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I received a tip today from a visitor who noticed that Excalibur raised the rake on all its limit Texas Hold'em games to $4.00. I called the Excalibur poker room, and the bad news was confirmed. This sucks, but it was inevitable. Most of the poker rooms on the strip are moving to a $4 max rake, even on the lower limit games. If you want the lowest rake in Vegas, you might consider the El Cortez which regularly rakes only $2.50 max.
Also, the same visitor mentioned that the Excalibur is now regularly spreading a $2/4 limit Texas Hold'em game. Evidently this $2/4 game has $1/2 blinds, and it is cutting into the market for daytime $2-6 spread limit game.
This move by Excalibur strikes me as unusual. The Excalibur poker room has been known for years as the place to go for low spread limit action. Almost every other poker room in Vegas offer $2/4, but none of them regularly offer spread limit games. This was Excalibur's niche, and I'm surprised Excalibur would want to risk diluting it.
On the other hand, I understand that management at Excalibur probably realized that beginning players want a $2/4 game, because that's all that beginners are familiar with. If beginning players were walking away from the Excalibur because a $2/4 game was not regularly offered, then it makes sense to accommodate that market; even if it does cannibalize the spread limit action.
The visitor who submitted the tip offered another possible reason behind Excalibur's move. He said the word on the street is that Excalibur is making more money on the $2/4 game than from the rake at the $2/6. I don't know if this is true, but I would be willing to bet he's on to something.
One sliver of good news is that at least players at the $2/4 game are eligible for the jackpot bonuses and the cash wheel spin.
Thanks very much to the visitor who contributed this tip. If you have any more information about the Excalibur poker room, or news about any other poker room in Las Vegas, please send an e-mail to info@allvegaspoker.com. All sources are confidential.
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