I have heard from a few sources that Firekeepers will open August 1st. Being less than a month away there is still no official opening date.

Everything i've seen and/or heard is "Early August."

This means they win probably have a "soft" opening, open for business, but no fanfare right away. Then have the "hard" opening near the end of the month, the crazy Rusk Hour 2 ribbon cutting crap.

The plan is to not publicize a specific date for the opening. It seems that they've got a promotion with Cumulus to allow winners from their various stations in Battle Creek and Kalamazoo to attend a special "VIP night." But casino officals have said they won't name a specific date in order to avoid a crush of traffic at I-94 and the interchange that serves the casino.

my latest info is that the early "trial and error" dates for "invited guests" won't be until august 7th (at the earliest).

this totally sucks. they need to get this place open.

Thanks for the info. Its 7/28 and Firekeepers is treating their opening day like top secret information. I have been checking the Google news groups and coming up with nothing. For anyone who has to travel a long distance. Good Luck on the doors being open.

They're having a tribal celebration August 1, with their test runs for invited guests August 2 and 3. I did get my Red Hot Rewards card in the mail today. I'm sure they'll be open very soon whenever that reminder email is sent so members can redeem all the entries they've accumulated for the $15,000 drawing.

Enquirer blurb: http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/a...e-Neighborhood

i just drove by there today, still closed and they wont tell me a date either...

From @FireKeepers's tweet this morning: "OPENING TODAY: 10am"

I'd love a trip report when this is open. This could actually be closer for me now that i live in the middle of nowhere.

I am also going this weekend, will provide trip report.

:cool

From the Detroit News:
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...Creek-now-open

I thought Greektown was a Tribal Casino.

Pretty weak looking rewards card isn't it?

Not any weaker-looking than any of the other rewards cards I have.

Firekeepers Casino opened to general public, Wednsday, Aug.5 2009.

I went last night - pretty nice place. HUGE - 107K sq ft. Parking was a nightmare, as you can imagine. I finally got a spot on the 3rd floor parking deck...from there it was a short walk down one flight of stairs to the poker room. The room had 20 tables, and by 7:30 pm they were all full. There was a list of interest running for 2/5 NL, but other than that all they had going was 1/2 NL and 3/6 LHE. Max buy-in for the 1/2 is $200 (Soaring Eagle is $400).
Overall the staff was very friendly - I didn't get a chance to sample the food but I heard it was great.

I plan taking a ride up there Friday.

wtvendt thanks for the report, but you left out the most important part. What was the rake?

the rake is 10% up to $5...

Yes, 10% to $5...sorry 'bout that. Also, more info: there was no word of having any tournaments yet. damn.

Just got back a little while ago. There were a few kinks to be worked out in the room, but I eventually was able to get seated for 3/6. Wasn't as full Thursday night as it was Wednesday. I can't believe they didn't have an electronic system at the tables to keep track of who was in each seat; that makes managing a room so much easier. There were several players and employees who originally were at Soaring Eagle, and a few mentioned how FireKeepers was an hour or more closer for them. The facility as a whole is very nice and will definitely draw people who might otherwise go farther. I know I'm all the more happier that we have such a great casino in our area, and I'll try to make it a regular hangout.

I am assuming the poker room is open 24/7. Can someone verify this? Thanks, can't wait to check it out.

In recent years there always seems to be some mystery when Indian casinos open. Firekeepers was no exception keeping everybody in suspense with their opening day. So when I received word in on Thursday I hit the road on Friday. I am happy to report the Midwest has another great place to play poker.

I arrived there at 5pm and saw ten of the twelve tables going. Eight 1-2 no limit holdem, one 2-5 and one 3-6 limit. There was a list of twenty names on the 1-2. After hanging around the room for about fifteen minutes I was seated at a new 1-2 game. The poker room is following a nationwide trend of only having nine players at a table. Players can call one hour in advance 269-660-5631 to be put on the waiting list.

Firekeepers has a veteran staff with many from Soaring Eagle. On Friday I could only give them a C+. When poker rooms are very busy chip runners play an important part keeping everything running smooth. It seemed like they didn’t have a plan for filling the tables chip well. One player at our table received one hundred $1 chips. Many of the dealers made the same mistake not following the action.

The poker room staff was friendly and very helpful. After the first few crazy weeks Firekeepers will be a top notch poker room. I plan on making many trips in the future.

One final note. After following Firekeepers progress for the last year. I found it interesting the poker room had only twelve tables. From the beginning Firekeepers had reported the room would have twenty tables.

I would like to add that Friday the poker room had a list for 1-3 NLH. The max buy-in was $500 with a $100 min. I thought this was a good idea running one or two games.

I tried to go there on Saturday. Got there at 8 Pm and by the time I got on the waiting list for 1/2NL I was in 104th place. Stayed for 2 hours and didn't move up past 70.

This makes going away to Western next year so much better.