Detroit

When I was at MCC they were only raking 5+2 (except for one dealer taking $6+2).

The 2" sandwiches are basic but you could pop 3 or 4 if hungry and avoid having to leave your table. I won't look a gift horse in the mouth

Didn't seem as action packed as MGM but there are plenty of loose calls seeing the flop

Not a bad alternative for when the wait times at MGM are ridic

Not sure why, but MGM was packed yesterday .. looked like a weekend night. They were running two 'games of the day', being a NL Limit and 15/30 Mixed, but there were plenty of 2/5 tables and 3 PLO tables with deep lists. I didn't really see anything on Bravo that would push Players to the room on a Tuesday, but that was basically a full house. GL

What do people like to eat at MGM? The room not even having snacks kind of sucks.

Back in the day, MGM used to bring in pizza, burgers, chicken sandwiches, potato chips. Of course, Motor City had an even better spread.

Now, not so much.

The other problem with MGM, is that the food court is frequently busy, VERY busy. So busy that it might take you an hour to get a sandwich.

So my advice is to bring a snack with you if you can. The wait times at MGM are simply terrible for food.

I would hope .. hope .. that MGM will follow along with other casinos that allow patrons to order via a QR code and even pay with their comps/poker dollars through the App.

The issue at MGM is that Players aren't allowed to eat in the room, which in itself is time away from the table.

So you have a Player leaving the table to go place an order .. then they come back for a short time and then 'really' go to dinner. Don't think MGM is the only one .. FKeepers (large room) also doesn't allow Players to eat at the table (since Covid).

At least with the QR code .. and text alert when food is ready .. it would eliminate one trip to the food court Players 'have' to take. GL

Is there any way I can check my poker room comp balance at MGM online?

MGM allows eating in the room. I was not aware until last week but someone did it and I then followed.

Paying $23 for Panda Express equivalent isn't ideal...

Changes I am seeing at MGM:
-$1.50/hr comp for 1/3
-rake increased, so in a $25 pot they take 3+2. Cap is still 6+2

Food court is consolidated now, with Coney Island and Pizza in the same area as Diablo and Chinese. More cashiers now.

Didn't see anyone eating in poker room

Greektown closing June 2.

Anyone heard about marked cards at a charity room?

Been to many charity rooms and it's not uncommon to have very old decks of cards in play with 'markings' all over them. I've never found these markings to be in a consistent manner whereas they would provide information to Players 'in the know'. Some of these markings are very difficult to see while the card is in the stub but yet pretty obvious when on the Board (when it's too late, so to speak).

The best way to handle potentially marked cards is to ask the Dealer to set cards aside if mucked or to pause action after a hand so that specific cards can be inspected and possibly replaced. GL

Today was last day for Greektown Poker room. They were giving away all the promo money in High hand promos but I couldn't make it till Friday.

Unfortunately, when I got there, even though Bravo had said they were doing it Friday, they said they were out of money and were doing. $250 HH Sunday (today) until they gave away the last $750.

I was told dealers could take the layoff, transfer to another Penn Gaming property, or go back to table games , if they had previous experience there.

Wow! That was overdue. It was a long, painful death. I remember when it was the only casino that had poker, back when Bill Laimbeer wasn't tipping cocktail waitresses.

Hey all:

I was at MGM last night and finally had a good night. Very odd cards that I got, but a couple/few times, they held up and I scored some big pots.

The room was PACKED around 10 PM when I got there. HOWEVER, after about 1 AM, it started clearing out pretty quickly.

A nice thing was that there were several newbies that were at my table through the night. There were also some real gamblers too.

The rake is absolutely BRUTAL at 1/3. I thinking that it simply may be time to largely play 2/5. I can move back down to 1/3 if there is a juicy opportunity OR not enough 2/5 is running.

One thing though....MGM has a MAJOR problem with their food service operations.

