Reduced Number Of Seats At 3 Card Poker

Within the last month, the Borgata in Atlantic City has reduced the number of seats at its 3 card poker tables from 7 to 5. In a regular poker game, playing with fewer players tends to lessen the strength of a hand required to win a pot. In 3 card poker, with fewer players and not going as deep into the deck, will this lessen the frequency of powerful hands that would qualify for bonus payouts? If so, doesn't this increase the house advantage? I doubt they made this change strictly for the comfort of the players at the table. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Were all 7 seats usually filled?

Did they change the layouts to reflect fewer seats?

Or did they just want to save on furniture and they're using the chairs elsewhere?

Whether all 7 seats were filled or not depended on the day and time. Weekends and evenings tend to be busier. The felt layouts were reprinted to show only 5 slots for placing bets.

Did players tend to share their hands with each other? Fewer players would lessen the amount of information that you can use to be able to make a decision.

Were the dealers able to handle 7 players?
Is there a union there or talk of one?

My first impression is it has something to do with the dealers.

I don't know about the union situation or the input of the dealers. I have a friend who is a retired dealer there and will reach out to him to see what I can find out. My main interest in making this post is to explore whether or not having fewer players at the table reduces the frequency of big hands that would qualify for bonus payouts, thereby increasing the house edge.

Quote: atlanticcity1

I don't know about the union situation or the input of the dealers. I have a friend who is a retired dealer there and will reach out to him to see what I can find out. My main interest in making this post is to explore whether or not having fewer players at the table reduces the frequency of big hands that would qualify for bonus payouts, thereby increasing the house edge.
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If you are playing Q64 basic strategy, then the number of players doesn't matter. The house edge is the house edge and the frequencies of various hands does not change at all.

If you are sharing your cards, it matters, but you still can't get an edge.

My take is that it is a hands per hour // motion issue, the fewer spots the faster the game moves. 25x7 < 36x5. Also, they may have found that by having 7 spots, it is more likely that an poorly trained dealer exposes a hole-card to one of the remote seats at 1st or 3rd base.