Honestly, it's a good thing that The Lodge got rid of their tournaments. They only ever got 1 - 3 tables, even on the weekends! If you want to play tournaments, go across the street to The Golden Gates where the stacks are deeper, the prize pools are bigger, and the levels are longer. Why in the world would you ever want to play a tournament at The Lodge. The Lodge poker bad beats are not inflated and the amounts advertised on the scrolling marquees are accurate and paid out in the full amount when hit. I know because I'm always there and know several people as good acquaintances that have hit the beats. The bad beats go up each day on a somewhat predictable basis based on the weekdays or weekends. An average week will see the bad beat go up about 12-15k. The 1st tier is frozen at 300k while the 2nd and 3rd tiers are increased.

[name removed] was hired to run the room profitably and running tournaments is not profitable, especially when you only get 1 - 3 tables. He left to run a room in Chicago now. If the Lodge is going to stay alive, they should only be running cash games. They also offer $2cash/$4 comp per hour for VIPs and half that for non VIPs. You only need 150 hours per 3 months to qualify for VIP. Not very difficult.

The thing is that it sucks to only have one room in town for tournaments. Competition is a good and healthy thing and keeps businesses focused on treating customers well. When the Gates knows they're the only place in town people can go for tournaments, it allows them to continue employing crappy dealers (and while overall I think the room is run well, there are a few really bad dealers at the Gates). Plus, they have no incentive to run lower-stakes tournaments for players just starting out. The cheapest buy-in there is $70, and the good, playable, action tournaments are in the hundreds. Fine for people who have the bankroll, but bad if you want more recreational players at the tables. And that's just a couple of downsides for players. Think about the dealers at the Gates, many of whom are poker players too, but they can't play tournaments anywhere in BH because there aren't any except in their room, where they can't play.

I think it's a shame that the Lodge went the route they did with making it obvious they didn't give a damn about tournament players. I get the logic, truly. They make more money off the cash games. But I'm both a tournament and cash game player, and since they won't welcome me as a tournament player, they won't get my cash game business anymore either.

If you're looking for a cheap tournament, say $20, you're going to have to put about $15 of that $20 to the rake and then make it a turbo besides. I think $50-$70 is probably about as low as you can reasonably go without making it a giveaway.

Obviously we as players have a say in the matter. We need to give our business to the companies that's best provide the services we want. If we are not happy with the services provided to us at the gates, we need to all (as a whole) go somewhere else to fulfill our needs.
I'm sure the isle would love our business if we got together with them, let then know what we want and provide them with the action to make it profitable for both sides.

Why is that the case? I've played in deeper stacked tournaments in other areas for $40 that weren't turbos or donkaments and weren't pulling insane rakes.

I play the Saturday and Sunday noon tournaments at the Gates. I don't have an issue with the buy-in, but you'll notice it's the usual suspects week after week. You can't get recreational players for $200-300 buy-ins.

Casinos aren't going to run tournaments for $5-10 rake. They would lose money on it.

But the Isle dealers are absolutely terrible...

True, I was just throwing out a random room to make a point.

Questions:

Is there enough volume at Ameristar (or supplemented by anywhere) to be able to find a game 24/7 in Black Hawk? Would a person be able to find a 2-5-100 game no matter when they arrived? Or are there notable lag times during the week?

Also...how often are the roads to BH impassable due to the weather? Is there a large chunk of time that the place just dies? I went last May, and was pretty impressed with how many casinos are actually there (I was imagining a couple of buildings, not an avenue of gambling). My wife and I are looking for jobs, and Denver is on our list of possibilities (along with Fort Collins or staying in Houston), but I'm trying to get a sense of how available games are up that way...from a local's perspective, anyway.

Humblest of apologies if my failure to search first is a pretty major fail...I thought I'd read through both of the relevant threads, but I may have missed something.