I had a very light dinner, and got REALLY hungry around 1 AM. I just wanted to get something quick, like a slice or two of pizza, or a hamburger. I have a bunch of comps, so that is great. Floor man says the pizza place is open till 3 AM on weekends. So off I go to the food court. Had to wait in line about 15 minutes to place my order. Then I've got to wait in line to get my food.

EVERYTHING was closed EXCEPT for the Coney Island. No pizza, no tacos, no Chinese food, just Coney Island. The Coney Island has LESS space than they had in their previous location. They only have 4 or 5 workers going. They are hopelessly understaffed. The place is a mess. There is not enough seating. Everything looks cheap. Cheap chairs, just not a nice environment that MGM had been known for.

It took me almost an hour to get the hamburger. There were a decent amount of customers, but nothing crazy. Other people were complaining about the wait times.

After I scarfed my burger down, I saw several "suits". I went up to talk to them about the situation. They said it is always like this. Several people called off for being sick, a couple didn't show up. Several didn't want to work past their schedule hours and so on.

My reply was that the way they are running this is very damaging to their brand. I won't waste my time waiting in the future. I'll either leave, or bring a snack in my car. I will NOT wait an hour for a hamburger, even if it is on comps.

I also stated that running a food court, is not "rocket surgery"....IF YOU KNOW workers are going to call off, take steps to minimize that. Over schedule workers, Pay more. Have bonuses (complete 99/100 of your shifts and get a $2k bonus).

There were a couple of hundred people sitting around for an hour, NOT playing the slots, not at table games, not at poker. They are also agitated because of the poor service. A double whammy if you will, not gambling & getting angry.

MGM better figure out where they want to be in the market. If they want to be the leader and best property, they won't stay there like this!

MGM better figure out where they want to be in the market. If they want to be the leader and best property, they won't stay there like this!

I've said for years I want to sit in on some of these meetings so I can absorb the mindset of a casino management team. MGM will be the poker leader going forward unless something major happens in the Detroit market .. like Bally's purchasing Greektown?

It's extremely difficult to staff for two days of the week .. and 3rd shift on top of that. You can say toss money at them all you want .. MGM is a union shop (not sure about the food workers) and if the Poker Dealers are getting something then the rest of the Floor Dealers would want to get the same thing.

It really sucks being on the consumer side of these spots, but every aspect of the casino is looked at by the bean counters. It's very difficult to quantify the intrinsic value of all the solutions we can toss out there for discussion in a 'numbers' world.

I was very close to a poker room that met 9 of it's 10 annual goals .. and yet it was moved and downsized as part of the 'long term' plan within the casino. How do you think the Players and Staff felt about that one?

Could MGM run a 35-40 table room? Again, for a couple days a week sure. But what about overnight Tuesday when there's only 3 tables running at 6am? Could food service generate more sales? Sure, but at what profit and does the facility fully support even a 15% in 'two' daily sales increases when it comes to storage and delivery capabilities?

Bob Evans used to be open 24 hours on weekends 'only' .. it was a nightmare for the staff/managers schedules. I loved it since I worked it when I was in college and a couple of all-nighters' was no big deal. I got paid extra but the 'regular' staff didn't and it was seen as more of a punishment. GL

To be fair to MGM, the poker room was running reasonably smoothly...they were a bit slow on the cage & they are chronically slow at updating their tables openings...but that is relatively minor.

What was a clown show, was the food court & food options. Complete & utter disaster.

I would also guess that well OVER 90% of the people trying/waiting to get food were NOT poker players. The vast majority looked like slot players...maybe some table game players?

In the "before times", sure you had to wait a bit, but it was not as bad as it is now. MGM also used to have larger/more food options.

If MGM can't do a service reasonably well, then they should think of not offering it. Maybe just have some vending machine for snacks? They could replace the food court with MOAR slot machines and then the $$$$$$$$ would come rolling in!

Let me me get this straight.

They are making it difficult to use comps.

Used Comps are an expense with no revenue.

There is no place else to play.

Makes sense to management.

