This is the dedicated thread for general poker discussions related to year 2019.
I'll get things started with the topic of Promotions. Many poker rooms have offered various player promotions over the years with the intent to attract players to their specific venue. One common promotion was the allure of winning a big jackpot by having an extremely high hand that fails to win the pot. At my most-often visited poker venue the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races this promotion had been known as "The Bad Beat", which required the player to lose with Quad 7s or higher, have a total pot size of at least $10, and each player needed to use both his/her hole cards to make their best hand. Subject bad beat often went 8-12 months, with the total promotion amount split among all the players at the table typically ranging from $50K to $250K.
This is extremely nice for those fortunate enough to be participants in a bad beat hand, but the frequency of bad beats happening and the corresponding number of players who benefit from them is quite low.
In what might be a trend, I have noticed that my local poker room has moved away from "big score" type promotions, and replaced them with significantly smaller ones which are allowed to hit MUCH MUCH more frequently and involve a significantly great number of different players.
IMO these smaller payout, more frequently paid promotions are superior to the previous promotions in drawing more interest to this local poker room, and I wholeheartedly support them. I also find from experience that in certain circumstances it significantly alters one's wagering strategies. For example, it can be a challenge when one is trying to get paid for a very good hand, while at the same time wanting to keep some other players in the hand because the "very good hand" still needs a favorable turn or/and river card to make it a Qualifying High Hand. This strategy comes with the risk of failing to secure a Qualifying High Hand, which may allow one's opponent to draw out on them.
[Side story time --> One day this past December the High Hand was paying $1000 per hour. No one hit the previous hour or had a qualifying hand yet (Aces full, both hole cards must play, and player must be swiped in with their player card) for the current hour, which with the rollover was now worth $2000. On the last hand to count before the next rollover, I limp in with pocket Aces. The flop contains an Ace. Yes!!! Now all I need to win the $2000 promotion is for the turn or river to pair the board. My heart was really pounding.
]
As I look at the January promotion schedule from my favorite poker room (Charles Town), it is amazing to see that some type of promotion is offered on 29/31 days! Subject promotions include various high hands, random seat drawings, and earned "ticket" drawings. Some are as small as $100 per hour because they are on days and at times turnout is generally light. More popular days like Fridays and Saturdays the High Hand promotions run 1:00-8:00 p.m. and pay $400 per hour. With rollovers possible throughout the day and possible sudden death when the promotions end, ALL of the indicated promotion monies are guaranteed to be paid out.
While I recognize that we the players involuntarily fund promotions thru higher rake and perhaps a $1 drag from each winning pot, I like it when poker rooms offer promotions that payout frequently which allows a greater number of players to benefit.
