Poker is dying a slow death

Flopped_Nuts

At least in Brantford....

Popped in there last Thursday and they had a massive 4 tables going. Bad beat was under 20k, which may help explain the emptiness of the place. Spoke with a long time dealer and he said that the room has been struggling for players. I asked him about their tournies and he said they can be a hit or a miss.

GTA Poker

everyone is solid

Wetts1012

Limit tho.

Woodbine is thriving.

Popkorn

I agree, and with the Ex starting soon it will only be worse. But then a lot of players were down in Vegas for wsop, and port perry lost their Omaha game on the weekdays, which will definitely hurt the limit games in both brantford and port perry. It's a ripple effect.

DataMn

Whenever I've played at Woodbine I've run into a number of regulars that I know from Brantford. They all are trying to take advantage of the fish that are swimming to Woodbine.

Buzzzardd

DataMn;355589 wroteWhenever I've played at Woodbine I've run into a number of regulars that I know from Brantford. They all are trying to take advantage of the fish that are swimming to Woodbine.

Was it a long swim for you Al?:D

BlondeFish

While poker is thriving at Woodbine, it is dying at other rooms such as Brantford and Georgian Downs. Georgian Downs has the best promotions and the best Deep Stack tournaments scheduled, but I'm the only forumer that has been taking advantage of them! :confused:

It needs to re-run the "Tournament of Champions" promotion if it has any hope of finding a niche to avoid getting swallowed up by the black hole called Woodbine. If it doesn't, it will become even more empty for both tournaments & cash games when Woodbine gets around to starting up its supposedly approved tournaments. Just like Mohawk, OLG might as well transfer the unused electronic tables over to Woodbine, which will need more room to accommodate the increased demand once the tournaments start.

As for Brantford, I remember that just about every $2K & $1K tournament I played there used to be sold out, but now there are so many unsold tables for all the $130-$330 tournaments I have played there this year. If it fails to gain the support of forumers and the rest of the local poker community, then some of those rarely-used poker tables may eventually be replaced by even more slots machines. :'(

Flopped_Nuts;355559 wroteAt least in Brantford....
:
I asked him about their tournies and he said they can be a hit or a miss.

westside8

People won't go if they don't know if a tournament runs or not.

GTA Poker

Nice to see that the crappy Ontario rooms are getting what they deserve in terms of traffic. It is unfortunate that the result will be more slots and that the casinos will not lose any money from their poorly run poker rooms failing.

BlondeFish

Woodbine's 11 NL tables in Toronto have been the game changer. Poker-hungry players finally have a legal option within TO, so Niagara Falls, illegal clubs, and the limit-only casinos have been declining. Even players in Mississauga can take public transit to Woodbine. Gamblers can drop off their family at the Woodbine shopping mall, Fantasy Fair and other nearby diversions while they play. Even the old-fashioned players and the losing players who insist that online & electronic poker are rigged :rolleyes: like being able to play in TO at 40-60 hands/hour, 50¢/hour cash reward, and no tips.

For tournaments, I have actually been pleasantly surprised that there are now more playable tournaments in Ontario than ever. :cool2: Unfortunately, it seems that forumers & other players have less poker bankroll now and the tournament players in Brantford, GBH, Fallsview and Point Edward keep going down. With the exception of the 2-table Mohawk, the excellent electronic tournaments have not yet gained support, especially in empty Georgian Downs.

Woodbine will again be the game changer, as many of the players there understand that an automated system have even more advantages for a tournament than their cash game. It can become the #1 tournament site if/when it runs the OLG $220+$10 and $530+$20 Deep Stack :h: events.

Read "OLG financial records raise red flag" for some interesting trends about gambling in Ontario (the part about the resort casinos losing money is inaccurate).

GTA Poker;355615 wroteNice to see that the crappy Ontario rooms are getting what they deserve in terms of traffic.

kk_rush

I'm not so sure....the last time I was at GBH, the games were running just fine with large wait lists....although I suspect it was due to the Big Bad Beat jackpot being pretty large at the time.

JohnnieH

I don't think it's 'dying a slow death'. It's been around for decades, I'm sure it will survive for many more.

Local interest has just waned, that's all. I've noticed a big drop off in home game attendance, but that happens.

It's also summer now. Hard for the casinos to compete with the garden centres and patios this time of year. It will pick up soon, I'm sure.

GTA Poker

Good article

TheCoordinator

Brantford Poker room is very well run compared to rooms ive played in the area. As per traffic, its summer, once fall comes they'll mass back to the poker rooms. Dont over analyze these statistics, poker will never die.

Flopped_Nuts

TheCoordinator;355647 wroteBrantford Poker room is very well run compared to rooms ive played in the area. As per traffic, its summer, once fall comes they'll mass back to the poker rooms. Dont over analyze these statistics, poker will never die.

I agree that Brantford is a well run room. The "poker is dying" statement came from the long time poker dealer I spoke with while at Brantford. Every year Brantford and other poker rooms suffer when the CNE opens, but the CNE wasn't/isn't open.

I like Brantford and some of the tournaments they offer, but I won't be making trips out there if all that is there is only 4-5 tables of regulars or half full tournaments.