Quote:
Originally Posted by Hell2Heaven
The STS's that were done away with was probably determined to be a losing venture for the casino because at any time a number of dealers that are sitting and not dealing (but being paid) while the floor is advertising and trying to get them going. *Someone mentioned that the STS's were a way to bypass IRS stuff and people selling lammers could essentially make untaxable money hustling them (I don't know enough about gambling income to know the validity of this).
Only the $500 and up STS games would take long to fill. And there were several more lower buy ins going, so I would not put much weight into idle dealers. And STS dealers did not have downs* (that is once they started a STS they finished it), so its conceivable there were fewer idle STS dealers than typical buy in events.
I'm guessing WSOP grossed about $200 and up spreading STS games. Depending on the buy in the games would last anywhere from an hour up to 2.5 hours (close to half of the games were chopped). So figure about $150 per hour profit per table after paying dealer + fringe benefits. IMO that compares very favorably with typical buy in events.
IMO what ended STS games:
-IRS. No doubt to me they knew that the lammer system was too easy to commit fraud and they told WSOP to do something about it;
-WSOP IT system. The entire process of paying winners was completely manual, probably the same way they did it when STS games were started 40+ years ago. If they had simply automated the payout process they could have continued STS games w/o IRS scrutiny;
WSOP management. It was a PITA to do the paperwork to process winners. I once had to wait over a half hour to get paid, really for no reason, and 15 minutes was about average. There was nobody in mgmt lobbying for STS games;
-Competition with big events. Logistically it was easier for WSOP (at least they thought) to reserve tables for those events instead of using them for STS games. But IMO this makes no sense because STS tables were used in years past when tournament tables were required. So basically just laziness in managing resources if you ask me;
-Perception of mgmt no longer needing to encourage low cash players with a $180 STS for a $1500 buy in event, when they believe these same players will play in a $600 event directly.
Last edited by PokerHero77; 06-11-2023 at 09:13 PM.
Reason: STS players would also play for last longer sidepots, with cash typically held by a single player and visible by WSOP staff.