I sold my scrap junker for 100bb.

The currency should let you know where I will be tonight.

$1000 High Hands @ FKC every Wednesday in Aug. 8a-10p.... I can't make it this week, but plan on being in there next week @ 8am to see if I can win an easy one before it gets busy.

Any idea what kinda turnout for this $350 blackchip bounty this Sunday? Long drive so any info much appreciated

A larger BI tournament at FK usually attracts a decent crowd. This tournament should easily exceed 120 and could go up to 200 entries IMO. They don't hold this tournament monthly, but it's really interesting that now that Gun Lake has moved their 'big' tournament to the 2nd Sunday of each month that this one ends up conflicting with it. They are basically the same tournament.

FK's will have a bigger Player pool no doubt but piling on top of one another ultimately hurts both facilities IMO. FK 'should' do whatever it takes to keep Players coming there and not letting them potentially experience similar events at rival locations ... but the economics of 'good business' just hurts the prize pool in both rooms. GL

Cash action is picking up noticeably now that the MSPT satties are starting.

Casinos doing all they can to generate traffic.

Poto has picked up a 2nd WSOPc event in Sept to go with their Feb event. Now they have 6 'regional' (national) events during the year.

GLake is having promos all Sept to celebrate their one year anniversary.

It seems there's a tournament series somewhere near Chicago every two weeks!!

The focus will be on FKeepers towards late Sept for sure. Hopefully they can land a large tournament series once Tower II is complete. But they do like to just run their own tournaments too (max rake retention). More hotel rooms may be enough?

Since the WPT Deepstacks and MCC have failed to hook up maybe that will open the door for FKeepers to keep their grip on the Michigan tournament scene. GL

Not sure if it's been discussed / speculated, but I'm pretty sure FK will expand the poker room to coincide with tournament growth and the construction of the new hotel tower.

Wishful thinking?

Don't 'really' need it ... All they need to do is incorporate 'gaming space' somewhere, presumably with cameras. The poker room itself is fine as is but they need to figure out where to put the larger tournaments so cash doesn't have to shut down.

I've never been in their entertainment/concert areas but somehow Hammond, Poto ... even SEagle figured out how to put their tournaments away from the cash areas to keep the income rolling in. Can't imagine that cameras were that prevalent when SE was hosting the HPT long ago. But perhaps Michigan Gaming or MSPT requires some sort of camera coverage in the contract. Sure are high ceilings in both Hammond and Poto ...

They certainly don't seem interested in shutting down Bingo (Poto doesn't either) to use that gaming space for tournaments.

No one wants to walk into a 40 table poker room and still have to walk 10 minutes to get to your table!! Where does Toledo host their tournaments? GL

Cash game action was completely out of control last night.

Nothing like poaching Players in a 'rival' thread ...

... Gun Lake is holding a PLO tournament on September 28th at Noon. $250/210 (15K chips, 30 min levels), 2 re-entries if needed with surrender option as well as an optional $100/90 (10K chips) add-on at the end of Level 4 (end of registration). A last minute late reg/re-entry (with add-on) will still garner you 41.5bb at 300/600.

FKeepers will get most of the traffic in October with MSPT coming through, so this will be the last hurrah for GLake ...

... It's also very rare to see a PLO tournament ... GL

Firekeepers runs a RxR tournament every Thursday, so finding some PLO tournament action isn't that rare.
It will be interesting to see how many entries GL gets for that tournament with MSU and UM having home games, MSPT satellite and qualifier at FKC and the $500 5th Sunday tournament the next day at FKC too.

$60 Turbo is not 'action' ... but I might play it for some fun.

I discussed with them about it being a Sat and an early start (for a Sat) so it is a concern as a Player for sure. Didn't realize the $500 was the next day.

Folks can play the PLO, go to FK for the 260 and stay over for the 500. Sounds like a tournament Player's dream!! I'd do it if I could .. .GL

There's some weird ass PLO hi-lo limit that plays every Sat morning.

Average pot size: $50

Seems like a thing for old dudes to chill out on.

The Sat game is Omaha Hi-Lo 4/8 with a half kill and while yes it's primarily the older generation, that game runs a lot bigger then you'd think. Especially if you are used to 1/2 NLHE.

I agree that 4/8 can get busy .. It just takes a bit longer per hand, which may test a few Players patience. And splitting 'hard earned' pots can test your metal as well. Limit is a 'lost' art these days, quite a few NL Players come out of the game shaking their head for more than one reason. GL

I just realized I referred to it as PLO Limit above, which makes no sense. lol

I wanted to try the 4/8 limit game until I found out it was H/L. H/L breaks my brain.

