I am having a difficult time understanding why poker rooms continue in
lemming fa****on to pay exorbitant amounts of money to install and use the
Bravo or Genesis systems in poker.
The systems cost mountains of money to purchase, and or mountains of
money to lease. The cost of training and the costs of a staff becoming
proficient in its implementation add more to it’s dead weight status.
The biggest , and most obvious drawback is that it costs poker rooms
hundreds of hands a week , thus resulting in thousands of dollars a week
in lost revenue. When hundreds of dealers, in hundreds of game hours,
swipe in and out thousands of players, it costs a room hundreds of hands a
week or month. They lose hands in dealing with the minor glitches, which
result in stopping a game and calling for floor assistance. The systems
clutter a poker layout with the swiping mechanism and the video monitor,
thus causing dealing procedures to be altered or changed completely.
And what are the resulting benefits?
Every 5 or 10 hours , a player who adds nothing to your room , a player
who would never deserve a comp for any other reason accrues enough points
to demand a hot dog. In accruing these points he has been swiped in and
out 30 times , and made 7 seat changes , resulting in slowing the game
down , costing the room 2 or 3 hands in his 9.37 hours of play. Not only
does the room pay for the hot dog, but they end up losing 8 to 12 dollars
in rake revenue and their staff must assist in do***enting his actions
electronically.
I chose to use this example because players like Hot Dog Harry are the
only types of players who gain by electronic monitoring. Any competent
****ft manager, or floor person knows, or can recognize, the obvious
“valued guest”. They know who comes in 6 days a week to start their big
game in the mornings. They know who plays 6 to 10 hours a day. They know
the “producers” who single handedly keep games alive. They know the wives
and girlfriends who accompany these people who provide them with a means
to make a living. They know who will play short handed , and who will try
to break down short handed games because they want to combine games. They
get to know the hordes of players who play their small games, day in day
out. These are the people who need to be taken care of on a personal level
rather than on an electronic basis, where rewards are offered on a
strictly “time served” basis.
Good management can recognize good customers and they know how to take
care of them.
Some may argue that the system doesn’t slow the game down. That would be
incorrect. Dealers must swipe in . Players are swiped in and out , and
every move a player makes must be answered with a swipe or a manipulation
of the video monitor. These things take a small amount of time. Until a
dealer becomes extremely proficient, I think it costs at least one hand
per down. After they become proficient I think it costs ˝ a hand a down.
When you do the math on thousands of downs a month , it adds up to some
serious money .
When you add these costs to the lease or purchase price, and add the
costs of treating your customers like a time and data entry, instead of
like people, I don’t see why anyone of sound mind and body would ever
consider implementing this system .
Bars and restaurants have systems that monitor inventory, and track every
sale. This deals with a product and its purchase and sale.
When you are dealing with people in a people business, electronic
tracking costs you too much and provides too little.
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