Ya, I drove up from DC this morning, figuring I'd be devious and avoid the evening waiting lists only to find that while the casino is open 24/7 the card room, at least for the start up, will only be running 8 to 4AM. Waste of 3 hours I tell you...

WOW what a debacle at CTS. Over 180 ppl on the lists. Only 6 tables , two ea of 3/6 , 1/2 nl , 2/5 nl . They will close room tonight at 4 am. No set reopen for tom yet. I won't waste my time again till next week. Gl to all who make it the felt tonight. Better luck to others next time.

So close. and yet So Farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr away.
wonder if they will open Poker for 24/7 later on.

were the table games any less swamped today? (did they open any more tables?--let it ride, BJ, roulette)

According to a security guy in the poker room the grand opening is on Wednesday and after that it should be 24/7 I hopeing they'll be operating at full capacity
On another note I just can't understand why the room is fully operating now I mean they had 7 freaking months to prepare for this. I dint know if anyone remembers borgatas grand opening but I was there and nothing was left unready the were on the ball. Anyway I'm willing to forgive the initial problems let's just hope the room is ran well
Keeping my fingers crossed

I can understand how they could not be prepared. They went from slots, to table games & poker. It was a big jump in all areas. I can forgive a couple of weeks to even a couple of months of confusion if they eventually get it right.

Because due to State law, they were not allowed to have a single table on the floor until Midnight, July 1, even if they were closed and cordoned off.

Welcome to West Virginia. Wild and wonderfully stupid.

They opened one more 1/2 NL. 7 tables running.

thank you guys for the live updates, this is awesome that us DC natives will soon have a legit casino to lose all our hard earned money in. cant wait till this place fixes all the nooks and cranies so i can make my measley hour and half drive.

Keep the updates and picks coming.

They said they were going to open another 2/5 for a total of 8 tables. I was still too far down the list to wait around as they were closing at 4 am. They said that right now the plan was to open up at 8 pm again on the 4th. Indicated that one reason for the limited tables was that not all cameras were operational yet. They were not originally planning to open the poker room until next week. Soon they will be open 24/7 and have many more tables open.

I will be glad when I move back home to VA that the poker scene has moved closer to me. The local Canadian rake of 10% up to $10 plus $1 bbj makes the games close to unbeatable.

I felt the same way I was like damn should have just waited until tomorrow for the grand opening and do it right

Right

They were worst in my opinion it was wall to wall folks 25$ was the lowest table min. and then the bumped it up to 50 on craps and I saw a few 100$ as well but it was not good


I guess I'll see WED

Was it the same issue as last night where people weren't even allowed to go up to the room at 8 because the list was so long?

No, they opened the list at 7pm and it was a fairly smooth flow. I think they finally started seating around 830 or so. I was like 116 in line for the 1-2 and got there at 715. I think the 2-5 had 20 or so less names and the limit game maybe 30 or 40 less names. They originally started with the same setup as last night, but added 1 more 1-2 NL and one more 2-5 NL by the time I left around 1130.

I checked back periodically but the line really didn't move because I guess once you got a seat you weren't leaving after just one buyin. Most of the names I did hear getting called were for the limit game but a few for the 2-5 game.

I was told the same thing about the WV Lottery or Gaming commission not letting CTown get an early jump on setting everything up. Basically they weren't even able to have the camera installations going in until the 2nd and are waiting on approval forthe pro per installation of those.

I was assured that the full 27 tables would be running by Wed though. The floor was pretty strict about going to talk to friends and wouldn't let anyone other than players beyond the roped off area. They said this rule would be in place for a while. It was kind of frustrating not being able to check up on my friend, but with all of the other confusion this room has, I guess I can understand.

Well, not spreading a less popular game in favor of the most popular game (when there are limited tables) does not equal "Treating a player like crap on opening night." I hate to break it to you, but the "big players" (those who want to play less popular games at least) are not going to decide the fate of this room. 1/2nl and 2/5nl dominate card rooms these days. Borgata will spread whatever anyone wants, as long as there is room (not going to be the case at CTR&S). Don't think for one second that if there was only one table available, Borgata would open a horse table with 6 people on a list instead of a 2/5nl table with 25 people on a list just because it's a bigger game. But, if you are really that offended by this harsh treatment on opening night, DON'T GO. Don't delude yourself into thinking you'll be missed.

