I'd like a piece of the action if there were 4 tables at this years WSOP and seated at the tables were Doyle, Tom Dwan, Chris Moneymaker, and Phil Ivey. And they were each asking $20 to have your picture taken with them individually. I think they and maybe some other celebrities would make some serious money. Hell, I'd pay $200 to have a picture taken with all 4 of them together. And I'm sure there are some wealthy poker players out there who would pay much much more.

They were doing that stuff for free back in '04-'06-ish and there was hardly a line for it, are you old enough to remember the Poker Lifestyle Conventions at the WSOP in the Pavillion Room?

Man you have some delusions there Ted LOL, a paid line for photos with these dudes is never happening LMAO.

I would pay $350 if it also included Jerry Yang,Jamie Gold and Doug Lee

What world does OP live in because I've never seen it. He might actually be evidence for the multiverse hypothesis.

I had forgotten about the Poker Lifestyle Convention, but I think it an EVENT and was held one year .... Mason might recall because I remember seeing him there. ....

To be honest, there was a pretty long line for free pictures with Doyle that day.... but he was promoting DoylesRoom, not hustling $20 photos.

At the time, I was promoting my business and sent in about 6 strippers who were wearing smiles and minimal other branded gear, handing out promo stuff, like condoms offering a free "no-deposit" bonus... They also had a few free photo ops I do remember. (WSOP security was pretty cool about it, so long as they kept moving along between the shots.)

This level of posting by the OP has to be the number one indicator of a bad thread, AMAs excepted.

and they have that sweet super low rake you talked so much about right?

The Poker Lifestyle convention was definitely more than just one year, it may have been 3 years, but it dwindled in participation in the later years.

The first year there were like 20+ upstart poker sites all trying to make it and they were handing out tons of free schwag. You could walk around and pick up tons of free T-shirts and other crap lol.

The later years it really deteriorated into just a bunch of booths SELLING (not handing out for free) card protectors and "poker clothing" (similar to the side booths in the hallways of the Rio nowadays), and the whole thing was cancelled not long after.

I do remember many "models" in scantily clad clothing posing for photos. Bodog had you sit on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle while a bunch of models posed around you lol. Those were the fun days of online poker.

Doyle did have a line at times for the free signed photo of him, and signed copy of a book he gave out for free, but I don't remember the line being super long, maybe I caught it at the right time.

I’ll be honest. I’d pay a few bucks for a photo with Doyle or Ivey. Or I guess buy a book I don’t especially want for the signature and photo op. That’s basically the complete list, though.

Custom felts w/ poker celeb pics on them! I'd sit at this one:

This, exactly.

Plus, how many fans were really lining up for the autographs and photos? Maybe in the hundreds, at its high point? Sure, that makes for a cool atmosphere in the lobby of Bay 101, but it still could not have sustained a hotel. Not back then, and certainly not now.

This says it all.

Ted, it doesn't matter if your poker room could make money (which it likely wouldn't), if it could make far more money by diversifying into other, more lucrative, forms of gambling. Maybe this has something to do with why other Las Vegas casinos offer much more than poker?

You haven't realized that reason does not apply when dealing w/ OP?

Suggest something funky like I've been doing. POLE DANCERS INSTEAD OF TV'S!

Harrahs, and I think the Rio, have had "party pits" , complete with pole dancers at the blackjack tables.

A more interesting contrast is the example of the Del Rey Hotel/Casino in Costa Rica..... it offers casino games, poker and allows hookers to work almost the entire area of the casino/bars, HOWEVER, hookers specifically are barred from the poker room area. Curious exception or sound marketing policy for poker ?

Maybe you should add craps tables and blackjack tables to your list considering the Slots of Fun casino which is located right on the strip next to Circus Circus took out their craps and blackjack tables and put in 4 pool tables which are located right in the center of the casino. Could pool themed hotels be the future.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Location...as_Nevada.html

Ted can we please not derail this very important very serious thread? Thank you for your contribution here, but this is really important we need to figure out once and for all...

Well, that takes care of that, tyvm. I'd been researching where in Latin America I might want to retire to if I outlive mom and Costa Rica it is!

You guys bashing this idea are unfairly discounting the revenue that could be brought in from the sale of poker-themed merchandise. Just prints and t-shirts of "dogs playing poker," and hand-crafted "Liquor in the front, poker in the rear" signs might put this idea over the top. PMs rolling in now!

