Mentioned in the other thread. Got back from Charles Town, first trip to a sports book in forever. Haven't been to Delaware, not sure how nice it is there.
So we figure we'd get there at 11am, give ourselves an hour to figure out bets for the 12pm games. To our surprise getting there at 10:45am, the line to place bets is a mile long. You can't see the sports book from where the back of the line was. So we go up to get the sheets, stood in line, and never made it up to the window before the 12pm kickoffs. 90 minutes in line. I had 4 games I was gonna play at noon, and would have been 3-1 on them. So that sucked.
Also, can't bet on games involving Rutgers because they are in New Jersey. Never heard that one, didn't want to hold up the line having a conversation, but it saved me money because Michigan didn't cover anyway.
Anyway, I think being a relatively new thing in the area, a lot of people don't know how to bet, the staffing maybe not up to par for the demand either led to the long lines. I hadn't been in six years, but I remember you tell the cashier (??) the number corresponding to the team on the board you want to bet on and how much. So "111 for $20", 111 is team whatever, and they print it right out. On you go.
The closer I got to the window people were asking the staff a lot of questions, whats a money line? How come the spread is different on the board than on the printed sheet? I want this at -3 like on the sheet, not -4.5 (Really?) Someone a couple spots in front of me put in a $2 NFL parlay, on a Saturday, waiting in line for 90 minutes....what?
Also, the sports book has some hightop table seating, tons of TVs which is nice. But they allow smoking in there which sucks. It also felt like they just ripped out some slots to make room for the tables and people standing around the area to watch the games. Didn't mind the high tops, but some seat seats like the Vegas books, a real dedicated space would be ideal. Even the "boards" were flat screens placed well behind the cashier which makes it harder to read without being, basically in line for the cashier. Get those big easy to read ones out on the floor.
So, I hope MD gets this right when Horseshoe gets it one day, hopefully soon. Larger space. A lot more than 4 cashiers. Printed on the back of the daily sheets directions on how to bet (how to be in and out from the cashier in under 30 seconds). Big boards with the lines visible from a distance. Dedicated space, not adjacent to slots. Seats, real ones. And no smoking.