morristown area to Camelback which is near Mt Airy. Rte 80 is very slow compared to 78. I'm guessing - poker rooms equal - Northern NJ players and NYC players will gravitate to Sands given the travel ease. Any thoughts? I will probably be at Sands on Sunday afternoon to test the waters.

The times that I have been there it seems to be full of the Northern NJ/NYC types, partying and drinking.

Though the room will be noisy because the casino gets noisy with the loud music, I actually like the location of the "room". It will be a great draw for impulsive players. I was there last night/this morning and there is plenty of room to move around. There is also a little lounge area with a couch and couple of chairs for people waiting.

Trip report!

Wow...room to move around. It already sounds better that Mt. Airy!!! I live in north NJ and already visited Mt. Airy. Nice, but way cramped and noisy too. I plan on visiting the Sands next week. Still beats the 2+ hour drive to AC!

mini-TR:

Well, I went to the test day today and all-in-all a great run room. There was only 2-4LHE run all day, mainly due to PGCB regs, but I am getting excited about the possibility of a bigger game running here. Lots of players from this area are used to bigger games, and a lot of players I talked to were asking about 2-5NL, 5-10NL, 20-40 stud, and some higher LHE games. I don't think this will be just the run of the mill 1-2NL and 2-4LHE poker room, which is fantastic! All of the management staff I talked to seem very happy about spreading higher games.

As for info about the room:

-card shufflers on every table with table-side card readers. Makes it easy to swipe-in and out. I gave my card to the dealer and he clocked me in right at the table. Not used to that in AC.. lol
-dealers: Average.. As expected from new staff, there are some dealers that need some work, but they show potential. A few very good dealers coming from other poker rooms...
-management: LOTS of floors present.. not sure if this will be all the time or if they all had to be there for the test day, but I was pleased that when a floor call came, they were right there. All were friendly and helpful too, especially explaining some asinine rule that they temporarily have.. If there is an exposed card during the deal, it becomes a MUCK card.. not a burn! That was strange, but they said that the rule should be changed in a month or so.. let's hope so!
-location: Great location close to the table games, and also restaurants (the buffet is right across from the room) and they have 24/7 food service to the poker room! Also, there is a lot of space in-between the tables... very roomy, and COMFY chairs!

Negatives: Other than the exposed card rule that I mentioned, there are a few other things I noticed.. Getting chips will be kinda inconvenient since for at least a few weeks, the dealers are not allowed to sell chips at the table, so the chip runners have to take care of re-buys. That's pretty annoying, but they said it was a PA reg which is also in the works to be changed. Also, with the room being on the casino floor itself, there is a bit of slot noise, but not extreme.. One last thing, cupholders please!! The tables do not have cupholders, so they have these make-shift metal cupholders that attach to the tables. They work fine, but right now they don't have enough for all the tables..

I will certainly be back, and hopefully can make it to Sunday's opening (8AM.) I will post another TR if I can get in that day.

thanks for the TR..be there Sunday

Did you happen to catch the Rake Structure?

Nice TR. I'm not surprised to hear of the interest in higher level games based on the clientele I have seen there. I expect lots of action in this room.

Rake structure is 10% up to $5 max. Will also be $1 for bad beat which will start at $5000 on Sunday.

Yuck! Yet another PA poker room that I won't be playing @!

Only 4 bucks max rake for Mohegan Sun @ PD. No BBJ. Which is fine with me. If I want to buy lottery tickets there are places all over the state that I can get them. BBJ + an extra dollar per pot pulled=joke

So total take from the pot is $6?? Isn't that too excessive?? How can you beat the rake???

A/C is 4+1, one extra dollar on $50+ pots is something, but it is in no way unbeatable. If you can't beat this structure then probably can't beat 1/2 period.

2/4 limit should almost be unbeatable them taking 1 1/2 BB's per pot. 1/2 @ 6 bucks is still beatable but you have to hit the BBJ someday or your just flushing money down the toilet.

Raise of hands...How many peeps on here have won a BBJ? Waste of a dollar every pot imho. I'm come to play a couple of hands if it gets over 300k. I feel bad for the players that end up playing here most days to build up the BBJ.

If you account for avg player skill level at 1/2 I think it is certainly still beatable with $6 rake w/o hitting the BBJ but that extra dollar definately hurts your win rate.

It really an extra 2 bucks per pot. Just joking that you have to hit the BBJ to be a winning player. If grinding everyday this can cost you 20-50 bucks a day

I was comparing to AC which I thought was a standard 4+1 = 5 so 5+1 = 6 or $1 extra per pot? Correct me if I'm wrong please. No doubt it's costly after awhile.

I was comparing to Deleware Park and Mohengan Sun @ pocono Downs which are both @ 4 bucks max. No BBJ. If your a real grinder you don't wan't a BBJ. Whixh r noth 2 bucks less per hand. Let just say that it would cost u about 2 bucks per hour. Over time this can really add up.

I agree wih you but isnt it only a short matter of time before Pocono Downs starts dropping for a BBJ or did they say they're never doing one.

They are thinking about doing st8 flush/ royal Flush pool. Which isn't as bad as BBJ. @ least u have a chance to hit every now and then.

So is the Poker Room officially open today? Are they offering 1/2 NL and 2/5 NL?

is the BBJ standard quads over quads?

How far is the drive from NYC...Anyone do it yet?....I78 or I80?

From the very start of 78 its about 50 mins

As of right now there are 95 people on the 1/2 wait list and 34 on the 2/5. 3/6 also very deep