^This^ Pre Black Friday, they were holding tournaments at Foxwoods in the Grand Ball Room to accommodate all the players> They would easily have 1000+ players in a $400 buy in game. This would be a one day no re - entry game. They now get a little over 600 for a $400 buy in. This includes 2 day ones and re - entries.
I think the casinos need to get on board with online poker. It can only be a good thing for them.
I myself would never have played a hand of poker at any casino if it weren't for online poker. Now I understand that the casinos don't make much money from their poker rooms. That being said, I am usually accompanied by my wife and sometimes 2 of my children who will spend as much time at the slots as I do at the poker table. Rest assured they are making money from them!!!
Honestly, I hate to say it, but Poker has jumped the shark among young people. It just isn't cool to play poker anymore and there isn't the explosive growth among the 16-25 demographic that there was say 7-8 yrs ago. That doesn't mean poker cannot survive, but the buyin levels have to be right and the casinos have to stop seeing tournaments as cash cows in and off themselves and start to understand tournaments help bring in cash players and cash is the money maker ultimately.
I would love to see more live tournaments at the 125-445 dollar levels with GOOD LONG AND DEEP structures that allow for real play. Vig over 17.5 percent is a joke, and if they take anything out for staff, tipping should not be expected.
Look, if you want to play a proper tournament expect to buyin for 125 bucks or more, cmon. These 75 dollar tournaments where 25 goes to the house is killing poker.
Also, how about some very low vig satellites. There is NO REASON dealers should/would turn down the opportunity to make 15 bucks/hr at satellite dealing, so with 9 entries that's like 5 bucks per person per satty with the extra going to the house for floor, etc. You can have 55 dollar 9 man satty's where the winner can play a 450.
The casinos are CONSTANTLY looking to get immediate ROI out of the rooms and never have the patience to invest 2 yrs or whatever into building a clientele to keep the room busy. A busy pokeroom will ALWAYS make a profit and a slow one will almost always not be worth it for the casino. A lot of this has to do with having to have a brush and or floorperson. The more tables going the more the costs of any non-dealing personnel gets shared, but if there is only one or 2 tables going those costs become prohibitive.