I had the same experience as many others last night.
Due to an accident on the river, and a subsequent traffic jam, I wasnt able to get up there until roughly 7:20, by which point there was about 120ppl already on the list. I immediately turned around and went home. However, according to some employee in the poker room the tables should be fully operational and running a lot smoother by next weekend. I guess I will just have to spend time with the family / gf this weekend. ugh.

hahaha. What, do you work there? First, let me just say, I won't go there! Unless I happen to be in the area and want to kill some recreational time. I have a feeling that the 6.00 time rake is temporary and while high, is a much better deal than 10% to 60.00 which is what I expect it will turn into. I suspect West Virginia officials are evaluating dealers and the time rake makes managing the game soooooo much easier for a dealer. But, look you go, have fun, but don't expect to beat that rake consistently if you're a lowly 1-2 player like me. It can be done, but only at a 4.00 max rake table. As for treating players poorly on opening night. That wasn't me that said that. It does, however, sound like the opening was extremely poorly handled. Look, it's confusing, but give out the right information and be nice about it. What's with the roping off thing? Mountaineer, didn't let you on the floor unless you were in a game. At least Wheeling never pulled that stupid stuff. I mean, what's that about. A guy wants to talk to his friend and he can't approach a table because he's not seated? Where in the whole wide world does that happen? I don't live in NOVA and I have MUCH better options. I do sometimes travel closely past Charleston and was hoping that it was a better option than Mountaineer and Wheeling, in terms of rake and play. But, it doesn't seem to be. I'll stop there....maybe. I won't be missed, and I'm really sorry that the truth about poker rooms and rakes hurts your feelings. I'm still waiting to hear what the rake in PA will be. Those rooms open in two weeks and that should be interesting competition for West Virginia and Delaware Park if they rake low.

As many others have already stated, they were unable to put ANY of the tables out until 12:00am on the second. Then they had to put them all together, have each and everyone of them inspected and approved by the gaming commision, not to mention getting all of the survielance equipment set up and fully operational. I don't think there is really too much anyone can say considering all of these factors.

It's a big pain in the butt to drive up there especially for you guys that live a few hours away, but there really isnt anyone to blame here but yourselves when going to a casino on the grand opening on a holiday weekend.

Things will get much better with time. I will probably wait at least until next weekend at the absolute earliest before even considering trying to slide down.

Cheers

Will they be opening omaha tables in any future date?

Rake vs. Timed pots at CTown....

There have been several threads on 2+2 asserting that timed pots are generally cheaper for the players than raked ones. However, mitigating factors at CTown include the fact that poker dealers are pooling their tips, therefore lessening the incentive to deal more hands to increase tip rate. Also, the casino's incentive to keep the game moving is lessened also- they'll get their $12/hr regardless of whether the dealers deal 30 or 15 hands/hr.

I've played (mostly NL) tables where play bogs down to the point where it IS 15 hands or so per hour and that sucks.

So the test will be to see how well they can keep the game moving, or not.

I'd be interesting in hearing some feedback on how many deals / hr they're getting in.

Holy crap. I've played the room in Halifax and Niagara but that was four or more years ago, before I knew you can't beat that kind of rake. Is that all the Canadian rooms? The money is funny enough looking and the US exchange at the window is a rip off, but 10.00 per hand is over the top.

Really good points. I didn't know they were working a pool. Harrington Delaware is doing the same and usually, it's management not knowing that the dealers who keep their tips, rip through the hands if they can. It helps with the drop where, as your name indicates, most good self respecting rooms (Borgata, best in the east) can get and are looking for 15 hands per stop in the box.

I know that Delaware park wanted to do a pool and the manager of the room had to go to the mat with that exact argument. Hence, their tips are theirs to keep.

Anyone care to talk about the dealers who are spreading and how many hands per 6.00 rake? Remember, that as a short opening and only a single shift of 6 or 7 tables, these are their best.