The answer is , no. Did you read any of the reviews ?

"Starting going to the slots of fun probably around the early 80's. Back then the place was bustling with people. Just visited the place in March of 2017 and they've pulled out the table games and replaced them with things like a bowling alley for kids ??? That should be at circus circus next door. The tap beers were $5.99 and $6.99 on the weekends. Are you kidding me ??? There were hardly any people there !! I think they are close to be shutting down.............no kidding !!"


Slots of Fun, altho owned by Caesars, has never had a hotel. It was a very successful small slots and video poker joint, which had really cheap beer and $1blackjack and craps. It was actually very open to foot traffic from the Strip. You could sit at the tables and watch the foot traffic, while drinking quite a lot all night long. Great place 40 years ago.

Could pool-themed hotels be the future ? No, although pool is a traditional gambling game, it does not translate well for gambling in a casino.

(The Encore installed a really nice pool table near the poker room in the Millennial Lounge gaming area.. It was a gem, literally Steve Wynn's personal pool table. It was an amenity, among traditional blackjack tables and craps tables, not a revenue producer on its own. Don't know if it is still there.)

I see you are still looking on the internets for straws to grasp and ignoring all the customer reviews of your great idea .........How old is that photo ? You have a clue whether the tables are still there ? Try again ?

Playground is a great example, probably the most profitable all-poker club in North America. They do this by the following:

1) Providing the best managed games in the most comfortable environment
2) Low building costs: basically a warehouse-type building on a piece of land on a reservation that has no intrinsic real-estate value
3) Low staff costs: while managers/floor/dealers/restaurant & bar staff are paid reasonable wages, the waitresses work for tips only (which are quite lucrative, mostly based on their attractiveness / sexy outfits)
4) Rake: it is 5% / $15 max in 2/5 games, which is higher than Vegas, but not ridiculous (you're only paying more rake on $100+ pots, which you may win 1-2 per hour, so let's say you pay $10 per hour more rake per person than Vegas for free food, since free drinks are the same)
5) Attracting a lot of recreational players, which in turn attracts a lot of regs: sometimes they've 20-25 cash tables running on a weekend night

Could all of the above work in Las Vegas? I don't think so because there are already enough good rooms offering good enough games with lower rakes / reasonable perks (e.g. Encore poker room is 5% / $5 max for 2/5 with $1,500 buy-in, free premium drinks, $1.50/hour food comps, comped parking and enough well-heeled recs that regs love to play there).

There are other poker rooms there as well, at the Sheraton in Escazu and the Taormina Hotel Casino, from which a live $5,000 buy-in cash event is streaming today. Don't know about hookers policy at those venues however.

I played in a local tournament with Chris Moneymaker 3 weeks ago. I sat at his table for a couple hours. No one asked for a picture with him, or for an autograph. Only a couple people fanboyed.

It's kind of rude to approach someone for a picture when they're in a tournament or eating or busy but I'd be willing to bet if people like him or Doyle or Ivey were sitting at a "meet and greet "table at the WSOP (with hundreds/thousands of players and fans walking around) with the sole purpose of taking a picture with people for $20 or so they would make some serious money. Hell the Rio could even get a cut of it they wanted (maybe 20% or so). These guys might not do it because they want to concentrate on preparing for the tournament but I definitely feel the money would be there if they chose to do it.

You know Doyle is no spring chicken and has had health issues so you don't really know how long the poker legend will be available to do such things which would make a photo even more valuable.

I assume this thread has been as much of a hot mess as that latest post, and yet that does not entice me to read it to catch up. I will just say that a genuine belief that Brunson or Ivey would be willing to sit around and sign pictures for $20 a pop (where they do not even get all of it), along with the genuine belief that a lot of people would actually pay that fee is a tad bit unusual.

No doubt you could find all sorts of "poker celebrities" to sit around in the hope of making a couple bucks. Perhaps that Khan guy and that other Swedish guy who screamed all the times at the tables in the WSOP years ago. Problem is they would have to pay people to get their autograph as they screamed at them.

Guess that might get people in, if you paid each customer $20 to get yelled at briefly. Perhaps a casino should be based on ideas like that - as it would certainly be an improvement over this OP's business plan.

If you don't read the entire thread you'll be missing out on some really great ideas. OP's put a lot of thought into this matter.