Poker room hosts

[benfranklin]

In his publisher's note, Mason wrote:

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The other story concerns another host at a different place whom I liked a little better. ... His downfall was that his solution to handling an obnoxious player was to give this person a bloody nose.

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I had heard that Sam Grizzle once worked as a host, so this confirms it. It was the El Cortez, right??

But seriously, folks. Many casinos offer free poker "lessons" (really just an orientation class for B&M newbs who have never actually held real chips before). If the Wynn had Negreanu give that intro a few times a week, or some other room hired a name pro with some personality, the fish would be standing in line to be reeled in.

I can already hear the objections that a place like the Wynn doesn't want $2/4 newbs. I think that tourists willing to play something like 5/10 or 10/20 or higher would love to be able to drop Negreanu's name into their game back home. The rooms could even offer a real one hour strategy lesson a couple times a week as a perk for table-game high rollers who now dabble in poker.

[StellarWind]

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The rooms could even offer a real one hour strategy lesson a couple times a week as a perk for table-game high rollers who now dabble in poker.

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You were doing good until you said that [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img].

The last thing a casino wants is for a big table-game sucker to take up or play more poker.

[Randy_Refeld]

Mason's observations about hosts are right on. I can only think of one host type that does his job well.

[Timer]

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Mason's observations about hosts are right on.

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In my opinion this article was simply a sideways slap at Daniel Negreanu. Nothing more.

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Timer:

No. It's a criticism of the whole system that I have watched and endured for many years, and this includes almost twenty years where I was playing poker before I became aware of Daniel Negreanu.

Best wishes,
Mason