And even though I've been critical of the rake structure and will never be a regular in WV or NY rooms, I am going through that area on Tuesday morning and Thursday night. I have stopped in every room in the eastern US from Michigan, Indiana, WV, clubs in Columbus, Ohio, Delaware..... All the Indian NY, CT and AC rooms. I'll certainly check this one out too.

Poker dealers at CTown do not pool tips, only table games dealers do.

I stupidly relied on their website and drove about an hour and a half to get there yesterday for nothing. Got there 11am, found out there was no poker room until 8pm. Everyone was sorry. Very sorry. Not sorry enough to do anything about it though. On the way home (from Taboo in Martinsburg, **** hanging out in the casino), I heard again on the radio that they had a 27 table poker room starting July 2. Well done.

Should've checked 2+2 first. I mean, how could you expect the people actually running the place to give you factual information?

Scouting report:

I went up to CTown yesterday to see the new layouts and eyeball the poker room setup. For the most part, I was impressed, as was my friend who went with me. We went up in the mid afternoon, so the poker room was not open, but we talked to a cute and freckled (and unfortunately married ) security guard who was posted at the ropes. She confirmed the madness from the previous night and said the same schedule was set for Sat night. We weren't allowed to walk through the room, as they were working on the cameras and had live chips on the table, but it's a nice looking rooms. Two long rows of tables, restrooms right there, and it's set in a room totally separate from slots and other tables, so there is no slot noise or smoke coming in from the main casino. Note for those coming in: Do not park in the West Garage; go past it and the valet and park in the East Garage. It's much closer to the poker room that the West Garage. Randy wasn't there, but I spoke with him on my way home. He put in a 24-hour workday the previous day and had gone home to sleep some before coming in for the Sat night madness. He confirmed they are going to try and open more and more tables as they get approved and they have licensed dealers for them.

As for the table games, there were about 20 tables open. I saw 2 craps tables, 2 4-card poker, 2 3-card Poker, 2 roulette, and several blackjack tables open, all in the main pit area by the front entrance. The minimum bet of every table for the soft opening was $25, and went up to $50 while I was there. A little rich for my blood, but I spent some time watching. Let me tell you, if you play blackjack, pray for this dealer I saw. I won't name him, but this guy was the worst BJ dealer I've ever seen. I'm truly unsure on how he passed his audition. I personally saw him pay pushes on 6 different occasions, he declared a push on 3 other hands where the house actually won, and he let the players get away with murder. One player tried to double down on his third card, then when it was not a 10, he told the dealer, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to double on 3 cards". Nice angle shoot. The floor came over, pushed back the double down bet, and said the man had a 4-card hand, and to continue from there. This one dealer cost them at least $500 in mistakes in just the 1 hour I watched. My friend and I commented that the over camera tape of him dealing would be used in the future to train new dealers on what not to do.

Also, they played at least 85-90% into the 6-deck shoe, which was not constantly shuffled. They were machine shuffled, cut by a player, and then played on that shoe for a solid 30-40 minutes. I went home and dug up my book on card counting. They did not have any Pai-gow up yet, which is one of my favorites. They did have complimentary drink service. Apparently, the pits will be offering these table games:

Blackjack | Craps | Mini-Baccarat | Big Six Wheel | Caribbean Stud | Pai-Gow | Let it Ride | Roulette | Three Card Poker | Four Card Poker | Poker | Texas Hold 'Em

Accounting for the difficulties in having to hit the ground running on a holiday weekend while being handicapped by the WVa Gaming, I think they've got a good setup, and once they have the kinks worked out, it will be as good as any AC casino (except the Borgata). One of the pit bosses I saw I recognized as a pit boss from the Borgata. That bodes well to me that they have experienced pit bosses who also know how to take care of players.

On the driving front, I drove up there using by way of Route 7/Route 9 and came back via Route 340/Route 7. While the 340/7 route is several miles more, it was actually quicker due to being 4 lanes most of the way and having much less in the way of narrow, winding sections that 2-lane Route 9 is littered with.

I'm sure others will be heading up in the next few days. Please post Trip Reports so we can keep this thread. I probably won't be able to head back up until next weekend at the earliest. When I do, I'll post another TR then.

Good luck to all.