Re: [ba-poker] learning by doing

[Nick Christenson <npc(deleted the rest)>]

> Welcome to the new faces. But they would be well advised to take one of the 
> free "poker lessons" from a casino before sitting down.  I wonder why the 
> card clubs here don't give them. I guess they depend on online poker rooms 
> to break people in.

That could be their rationalization now, but CA cardrooms (generally) 
didn't do jack for beginning players a decade ago, before the proliferation
of online poker, so it's not like this is a new situation.

This is an interesting question.  You make an excellent point, and it's
an issue I've often wondered myself.  The first time I set foot in a real 
poker room (Hollywood Park) I went with a friend that had been there before, 
and it was for an RG event (LARGE).  If I wasn't going to be playing with 
folks I at least knew a little about and didn't have a guide, I probably 
would have taken one lap through the place and left, never to return.  I 
believe it's an incredibly intimidating environment for newcomers, especially 
the large LA rooms.

I'm guessing that the bottom line is that typically about 98+% of all 
players in any particular card room have played in that room before, and
95+% of the few who are new to that room have played in other card rooms.
Therefore, a tiny percentage of people playing poker in any particular 
card room are true rookies.  Because most of a card room's customers 
are regulars, the card rooms cater only to regulars, and don't want to 
expend a lot of effort on the slimmest of minorities.

Of course, there are big problems with this philosophy.  I think the 
bigger card rooms have no idea how many people they're losing because 
someone comes in, is intimidated, and leaves without playing.  There
are also likely to be many who come in, manage to get in a game, and 
get absolutely blown away by the experience and never come back.  Smart
card rooms would do something to reach out to these people.  These folks
will become a recurring revenue stream for them.  In other fields, even
lame businesses expend considerable effort expanding their customer base.

At any one time in a single room, there may not be enough novices ready 
to begin a free learning game, and they may not wander in just as your 
daily scheduled lesson is about to begin.  Moreover, dedicating people 
to customer education costs money, and this is wasted if there's nobody
to teach.  But that doesn't mean that there's nothing you can do.  I'm 
shocked that every significantly sized card room in California doesn't 
have a big sign just inside every entrance that says, "FIRST TIME IN A 
CARD ROOM?" in huge letters and provides some advice (and who to talk to 
and what to say) in slightly smaller print.  I'm appalled that every floor 
person doesn't have a well-crafted 25 word script memorized about what to 
say to someone who indicates its their first time.  How much would it cost 
to make an ultra-cheap cheesy video and set up a small TV/VCR with head 
phones in a corner somewhere to explain what's going on?  The problem is 
that these things require thinking ahead, effort, and employee training, 
all things that it seems that nearly every poker room manager despises, 
or at least views as a cost center.

In Las Vegas, because the proportion of newbies is so much higher it's 
harder for them to ignore these folks, although still I think they do
a pretty bad job of appealing to this customer base.  But in California,
it's almost like they don't want new players, and it just doesn't make 
sense to me.

Maybe that's just me.

-- 
Nick Christenson
npc(deleted the rest)