Hollywood Casino Charles Town Update for those interested

Went by Hollywood Casino Charles Town to get a souvenir chip last night. I wasn't there when tables got going on the opening weekend, but it was a zoo last night. The only time I've ever seen it that crowded in Vegas is when it's a fight night. Tables were high, about on par with Caesars/Borgata on a Saturday night. Blackjack was $25/50/100, 8 decks, H17 (and those rules include the $100 tables on the main floor), craps was $25 min/2X odds, roulette was $25 (00 wheel), all the house banked poker variants were $15 or $25 mins. Mini bacc was only $25 min, and honestly if I'd felt like playing that's probably where I would have sat down.

I can say they now have no shortage of dealers. By 8pm, pretty much every table was working, except for one small bank of blackjack tables near the rear, and they do have all 85 tables out on the floor now based on my rough visual estimates. There's only one table game cashier cage, and the wait can easily be 10-15 minutes. Also odd: people were lining up left and right to play $100 blackjack on the main floor, while there's $100 blackjack in the high limit nook 50 feet away with nearly open tables.

I guess the moral of the story is that if you build it they will come. I'll stick with Atlantic City.

How many roulette tables? How far from Maryland is it, not far from looking at the map. To experience the REAL WVA, you have to go to the western part of the state where everybody drives a 15 year old pickup and the gas pumps are from the 70's. And mullet haircuts have never gone out of style. I can't insult anybody from there, nobody in WVA has a computer yet..

That's probably as far as they can push it. I can't see the limits going any higher without them seeming extremely greedy and turning people off. That's about what it was last time I was at The Rivers in PGH on a Sat. night. People were getting pissed when they raised the hand-dealt BJ games from $25 to $50.

Quote: EvenBob

How many roulette tables?

Ummm....maybe like 6 or 8? I can't remember exactly. Given the tight rules everything else is, I'm sure they're all 00 wheels. And there is no roulette in the high limit nook that I saw. And it really is a nook at best. The blackjack tables are out on the open floor, with rails walling them off from the main flow of traffic, and the midi-size baccarat tables sit in an alcove.

Quote: teddys

That's probably as far as they can push it. I can't see the limits going any higher without them seeming extremely greedy and turning people off. That's about what it was last time I was at The Rivers in PGH on a Sat. night. People were getting pissed when they raised the hand-dealt BJ games from $25 to $50.

I agree. There's a lot of money from Baltimore and DC that comes to play there, and there are a lot of people who don't like casual players, but lots of people with money (like myself) just don't feel like having to bring $500 to play blackjack for a few hours (assuming you can find into a seat).

There are 6 craps tables I believe (4 in the main pits and 2 in the side pit) and all the working ones were $25 min, but it was like 2 people playing (no odds at those prices) and 15 people watching. I know the whole profit philosophy about limits and filling the tables, but if you're scaring that many people off, it just makes no sense to not drop the mins.

One last interesting observation. As high as their limits are, not one table (even craps) had $5000 chips. I know they have them, because there are posters at the cage with the chips so cashiers know to spot fakes, but the highest chip I saw, even in the high limit nook, was $1000. For those who collect chips for souvenirs like myself, not too much of note at Charles Town. The only good looking ones are the $5 (red w/ white/grn/white spots at noon and 6 o'clock) and the $1000 ("fire" orange with 6 pairs of peach/chocolate brown spots, same pattern as the Planet Hollywood or Bellagio $1000).

Quote: silversonic2006

I agree. There's a lot of money from Baltimore and DC that comes to play there.

Just caught the news and the numbers from August are in. Hollywood raked in 9.7 Million (gross) for the month. Even more interesting was the quote that this number is based on only 40 tables being licensed, out of the 85 total.

-B

Additional news blurb from the Associated Press

The Associated Press reported that Hollywood Casino's revenues in August were more than the combined revenues for table games at the state's three other racetracks and at The Greenbrier resort's casino.

The Associated Press says revenues for blackjack games alone at the Hollywood Casino were $2.23 million.

Charles Town Races is using half of its tables because it doesn't have enough licensed dealers.

I just got around to going back and looking at this thread. It looks to me as if there is a conflict between these posts -- can someone clarify this for me?

Quote: silversonic2006

... I can say they now have no shortage of dealers. By 8pm, pretty much every table was working, except for one small bank of blackjack tables near the rear, and they do have all 85 tables out on the floor now based on my rough visual estimates. ...

Quote: toastcmu

... Even more interesting was the quote that this number is based on only 40 tables being licensed, out of the 85 total.

Quote: FleaStiff

... Charles Town Races is using half of its tables because it doesn't have enough licensed dealers.

Is there or is there not a shortage of licensed dealers (and/or licensed tables)? Did silversonic2006 mean to imply that they had enough dealers when he was there (1st post in the thread) and were operating all 85 tables except one small bank near the rear? Did I misinterpret one of these posts?

I have not yet visited Charles Town, and based on earlier comments I have been waiting to see whether their table minimums would eventually drop. I'm too cheap to play $25 min craps for long enough to make it worth the drive -- I would likely have only one or two chips on the table at a time, and that wouldn't provide a whole lot of entertainment. At lower minimums ($5 or $10), it is rare that I get so much as $100 on the table at a time; that only occurs if things are going well in the session and I have a number of come bets working with odds -- usually a clear indicator of an upcoming 7 out. I can't see my playing that same style with $25 min.

I've only been to HC Charles Town once since tables opened. The bulk of the tables are right by the main entrance, there is a horseshoe-shaped side pit off to the right, there is one pit of blackjack tables in a remote rear area, and there's the high limit nook. With the exception of the remote pit of blackjack tables, everything else was pretty much up and running on a Saturday night about a month ago.

In the main area, blackjack was $50 or $100 min, craps and roulette were $25 min (00 roulette at those rates), and the house-banked poker variants were $25 min too. Off to the side, there was $25 blackjack, but everything else was the same. In the high limit nook, blackjack was $100 min, I'm assuming baccarat was the same, although there were no clear min/max signs. Those rates are way too high for my tastes. I don't have the official blackjack rules, but from what I could see glancing at the tables, the $100 min game was 8 deck, H17. I have no clue about DAS or RSA, but I'd guess their rules lean conservative, considering craps was 2X odds at $25 mins. So, given those mins, the fact that pretty much any game in AC can be had at $10 mins, even on a Fri night, and the fact that I'm getting free room offers from multiple AC casinos (even ones I barely play penny slots at), I'll stick with them.

Also, having been to Charles Town, their sister property in PA, and Delaware Park, I don't like the overall feel. Especially at the PA and DE properties I've seen, they cleared out one plot in the casino and dropped the tables there. They don't feel integrated into the property at all. AC, for all its issues, has always been really big on creating a resort feel to their properties, and it shows.

I've been to HC Charles Town twice now, the 2nd time, there are defintely more tables and pits open. Both visits were around 11a-1p timeframe. I believe the quote I got for 40 tables was attributed to August, when the casino had only been open a few weeks. The revenue reports are out for the month of Sept, and they state that licensing dealers is still an issue, but at least they have 872 employees licensed now. WV Gazette article

I have seen a $15 table for blackjack in the non-smoking pit around noon. I think it only lasts until 3p or so. The amazing thing from the article above is that minimums still are jumping to $200 on the weekends sometimes. As for BJ rules, I believe they run the Penn standard offering - 8deck H17, DAS.

-B