Merrion Rumors

DeVore

Huckleberry banned. He signed up with the email "bobbylemotta@hotmail.com" in case anyone is interested. Anyone know him?

DeV.

dropsy

Something else that either club could do to promote themselves might be some kind of loyalty programme aimed at the (presumably) money making side of the house. Maybe a points programme for spending money at the tables - points which could be converted into Poker Tourney entries etc. I know that in the U.S. Harrahs have some of the best Customer Loyalty programmes of any industry and their level of repeat business from customers is extremely good.

I know that in the Merrion at least (never been to the Fitz but I assume that their club structure means the same) they have a record of all customers that come in - seems a shame to have that kind of customer information and not at least try to use it to market the clubs better....maybe ask for permission to gather and use email addresses for a newsletter, inform of special offers etc.

Dropsy

Kelter

Personally if I were marketing manager I’d remove the tournaments, and make the cash games higher stakes. I don’t think the fitz make much off the punters on this website. They make it off the high rollers, who can be seen winching in their seats when the place is so hot and sweaty from the big cheap tournaments.

Also lets just look at what happens at the break. A bunch of tight fisted young fellas crowd around the black jack and roulette tables and discuss how stupid you would be to play on them.

When I plat black jack I play for €3 or €5. You have guys on the table playing for €25 or €50 a go. All I am is an annoyance to him and make him likely to leave.

Basically what I’m saying is that they actively shouldn’t encourage people who are interested in gimmicks your talking about

Waylander

Kelter wrote:

When I plat black jack I play for €3 or €5. You have guys on the table playing for €25 or €50 a go. All I am is an annoyance to him and make him likely to leave.

You shouldn't be so hard on yourself Kelter! I am sure soembody out there does not consider you to be an annoyance.

DeVore

How and when did the old-timer with a wallet stuffed with notes get addicted to BJ?

How and when did those high roller cash players learn to play NLH in the first place.

DeV.

Davey Devil

Kelter wrote:

Personally if I were marketing manager I’d remove the tournaments, and make the cash games higher stakes.

You wouldn't last long in the job, tournaments bring the punters in. Without them you'd just have the same old faces in the club every week.

henbane

DeVore wrote:

How and when did the old-timer with a wallet stuffed with notes get addicted to BJ?

How and when did those high roller cash players learn to play NLH in the first place.

I'd say it's highly likely a majority of the older players only came to the conclusion that serious gambling was a good past time once they had made their money. We are probably the first generation (in this country anyway) to want gambling which suits our meagre resources.

Fitz is busy trying to win hearts and minds and the merrion is catching up. I don't see either casino abandoning the younger crowd in an attempt to appeal exclusively to the well heeled players but Kelter raises an interesting point. At what point are you losing business by mixing your high rollers with your young poker enthusiasts? When does it cease to be profitable? What percentage of young players are likely to stay around in their later years when mortgages/families etc start to become priorities?

Spiritus

henbane wrote:

...when mortgages/families etc start to become priorities?

What are you talking about? With some careful budgeting these should never become priorities.

henbane

Spiritus wrote:

What are you talking about? With some careful budgeting these should never become priorities.

I'm talking about the normals with their responsibilities and ambitions and such.

Spiritus

Surely none of them are on Boards

dropsy

Kelter wrote:

Basically what I’m saying is that they actively shouldn’t encourage people who are interested in gimmicks your talking about

Casino's are just like any business - you need a mix of big customers - high rollers and small. It's next to impossible to survive long term with out both. In the US, the casino's all know that their poker rooms make a lot less money per sq metre than slots or tables but they still have poker rooms because they pul in people that might not otherwise be in a casino. They also locate them so that poker players have to walk past slots and tables to get to and from them - the Merrion recently moved poker tables 1 & 2 upstiars near the tables, presumably for the same reason.

Quite apart from the young poker players who may end up playing at the tables (and as I see it, the only time that you want to discourage small stakes players at the tables is if they are taking seats that higher rollers might play in - which is more of a space issue), what about trying to encourage young and older people who gamble in other ways - horses, football etc - the Betfair lounge in the Merrion is proably there for that reason. Point being, there is a large untapped market of gamblers out there, a lot of whom I bet don't even know about the Merrion and Fitz - surely the two clubs should be trying to attract and retain those kind of punters too. If poker is the way to get them into the club and some kind of loyalty programme is the way to get them coming back, then surely that is what the clubs should be doing?

DeVore

Remember during the week there are big games on (100 FO, 50/50 etc) its really only on Wed/Thurs that these crowds become an issue so they can have their cake and eat it. Ideally the merrion should be able to accomodate high rollers and beginners more easily given the compartmentalisation of the building.

In the states they separate the high rollers from the public and give them additional perks.

DeV.

Hyzepher

Spiritus wrote:

Surely none of them are on Boards

*ahem!!* cough!

Hyzepher

henbane

Hyzepher wrote:

*ahem!!* cough!

I think he just choked on his mortgage payment

Spiritus

I hope he prioritused it sensibly

Spiritus

My spelking!

mewso

It's interesting having returned from the US and Atlantic City to see the difference. For one thing poker is all over the TV. I was watching celebrity poker, WSOP poker (ESPN are showing the final table of every event from the WSOP 2004).
Walk into a poker room in any of the 5 or 6 big casinos and they are packed round the clock, 50-70 tables. Most of them are playing cash games and I imagine it's a situation where cash game rakes actually do make money for the casino.
I was in my element when I saw it. For my low budget I could sit at a 2/4 limit holdem game (SB=$1, BB=$2) and buy-in for $40.
The choice available is incredible in it's difference. 7 card stud/omaha high-low, limit/pot-limit/no-limit.
Now obviously the casinos in Dublin cannot match this kind of choice. It takes 50 tables plus and the customer basic would not be there. Having said that some kind of limit holdem or omaha would probably be quite popular.
I'm no expert on the realities of these casinos. Do you want to attract more players when you don't have the tables or the dealers to cope? Do you therefore want to add more space and tables, hire more dealers and risk not having the demand?
As far as getting the numbers in I think the Fitz got lucky. I'm absolutely convinced that boards.ie was the main spur in take-up on the thursday free-roll. You can even date it by looking at the Poker Links sticky. Before I posted that topic I had been at the thursday freeroll twice and both times no more than 20 turned up. Within 2 weeks of this forum opening the place was mobbed.
Besides boards I agree they both need to improve their websites. Neither site is kept up to date and I honestly think they do not see the importance of it. Alot of people not working in the web development area dont realise how hugely effective it can be to have a website that is up to date.
In fairness I actually found and visited the Fitz based on a web search. At the time I thought the web site looked dodgy and expected to be told that the tourney I was looking for was done away with. Instead I walked into a room at 8.30 and met Luke. The place was empty. How things have changed.