Well yes, your line of thinking does make perfect sense in a certain way....BUT:

A). How many of the people in the food court are using comps vs. paying cash? Probably MOST are using comps, even a solid majority, but I would be willing to wager something that about 25% might be paying cash for part or all of their food. The prices are heightened, so any cash sale SHOULD be very profitable.

B). How many of the people waiting 45 minutes to get a hamburger are anxious to get back to the slot machines OR table games OR poker room? I would be willing to bet that maybe 1/2 or more are. What is 30 minutes of somebody playing a slot machine worth to the casino? Quite a bit I would think!

C). How many people that are just "regular" gamblers are going to be put off by the bad setup/service? Almost every single one I would think. Customers will also be thinking: "MGM is the premier property in the Detroit market. This sucks, I'm hungry and want to eat. They can't feed me. MGM is NOT the best property." Greektown closed their poker room, but you've still got Motorcity & Windsor. You've also got online, you've also got numerous charity rooms around the Detroit Metro area. IF you are willing to drive just a bit, you can easily get to Toledo & Kalamazoo & some other Indian casinos. So there certainly is competition for poker. There is even more competition for casinos with slot machines.

I would also argue that IF you are going to offer a product OR service, do it well OR don't do it at all. Maybe MGM could get rid of 3/4 of the food court and put in a bunch of vending machines. IF a customer is VERY hungry, then they can get a bag of chips, peanuts, a candy bar, or other small snack. They could have 1 guy simply refilling them every few hours. Could you imagine the profit margins on a $2 bag of chips from a vending machine?

D). MGM Detroit does not operate in a vacuum. That is, if a patron is put off with the quality/service in Detroit, how likely are they to play/stay at other MGM properties? If Detroit is a poorly run operation, then maybe Vegas is too? Why take the risk? Go to Wynn, Venetian or another high end property. 1 bad property can damage the brand reputation and other properties.

I'll continue to play at MGM, as that is where the action is at the moment....the SECOND that changes, I'm gone. No loyalty from me!

Screw the unwashed masses.

Put food back in the poker room.

I was able to get food @mgm from Coney island yesterday around 4pm without a line and the order was out within a few minutes. Wait times are definitely going to vary depending on demand so plan ahead.

I remember waiting 45 min for a sandwich at the MCC deli. There, you're better off just getting Little Caesars. "Hot and ready". In a pinch, MCC poker room has those tiny sandwiches and potato chips for players.
MCC recently followed the rake increase to $6+2, which could be worse than MGM bc they're still stuck at 1/2 stakes.

How is your player market?

I loved Greektown many moons ago.......

It is generally worse now than it was years ago. A lot of the degen regs have left the scene. A lot of casual players that would be out with their friends, for a party/gathering or convention are also much scarcer these days than in the before times.

A lot of the Chaldean party/liquor store owners have left the scene too. They were great for action.

It also seems that a lot of players have just gotten somewhat better as time passes. Guys that lose and show A high, exclaiming, "I was drawing to having a pair", are pretty much gone.

It also seems that a lot more 1/3 players are playing short stacked.

The rake has increased. The freebies & benefits have generally decreased.

With that being said, MGM will frequently have a FULL room (or very close to it) on weekend nights. They will also spread games larger than 2/5. So there is action there. Motor City has slowed down tremendously now that their room has moved.

I haven't been to Windsor in a while, but it seems to be the nicest/cleanest casino?

Just my thoughts & observations.

Thank you. They do play short-stacked. I remember I was there last year when they were on strike. They are the worst dealers ever.

They (Detroit) still have a lot of charity games people attend?

I have been to a couple of charity rooms. There are not as many people going as in the before times.

HOWEVER, there is CRAZY action at the cash games. That is the good news. The bad news is that it is sometimes impossible to get on a table. Sometimes the charity will sell out of chips.

There have been a few times in the past year where I waited for over an hour for a cash game spot and could not get one. There was also a time where they sold out of chips about an hour after I started playing. So there is not quite a 50/50 chance that I can't get seated OR they sell out of chips.

I hear there are some good games on the WESTSIDE of town, but I don't get out there as often as I should.