Quote:
Originally Posted by Jkpoker10
I heard they lost a lot of players when they didn’t pay out gtns to a series earlier this year that missed big (or late last year). The numbers at Venetian have been really down lately which is odd bc I find the room really nice and the dealers are great. Structures are much better than Wynn also. Idk I’m a structure junky so I want as much play as I can get. Even the $400 and 600 allow for so much play. Idk I love when we get to play a lot of poker and try to capitalize on the less serious tourny players that are just casual recs.
The Venetian didn’t reneg on any guarantee. They cancelled two tournaments which were part of the “Stairway to heaven” series promoted by PokerGo. Players who had won seats were paid the cash equivalent. It became clear that there wasn’t enough support for that format to justify the guarantees in the remaining two events. If the events had been held there would have likely been large overlays.
Many players have this mindset that guarantees are some sort of gamble on the part of venues and if the venue misses (ie loses) then it’s good for the players, like the house is losing for a change. This is not remotely true. Missed guarantees mean only one thing… lower guarantees. Live poker is a tenuous venture to start with in the casino environment, and casino operators are not interested in additional risk. And that’s what we have seen this summer at the Venetian. That is the reason for smaller fields, not anything to do with the Stairway to heaven controversy. If the Venetian had the space and the willingness to offer big guarantees like they have in the past, then you would see the same field sizes as we have seen in the past. But that’s not where they are at under new ownership.
It is a shame, though, since like you said, they still offer some of, if not the best structures in Vegas. Until such time as the powers that be give them the space they need to hold the kind of series they have historically held, I think it’s clear they have stepped back from their previous position as the premiere alternative to the WSOP during the summer.
Still a great place to play and smaller fields aren’t all that bad a thing. There is something to be said for not having to dodge so many mines.