Excalibur Poker Room Going to ALL Electronic Tables on 8/22

[LasVegasMichael]

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.



+++++++

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!

[suited76]

Hopefully not a trend that continues up the strip!

[implantclinics.com]

guess I wont be playing excal anymore

[AlaskaGal]

Wow, that's huge. This is a first for Vegas isn't it?

[lesvegas]

Whats next? Will they increase room rates to compensate for fewer travellers? Remove meat from the buffet? Stop serving free drinks?

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

[LasVegasMichael]

Yes, this is the first in Nevada.

Most of those dealers have been there since 1990. All are full time, and can be expected to be laid off.

This is a very dark day in Vegas poker, and cold hard proof that the poker boom is long over.

[AlaskaGal]

I can't say that I won't ever go back there because I am a little curious about how these electronic tables work. I will probably stop in there and try them just to say I have done it but after that, I doubt I will be back.

It is sad that people are losing their jobs and I kind of liked the Excalibur room. I think it was the first place I played live poker on the strip.

[Railbird]

Ugh! Hope this is not the beginning of a trend. Doesn't really affect me much though and furthers my liking of the mid to north Strip area.

[talon1964]

Excalibur was the first live room that I ever played poker in. It is a very sad day, I hope it doesn't become a mainstay in Vegas.

[speedym79]

Wow, that is very unfortunate I'm glad I played there a couple nights ago, I guess for the final time. I feel sorry for the dealers, but hopefully they will get a severance package or at least be able to retire, since most probably will not be able to get work elsewhere.

[HLV Poker Guy]

Hello all,

Originally posted by "that pope" in the Excal thread, and confirmed by me over the phone with Gail, the Swing Shift Manager, the Excalibur will be going to all electronic tables as of August 18th, 2008.

The Excalibur is one of the oldest continuously operating poker rooms on the Strip. Almost all the dealers there have been dealing cards at the Excal since they opened in 1990.

This is truly a sad day for the employees of the Excalibur, and for Vegas poker players in general.

So, anyone want to hazard a guess as to how long it lasts before the tables are more expensive than they are worth?

[LasVegasMichael]

I sincerely hope that this fails sooner rather then later.

The Excal has always been a budget minded room.

All extra board dealers were laid off months ago, leaving only the long term full timers dealing in the room.

They only have 4 autoshufflers, out of 11 tables, yet on a typical weeknight, you would see at least 6 live games running, with more on the weekend. Though they recently got new felts and new chairs, it has always been obvious that the room was running on quite a tight overall budget.

Thing is, the room is always busy. It has 4K hotel rooms above it, and there are over 15K rooms on that corner. The room has always appeared to be a financially successful poker room. I would have expected this from one of the smaller, newer rooms, but to come from Excalobur is truly shocking to me.

[Gravel]

Our local Casino is in the process of adding a 10 table poker room as part of it ongoing expansion, increased parking, more slots, and adding an entertainment venue, basically becoming more like a Vegas Casino. For the last 8 months they have had 2 electronic poker tables that at first were popular but are now sitting empty most of the time I was told they will remove them when the new "live" room opens. I tried these tables and I didn't like it, I like the feel of the cards and handling the chips. 50 hands an hour plus or minus. In one 3 hour sesion the table I was at had a straight flush, 4 four of a kinds and so many full houses I wonder what kind of RGN process they use. Most of the better player are going to wait the 7 to 8 months for the real poker room to open. When I travel to vegas I will avoid these tables and support those rooms that support live poker and provide an income for dealers that from time to time contribute to an excellent poker experience.
Just my 2 cents

[minton]

hopefully this tanks horribly and no other rooms will try it. I played on them in Memphis, I would rather play online at home, the tables have their place (mainly cruise ships and other small 1 or 2 table venues)

I think it will get some interest early as people try it out, but I don't think it will last very long

[Railbird]

Just like I won't go through the automatic checkout at the grocery with no teller I won't play poker in a casino without a dealer present..... ya gotta have some kind of principles in life.

Seriously, I cannot imagine this being a good idea unless a casino is just ready to give up on poker and shut their room down, which is basically how I take it.