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Sands PA - Review
| August 23rd, 2010 at 5:45:07 PM permalink | |
| DJTeddyBear Member since: Nov 2, 2009 Threads: 92 Posts: 4928 | The dealer DID immediately expose a second card, but the Bad Beat? Makes me say 'Hmmm....' I've seen similar good decisions in regular casinos. It's an awfully small price to pay for good P.R. Plus, you're right. They get it back quick enough. Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown.
But how much does it cost to knock on wood? |
| August 23rd, 2010 at 7:18:48 PM permalink | |
| teddys Member since: Nov 14, 2009 Threads: 87 Posts: 2305 | These are situations where it pays to know the Wizard's tables. I was playing recently and the dealer misdealed (forgot a spot) and the (smart) pit boss let us play it out or pull our bets back. The dealer had a nine showing and I had 18. I pulled my bet back, and everyone was shocked, but then she flipped over 19 ... "If you can make one heap of all your winnings / And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss / And lose, and start again at your beginnings / And never breathe a word about your loss..." -Rudyard Kipling |
| August 24th, 2010 at 5:48:26 AM permalink | |
| DJTeddyBear Member since: Nov 2, 2009 Threads: 92 Posts: 4928 | Hell, you don't need the Wizard's tables for that. The beginer's stupid/simple strategy is 'assume the dealer has a ten-value card'. That being the case, why were they shocked when you pulled back? People are idiots sometimes. Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown.
But how much does it cost to knock on wood? |
| August 24th, 2010 at 8:53:39 AM permalink | |
| teddys Member since: Nov 14, 2009 Threads: 87 Posts: 2305 | They think 18 is a good hand for some reason. As has been shown previously on this board, hard 18 is a net loser overall. "If you can make one heap of all your winnings / And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss / And lose, and start again at your beginnings / And never breathe a word about your loss..." -Rudyard Kipling |
| January 2nd, 2011 at 6:26:41 AM permalink | |
| DJTeddyBear Member since: Nov 2, 2009 Threads: 92 Posts: 4928 | I was at the Sands yesterday and noticed a couple little changes. They expanded the poker room. FYI: It was never a 'room' and still isn't. It's merely an area on the main floor with a 3' tall wrought iron fence/wall around it. They got rid of a bunch of nearby slot machines and the 'room' is now "L" shaped. It went from 12 tables that were always full in the afternoon, to 23 tables. The busiest it got yesterday was 20 tables. One game was $4/$8 Omaha Hi-Lo. People reacted like they normally don't have that game, so I guess they are expanding the offerings too. I asked. Tournaments will be coming some time in February. Maybe there was a PA regulation that got changed. Now the Sands (like Mt Airy) allows re-buys at the table. The cash stays in the rack, and a runner comes by occasionally to get the cash and return chips to the rack. The yellow $2 rake-only chips were gone. The odd way they handle an exposed card has not changed. The one time it happened yesterday, the dealer did NOT deliberately expose a second card. Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown.
But how much does it cost to knock on wood? |
| January 6th, 2011 at 7:59:20 AM permalink | |
| pacomartin Member since: Jan 14, 2010 Threads: 508 Posts: 5164 |
The 12 poker tables had been the most profitable on a per table basis of any casino in PA. People were complaining about the long waits to get in a game. It was long overdue for them to add more tables. ============================== Reposting Travel tips The 300 room hotel at the casino is still under construction and is not scheduled to open until May 2011. The restaurants in the casino are not priced at a discount like the restaurants in Vegas. There are almost 60 hotels and motels in the Lehigh Valley, but these 4 are the only ones within a 5 mile drive of the Casino. 1) The hotel that is directly off the Interstate 78 exit to the casino is a Holiday Inn Express . It is 2.2 miles from the casino and opened in 2006. I wouldn't recommend it, as it is only about $10 cheaper than the other options, and it is very isolated. Waffle House next door Crossroads 550 yards, pizza & cheesesteaks, smoking at bar only Beer Mussels local smoking bar 1/2 mile south in Hellertown 2) The Comfort Suites University at 1.4 miles is the closest hotel. It's about ten years old, and it is on a $2 city bus route from the casino called the loop . This has your best collection of restaurants and bars within a few blocks of the hotel. I would recommend this hotel as my first choice. Within Walking Distance of Comfort Suites Hotel Starter's Riverport Sport's Bar newest bar in the region (fairly expensive) Tally Ho Tavern A classic bar with great burgers Firehouse The Firehouse, is a bar located at the historic Engine House built in 1885. JP Macgrady is an Irish bar where you can smoke. Michael's steak sandwiches Philly steak's open until 9 PM or 10 PM Lehigh Pizza open to midnight, or open to 2AM on weekends Olive Branch Family Lebanese restaurant (entrees $11 to $15), closed Sun/Mon, open until 9PM Nawab Indian Cuisine (entrees $11 to $18) 24 East asian fusion (entrees $14 to $25) Hop Hing Chinese low quality but cheap Wildflower Cafe & Gallery vegan cafe with music. New age flower children. Godfrey Daniels is a non-alcoholic performance venue ($15 to $20) The Blue Sky Cafe only for breakfast and lunch Dunkin Donuts Benner Street Restaurant & Bar is about a mile from the hotel, but for a good French county meal for relatively cheap, it is excellent 610.861.8181 (1028 Broadway Bethlehem, PA 18015) Mon-Fri 11:30am-9:00pm, Sat 4:00pm-11:00pm,Sun Closed Wendy's and McDonald's. 3)The newest hotel is Hyatt Place at 1.8 miles. It can be more expensive than the Comfort Suites on weekdays, but is about the same price on the weekends. It's on the opposite side of the river (known as Moravian Bethlehem), but is still on the bus route. Moravian era Bethlehem dates back to the 18th century and is very pretty, but nothing much is open after 10PM . 