Craps at Charles Town Races

The new table games at Charles Town WV just opened this weekend. I visited on the second night they were open (Saturday). The table area was jammed, with little room to move around and with every spot at every table taken. I'm sure the crowds will thin eventually, but the enthusiasm for the opening was impressive.

I really only play craps, so I can only comment on that. There were a total of 4 tables, but only two were open. As a result of the crowds, both tables were jammed up, with people standing around the table 3-deep waiting for a chance to play. According to the pit boss, they were unable to open the other two tables due to a lack of licensed dealers. That seems like a pretty big oversight for the opening weekend.

Both tables were $25 minimum, 2x odds, and paying 2x on 2 and 12 in the field. At some point in the night the minimums on both tables were raised to $50. Unlike my past experience, people already at the tables weren't grandfathered in at the lower amount. The tables also moved very slow due go the inexperience of the dealers, and the game never really got any rythmn to it.

As an aside: not sure if this is casino or state policy, but drink rules were very odd. I couldn't order more than one drink at a time at the bar, so for example my wife and I had to go up separately to get drinks. Also the drinks were very small and very precisely measured. And everything was served in little plastic cups. Just annoyances that detract from the overall experience.

Not sure if I will be back anytime soon, but may try again in a few months after the get things better worked out and the dealers get a bit more experienced.

Edit: typos fixed

I knew someone would post!

thanks for the report. I may try to go during the week to see if things have switched to my liking, but if they don't have $5 or $10 Craps plus more liberal free odds by some point I just won't be going. Sounds like I'll be able to stay sober [g]

Quote: odiousgambit

I knew someone would post!

thanks for the report. I may try to go during the week to see if things have switched to my liking, but if they don't have $5 or $10 Craps plus more liberal free odds by some point I just won't be going. Sounds like I'll be able to stay sober [g]

I agree, and the combination of players who'd play $50 minimum and inexperienced dealers doesn't sound like a great atmosphere! When I go to a Quarter min table I expect top notch service. I know they just opened and were trying to "milk" the weekend, but putting highish rollers with dealers who are virgins is weird.

> the crowds will thin eventually, but the enthusiasm for the opening was impressive.
That is a good sign.

>According to the pit boss, they were unable to open the other two tables due to a lack of licensed dealers.
>That seems like a pretty big oversight for the opening weekend.
Sure does. He may mean that it was not a scheduling problem but that they couldn't even hire enough. If the casino just didn't want to call in a full crew in case it was a slow night, they are fools.

>The tables also moved very slow due to the inexperience of the dealers,
Casino was probably Penny Wise and Pound Foolish in not hiring an experienced crew.
Look how much it cost them that night alone!
One extra crew and a few more experienced dealers ... their salaries would have been paid for a month by what the casino earned that one night if they had had one more table open!

That's bananas....I hope once PA gets their tables going the mins will come back down to earth ($5/$10). The 2X odds are pretty lousy....DE Park has 10X. I stopped in Friday to try and get a $5 chip as a souvenir and I couldn't (tables weren't opening til 8pm). It seems like they are really expecting some high rollers there.....I saw about 6 midi baccarat size tables as I was walking through.

In my opinion, it was an undewhelming opening. As much as they billed the opening date, they were unprepared in terms of the tables being ready and so much walking space being roped off. It's always better to under-promise and over-deliver than the other way around.....

I go to local casinos in order to just bide my time until my next Vegas trip... if I'm going to bet $25 minimums it's only going to be Vegas (at this point in my life). $25-50 minimums are insulting in craps. They're basically taking away PL/odds from the average person.