Builidng a Top Section: My Advice to Hustler Management or any struggling cardroom-Part One
Valentino Rossi
If you were the Hustler poker room manager, how would you go about
rebuilding it?
The first thing to realize is that there is no "magic bullet" that is
going to magically bring dozens of top section players through the
doors everynight. Giving away money e.g. car giveaways, sports
drawings, freerolls, etc., is not going to create regular customers.
Building a poker top section in L.A. is going take time and must be
done one regular customer at a time.
The second thing to realize is that top sections are built like a
pyramid. The lower limit games provide a pool of players from which
the bigger games draw their players.
There is no cardroom that spreads a single table of brown chip action
without at least spreading four yellow chip games.
There is no cardroom that spreads two tables of yellow chip action
without at least spreading eight $6-12/$9-$18 games
The third thing to realize is that if you spread "sucker games," i.e.
games where the rake/drop is so large that the games cannot be beat
the games will not be self-sustaining and the action will never grow.
This means that the Commerce "bend over, rape me, and don't even kiss
me in the morning" low limit drop is not going to get the job done.
You must lower the price that is charged to play $6-$12 through
$10-$20 poker, i.e. lowering the drop to $3 per hand or $5/ 1/2 hr. or
the equivalent in these games.
The objective is not to break the players in the quickest possible
time but to get them to come back two or more times per week, week
after week, year after year, until they die of extreme old age.
Remember the adage--you can shear a sheep many times but you can only
kill it and eat it once.
Do not fall under the misconception, prevalent among many cardroom
managers, that poker players are a pack of degenerate, self
destructive, gambling addicted, losers who just have to gamble and
will put their money into action in whatever crappy game the casino
deigns to lay down.
Poker players play because they want to win money by what, in their
minds, constitutes skillful play. They may not be playing all that
skillfully, but in their own minds they are playing because they can
"outplay" the other players and get their money.
Poker players are fully aware of what they are paying to play and are
fully aware of the effect a Commerce level "bend over, rape me, and
don't even kiss me in the morning" low limit drop does to their
winning prospects.
You should also lower the rake/drop to selective players by giving out
some comps but be selective in the players you comp.
The players you want to "take care of" are the regular players who
play everyday, give the cardroom $1,000's of dollars of collection
every year, and act as unpaid props, making sure the games start
everyday.
A dozen of these regular players are worth as much as 4 or 5 props
whom the cardroom pays $15/hr. plus benefits. If you can attract and
retain these players, the money spent on comps is less than the
salaries you would have to spend on props if you didn't have them
You can comp these selective players by giving them coupons for free
food, buying them a sweatshirt in the gift shop, having a player
rewards program like the Bicycle Player Rewards Program, or even
giving them an entry card to the VIP parking lot.
Many cardroom blow $1,000's on mindless promotions, like superbowl
drawings and raffles, that have no effect on their long term
profitability. You can get much more bang for each marketing dollar
spent if the money is carefully targeted to where it will have the
most effect---at attracting and retaining a core of regular players.
Most players at these limits never get anything from the casino and
are almost pathetically grateful (unlike the players at the bigger
limits who are sometime shockingly ungrateful) for any crumbs thrown
their way.
The final thing to realize is that building the foundation of your top
section (10-15 tables of $6-$12 to $10-$20 daily weekday action) is
going to take time (6 months or more).
Don't expect to lower the collection and free stuff giveaways to
bring scores of players through the door next week. The lower
collection and selective comps are going to act like water running
over and slowly eroding a rock.
On any given day you won't see that much change in the action, but
over time, business will steadily pick up and once the foundation of
$6-12-$10-$20 games are established you can start worrying about the
bigger games.
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Bennett Niizawa
> The Hustler Top Section is gone.
>
> If you were the Hustler poker room manager, how would you go about
> rebuilding it?
Why isn't there a one-night-a-week course in Effective Cardroom Management
Techniques offered at, oh, Cal-State Northridge or something?
Sounds like some of these cardroom management types could use a couple of
extra units...
_________________________________________________________________
Posted using RecPoker.com - http://www.recpoker.com
Octo the Genarian
I'm just curious, are you employed in the industry? I may have missed a post
where you mentioned this or something. I only ask because you seem to have a
very keen interest in the business side of LA poker for a mere player.
Again, I'm just curious. Obviously you're not a shill.
"Valentino Rossi" <valenti...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3e5fcb7b...@mammoth.usenet-access.com...
Acesover
most effective plans are the simple, and obvious ones.
Acesover
_________________________________________________________________
Terrence Chan
<thisis...@email.address> wrote:
>Your posts are interesting and I would imagine quite valuable to CA players.
>I'm just curious, are you employed in the industry? I may have missed a post
>where you mentioned this or something. I only ask because you seem to have a
>very keen interest in the business side of LA poker for a mere player.
Almost as though he were a university economics or business professor,
no?
--
Terrence Chan
http://www.sfu.ca/~tchand/
remove dashes to reply via e-mail
Octo the Genarian
> Almost as though he were a university economics or business professor,
> no?
>
Not really. Academics typically do not use web-based e-mail accounts.
Marc Gilutin
I'm taking the liberty here of guessing that at least part of your
play is at the Bike.
If you ever get there during the week...and during the day...please
stop and say hi at the $6-12 Omaha (where I seem to spend most of my
life).
Marc Gilutin
Chris Leishear
"Octo the Genarian" <thisis...@email.address> wrote in message
news:b3pd3u$l29$1...@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu...
> Not really. Academics typically do not use web-based e-mail accounts.
Or change their user names every few months?
-Chris
Bjgkaraoke
>
>Or change their user names every few months?
>
>-Chris
In any event, LA poker would improve considerably if some of his suggestions
were adopted. Not holding my breath for that to happen, though.
On the other hand, the Bicycle has started to improve their business
dramatically with the promotions designed to reward their regular customers.
In the few weeks I've been there, I've seem marked improvement in their
business.
Barbara Gallamore
whisper
built in a terrible location. I do not believe anyone can be
successful on that corner with a card room. The days are over when all
anyone needs to do is get a license and build a card room and they
will meet with instant success. Commerce has all the business and it
is next to impossible to compete with them. They are too far in front.
I can't drive to the Hustler when they have one or maybe two yellow
chip games and sit for an hour or two waiteing for the props to get
off so I can get a seat when I can go to Commerce and get in a game
emediately.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----------== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Uncensored Usenet News ==----------
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>
> Posted using RecPoker.com - http://www.recpoker.com
location. I don't care who runs it it not going to be a successful
card room. No one can compete with Commerce. They have all the games.
No one in his right mind would drive to the Hustler when they have one
or maybe two games and sit around for an hour or more waiteing for the
props to get off so they can get a seat. The Hustler will never be a
paying proposition and " you can take that to the bank".
Octo the Genarian
> > Not really. Academics typically do not use web-based e-mail accounts.
>
> Or change their user names every few months?
>
Who was Valentino Rossi before? I don't remember noticing him.
Lone Locust of the Apocalypse
>Not really. Academics typically do not use web-based e-mail accounts.
They do if they don't want to mix work/fun, or just want to post
from a different address to try to minimize spam cluttering their
real mailbox, or...
Octo the Genarian
>
> They do if they don't want to mix work/fun, or just want to post
> from a different address to try to minimize spam cluttering their
> real mailbox, or...
Yeah I know, I know. I just found Terrence's post rather annoying and needed
a reason to disagree with it.
T. Pascal
> The Hustler Top Section is gone.
>
> If you were the Hustler poker room manager, how would you go about
> rebuilding it?
>
can use me as a reference.