Demographics of those who play during the day on weekdays?
What are people's guesses as to demographics of people who play on weekdays during the day at most "major" poker rooms. I'm not talking about Vegas where obviously there will be lots of tourists, but instead major rooms that are in larger casinos.
My best estimates are:
25% visitors (i.e., people on vacation or there on a day off to enjoy themselves)
20% OMC (i.e., folks who over 65 and there to pass time and who come most days)
20% grinders (i.e., people who are earning - or attempting to earn - a living off poker)
15% rich folks (i.e., people who are wealthy enough that they don't have to work)
10% gamblers dabbling (i.e., people there to do other forms of gambling but who decide for whatever reason to sit down and play some poker)
5% early pensioners (i.e., people who worked for states or cities and were able to retire early and collect a handsome pension)
5% degens (i.e., people who have no job or source of income but also are not winning players and have to beg./borrow/steal to play)
Other thoughts?
13 Replies
In some rooms the OMC percentage is higher. Much higher in Florida.
There is a degen segment who has a job but is constantly calling out to keep playing all day after having just played all night. Also people who run their business from their phone while playing. They are not all in the "rich" category.
Agreed.
The "rich folks" number is probably below 5% especially at places that don't even run anything above 1/3 during the day which should be the vast majority.
Since so many people can work from anywhere these days, some probably will play poker while doing that. I can do >50% of my job from my phone including at the poker table.
I agree there are few rich players during the day, along with few grinders. I also don't think you'll see many "visitors" either. The list is going to be people that don't need to work in an office (getting fewer with the end of Covid) and people who don't work on that day. The majority are retirees, with a fair portion of them being OMCs.
Weekday Days are definitely going to be a much older age bracket than at night or weekends, especially right when the doors open or starting as early as 9am.
Retirees .. Self-employed/business owners .. People with non-standard work weeks .. Sales that are between appointments or don't have anything booked..
I agree that the Visitor rate is too high for two reasons .. it's during the week (most visiting takes place on weekends) and most visitors to a non-Vegas area are out seeing 'the sites' during the day and then come to play at night.
It might be better suited to tell us more about how you're going to 'see' the data or opinions in the next step of your inquiry. GL
Weekday Days are definitely going to be a much older age bracket than at night or weekends, especially right when the doors open or starting as early as 9am.
Retirees .. Self-employed/business owners .. People with non-standard work weeks .. Sales that are between appointments or don't have anything booked..
I agree that the Visitor rate is too high for two reasons .. it's during the week (most visiting takes place on weekends) and most visitors to a non-Vegas area are out seeing 'the sites' durin
visitor rate less than 5%
to state the obvious, the "visitor rate" highly depends on where you play. It's not like Vegas is the only touristy place that has casinos. Not only the super obvious Atlantic City but also places like Biloxi and probably most other casinos close to beaches.
One place that had lots of "poker tourists" in the past was Lake Charles, LA before card rooms in Texas existed. For the same reason people from Northern Texas went to Winstar Casino in Oklahoma. They advertise being the largest casino in the world but the town they're located in is tiny. So technically almost every guest there is a tourist (or business traveler).
I never play day time weekdays so my guess towards the breakout would be meaningless, but I think you’re missing a key demographic - bad regs. Not OMC, not losing their kids college fund or their mortgage payments gambling, just steady losing 5bb/hr - 10bb/hr and telling themselves they’re break even or small losers.
My guess is they represent 50%+ of the players during any time.
If your room ever has 20%+ people playing for a living or making a serious attempt to do so, it’s probably the worst or the best room in the world. Most rooms are dominated by 1/2 and 1/3 games where 90%+ aren’t beating the rake
What are people's guesses as to demographics of people who play on weekdays during the day at most "major" poker rooms. I'm not talking about Vegas where obviously there will be lots of tourists, but instead major rooms that are in larger casinos.
My best estimates are:
25% visitors (i.e., people on vacation or there on a day off to enjoy themselves)
20% OMC (i.e., folks who over 65 and there to pass time and who come most days)
20% grinders (i.e., people who are earning - or attempting to earn - a
For LA I would take out about 10% of the visitors and add a separate category with that 10% for small business owners and contractors with infrequent hours who are not rich by the standards of the area but who can spend some time playing during the week.
Don't forget promo chasers. Jackpot-funded promotions are the only reason a lot of smaller rooms can stay open during the week.
If there were cash games during the day at my local casino I'd certainly play and guess my category would be "someone who doesn't work a 9-5 job and often has weekdays off"
Catchy, isn't it?
My usual card room is in San Jose, CA in the middle of affluent Silicon Valley. Typically there are one to two 2/3/5 NL games going at 7am on a weekday morning, and by 1pm there are 10.
30% young grinders (mostly solid winning players, ages 25-45)
30% affluent people who can afford to lose (ages 35 and up, some solid players)
30% clearly losing players, some look like they can't afford to do this regularly
10% OMC
I'm not seeing any consideration in this thread for people who have jobs but don't work Mon-Fri. What about bartenders or waiters? How about people who manage rental properties or software sales people who work from home? What about self-employed people?
I've known plenty of players who get W-2s or 1099s that get significant time on the tables while "everybody else" is in the office.
