Excalibur Poker Room closed live operations at Midnight on Monday, August 18th, 2008.
The room will be reopening on Friday, August 22nd at 6PM, as an all electronic poker room, with dealer-less pokertek electronic tables.
Summary of Important Information:

: Number of tables: 12

: Electronic Table Rake: 10%/$3 max (no jackpot)

: The wheel spin for aces cracked, high hand spins, and the Bad Beat Jackpot are all history

: This was a property level decision. MGM Mirage Corporation is quick to point out that this was decided strictly on a property level and was not a decision made by the corporation, but by the Excalibur property itself.

: The current jackpot funds will be carried over to the new room and used to fund promotions within the new eroom. These promotions will more then likely include freerolls (with certain number of hours played required to qualify), and other promotions.

Players that wish to play traditional live poker will be directed to Luxor or Mandalay Bay, which is a short walk through the connected walkway through Excalibur. Excalibur will not have any traditional poker tables available for play.

: Over 40 poker dealers and cashiers were laid off due to the transition.

The first few months of the tables use is considered a gaming "Trial period". The Nevada Gaming Commission approved the tables for a gaming trial. During the trial, gaming (and all gaming companies in Nevada) will be keeping a close eye on the Excalibur poker room.

: LasVegasMichael and AllVegasPoker (Doug) were interviewed by CBS local news in Las Vegas concerning this. Please see the youtube videos posted on the top of the forum.
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For anyone that would like to voice their comments, complaints, or compliments concerning the decision to go electronic at Excalibur, I now have the direct e-mail addresses of the two decision makers that are responsible for making the Excalibur an electronic poker room.
Todd DeRemer: Excalibur Vice President of Casino Operations
email:
TDeremer@mgmmirage.com
Renee West: Excalibur Chief Executive Officer
email:
RWest@mgmmirage.com
I STRONGLY encourage all AVP'ers to voice their opinions regarding this decision to the two individuals listed above, whether positive or negative. AVP Members are truly a strong voice in the Las Vegas Poker world, and it is imperative that all of our voices are heard.
Thank you!