There would only be few occasions where you wouldn't be able to find a 5-100 SL game. This would be on Monday, Tues, Wed, and Thur mornings between 3 or 4 am to 10 or 11 am. Of course, who wants to play during these times? You'll find a regular game going (multiple) anytime between 11am and 3am everyday of the week, and nearly 24 hours Thursday through Sunday. Again, those times I listed might be the only sketchy time where it lags.

2-100 SL might even go longer and not lag like the 5-100 SL games during the times listed.

Blackhawk actually is not that bad for winter weather, especially looking at last year where we hardly got any storms save for 2 or 3 during the whole season. They take pretty good care of the highway to Blackhawk for obvious reasons to keep revenue coming in. There are multiple ways to get there so if a road did happen to close or become bad, you can go another way. You have highway 6 to 119 (either from I-70 or Rt93 in Golden), The Central City Parkway from I-70 through Central City, from the North on Rt 119 from Nederland/Rollinsville/Boulder, and 2 other hidden ways from the East through and near Golden Gate Canyon State Park. These backroads come out onto 119 (1 at Smith Hill Rd and the other right above Ameristar Casino). Almost no one, even locals, know about these roads and where they originate and end.

NOBODY, NOT EVEN THE WEATHER, keep me from blackhawk. That and I have a Cherokee and the best winter driving skills in the state (I'm from Buffalo, NY).

In other news, this is not the place to try and play poker seriously. The game choices are too limited and restricted to play to full potential. I loathe SoCal but the Commerce has so many limits and game types to choose from. Ugh... catch 22

woahwegotabadassoverhere.jpg


Anybody here really familiar with the bus system? Just moved to lakewood(near kipling/morrison) was wondering how long it takes the bus to get up there and where the closest stop is to where i live(the bus website seems to be a piece of ****).

thanks!

just for anyone curious even though the time has passed on this question im sure... I just applied and received a gaming license from colorado.

i filled out the whole application at the gaming office and they just told me to leave the signatures blank so apparently they are just ****ing with you by putting that there

Your photo did not show up FYI, and I am one incredible driver. Major skillz

Also, the closest bus stops to you would be either Heritage Square in Golden on US 40 or Bear Valley at Sheridan and 285. You're in the middle of both. I used to live at Kipling and Dartmouth, a couple block south of your location. However, I've never used the buses to blackhawk because I love to drive and buses are beneath me.

The buses drive rather swiftly, faster than the average car going up clear creek canyon actually, which says a lot about the quality of Colorado drivers, who can't even outpace a full size bus. Sad. I would say with waiting for the bus to arrive to the stop and the drive up there, it would be about 45 min from the Golden location and 1 hour or so from the Sheridan location. Give or take 15 minutes.

BOOM

is the 5/10 o8 game still running at night on the weekends at golden gates?

Nevermind, just talked to them on the phone. Still going strong

We have roads in Colorado that would make the toughest of the tough of Buffalo drivers **** their pants.

The terrain may be worse but the snow here is a joke. I've been on most of the passes and off-road trails with my Jeep since moving here 8 years ago and I've never encountered a storm with the ferocity that a Buffalo snowstorm contains. You wouldn't know unless you've been in a lake effect storm with 5+ inches per hour pummeling the life out of you. KABOOM!

I'm like some super hybrid driver. I've got the background of growing up in the lake effect storm capital of the world, and mad mountain driving skills that put all to shame. BOOM!

Good to be awesome

You moved here when you were 6?

How many players does the 12pm Saturday tourney at the Gates usually get? Just moved to the area and was curious, thanks

90-120 including the re-entries and late buys, occasionally a little more or less. It typically starts with 5-8 tables and registration is open for 2 hours.

Garick, you don't like my use of onamonapia? I think it's a wonderful part of writing and should be used by everyone!

In other news, you want to race? What is your vehicle of choice?

Great, thanks for the imfo

Anyone know if Pai Gow Poker is spread anywhere in Blackhawk? I'd like to practice before my next Vegas trip. Thanks...

Only place I'm aware of that spreads it is The Lodge.

The Isle has a table as well as the two at the Lodge