4) The considerably more expensive options are Historic Hotel Bethlehem (built 1922) Restaurants in Moravian Area Bethlehem Historic Hotel Bethlehem, 1741 on the Terrace 437 Main St., Bethlehem, PA 610-867-2200 (very $$$) The Melting Pot 1 East Broad Street, Bethlehem, PA 484-241-4939 (very $$$) Edge Restaurant 74 W. Broad St., Bethlehem, PA 610-814-0100 (very $$$) Apollo Grill (a little less $$) Starfish Brasserie (a little less $$) Bethlehem BrewWorks569 Main Street Bethlehem, PA 18010 5) Sayre Mansion ultra expensive bed and breakfast only a few hundred yards from Comfort Suites Other Hotel Options are all more than 5 miles away. One special mention is: 6) If you are driving back to New Jersey after a long night and you are just tired and don't want to spend a lot on a room, the most inexpensive hotel to crash at is 17.5 miles from the casino at the Phillipsburg Inn . Emphasis is on a place to stop on the drive home. It is pretty far away if you are returning to the casino the next day. Wine loved I deeply, dice dearly -Edgar, betrayed son of Gloucester in King Lear |
| January 9th, 2011 at 3:01:45 PM permalink | |
| pacomartin Member since: Jan 14, 2010 Threads: 508 Posts: 5164 | Jan 30 to Feb 5 is Restaurant Week in Bethlehem where specials are being offered all week (including all restaurants in Sands Casino). Loopers Bar and Grill is offering a special $20 meal. The Bar is a mile from the casino and you have the option to get there on The Loop shuttle service for $3 all day if you don't want to drive. Wine loved I deeply, dice dearly -Edgar, betrayed son of Gloucester in King Lear |
| January 20th, 2011 at 10:56:02 AM permalink | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| pacomartin Member since: Jan 14, 2010 Threads: 508 Posts: 5164 | Review of change in slot revenue in PA casinos Table Revenue just began in fiscal year 2011 so it is not covered in this blog entry. The River's casino in Pittsburgh opened after the start of fiscal year 2010, and Sugar House casino in downtown Philadelphia did not open until fiscal year 2011, so a change cannot be noted.   Change in slot revenue from FY2010 to FY2011 for first half of the fiscal year (Western PA)
  Change in slot revenue from FY2010 to FY2011 for first half of the fiscal year (Eastern PA)
With the indefinite delay of the second downtown Philadelphia casino, and only a few 500 machine mini-casinos on the drawing boards in places like Valley Forge conference center, and Reading off price shopping area, it might be safe to say that the PA gaming will stabilize by the end of the year 2012 at or near $3.0 billion (about equal to that of New Jersey).
Do you think that the state parliament will be happy with a level playing field for gaming, or will they try and keep growing the business through more liberal casino laws? Wine loved I deeply, dice dearly -Edgar, betrayed son of Gloucester in King Lear | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| January 20th, 2011 at 11:22:06 AM permalink | |
| DJTeddyBear Member since: Nov 2, 2009 Threads: 92 Posts: 4928 | Paco - As always, good job on the research. However, I think the numbers are meaningless until you have two full years of consistant gaming. I.E. While most of those casinos have been open for years, now that table games have been added, the historical data becomes meaningless. After all, there are a lot of table games players that also throw a few bucks at slots, but wouldn't go to a slots-only casino. Conversly, there are a lot of regular customers of those casinos that have now shifted part of their bankroll to table games. Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown.
But how much does it cost to knock on wood? |
| January 20th, 2011 at 1:04:56 PM permalink | |
| pacomartin Member since: Jan 14, 2010 Threads: 508 Posts: 5164 |
I am sort of making a WAG at where things will level off. PA is $1.3B for the first 6 months of this fiscal year (or roughly $2.6 for the year). I am expecting some growth next year so that it exceeds $3 billion. New Jersey is at $4 billion last year, and will probably be $3.6 for calendar year 2010. Unless some of these new efforts work for NJ, it should level off close to PA revenue. PA is a larger population by about half, but they are more spread out. I am assuming rural people gamble less. I have never seen an estimate of how much PA is now stealing from NJ. I assume that there is still some reverse spending as some Pennsylvanians still want the bigger tableau and take the time to drive to Atlantic City. Sands Bethelehem is improving more than any other casino. With the new hotel in a few months it should surpass Harrah's Chester (which is sliding down) and become the number #2 casino in PA. PARX casino still has the largest and wealthiest population within a 30 minute drive of any casino in PA, so it is likely to remain the biggest revenue earner. Wine loved I deeply, dice dearly -Edgar, betrayed son of Gloucester in King Lear |
| Bovada is the only Internet casino endorsed by the Wizard. Here are my reasons why and my promise of support. |