I've heard some dealers say this too. It definitely looks like the new hotel is going to intersect the building in the location of the current room. I'm not sure the timetable for construction, but the first one went up pretty fast.

Limit omaha hi/lo was the 2nd game I learned after hold'em. It used to be a regular game back at Soaring Eagle in the mid 2000's. Most people play it really bad. Flops were going 7 ways on average. Just look for good starting hands that have good low potential like A2xx or A34x. Suited aces are gold. Avoid hands with middling cards like 8/9/T/J. You're playing to scoop the whole pot. Postflop is pretty straightforward. Biggest mistake is people going apeshit with A2xx on a 457 board when it's obvious they are getting quartered. Don't do that. It can be a fairly profitable and very low variance game if you play it well.

I followed (probably too rigidly) a common point counting system for starting hands. I'm not sure I have any desire to play this game again, but I do remember consistently winning about $100 everytime I played it up at Soaring Eagle.

I'd love to see a layout. Like I've said before, the Poker Room is plenty big as is. Poto in Milwaukee has less tables 'in the room' than FK for a much larger population and does just fine. What FK needs is what Poto (and Hammond) has ... a 'tournament' area so that cash games and sattys can continue uninhibited during tournament play.

Once the tower is complete they may even be able to go after a WPT Deepstack or WSOPc 'series' if they can come up with this 'area' in the facility. And for a casino 'in the middle of I-94 no where' that would definitely be a coup. GL

"....... may even be able to go after a WPT Deepstack or WSOPc 'series' if they can come up with this 'area' in the facility. And for a casino 'in the middle of I-94 no where' that would definitely be a coup.............."

Maybe you heard that from a few dealers, but I'd pose that to Kelly B. someday if you have the chance. Her take on a lot of those series is that they take a bit too much off the table and out of town from the players, and feels that the in-house stuff you folks enjoy actually give you better value.
I've heard her voice those sentiments exactly. She also reads the forums, and knows who this writer is. I got to know her quite well out here in the west, before she went to MI.
In any event, there is def a diminishing return with the big, nationally-known series.

Thanks for stopping into the thread. Sometimes my posts contain 'backdoor' information, but they're mostly just my opinions thrown out there because I like to hear my own voice.

A room does need to look at all aspects of every 'opportunity'. The success of the Sunday 'series' (120/240/500) that FK offers is a tribute to that room. The Fifth Sunday 500 is 'their's' and is being pulled off without the benefit of the MSPT 'regional' stamp that Poto has on two other big weekends over there.

My personal concern over 'expanding' a poker room that has definitely seen a major decrease in cash table hours over the last year (unless Bravo lies) is that casino management will start to pull in the reigns ... and once a facility/room starts to go backwards that usually spells trouble. That's why I hope there is 'shared' space in the expansion, not any additional expansion of dedicated poker 'space' that needs activity to justify it's existence.

The initial thought process is the more 'major' events FK can handle the better it will be for cash games, since Players will make the effort to be on site playing tournament or cash when they know 'extra' activity is going on. Yes, there is a concern that if local folks dump cash into tournaments and it ends up in the hands of the transient Player's pockets it could drain the poker picture as a whole.

From my own chicken scratch FK is missing out on a minimum of $7-10K in cash rake on MSPT weekends even with moving the start times up to Noon. And that may be low since there are Players that actually avoid FK since they know the games are 'blocked out' on those day until at least 3-5 PM.

Not real sure I have a way to wrap this up ... but I gotta go ... GL

And so it begins ... Fall MSPT week ... The Sattys have been doing very well with 100-140 for the ones I've checked out. So plenty of 'golden tickets' out there that will either be used or sold for Thur/Fri

Hope to see you there ... I'll fire 1-2 bullets Thursday and be there Sunday no matter what (cash or tournament). Should garner over $250K for first sometime early Monday AM! fun fun ... GL

Hi all,

Long time lurker here (over ten years), but finally joined the forum a couple weeks ago. I started playing lower stakes online in 2016 (wolfferine on Stars and FT), and then once Black Friday hit I started playing live poker in the charity rooms.

Lately I've been taking some shots in higher buyin tourneys (played the 5th Sunday 500 twice now), and I've been fortunate enough to win 2 "golden tickets" for this MSPT Main Event at Firekeepers. I'll be firing one bullet on Thursday and hopefully run well enough to be able to sell my Friday ticket. If I don't run or play well, then I'll play Friday. The only bummer is my 2 hour drive from the East side.

Good luck to everyone playing! I'll try to keep up on this thread and update on my experience in my first MSPT event.

That's two long days in a row if you go deep, but not deep enough, on Thursday. There are some cheap hotels in Marshall or even towards Battle Creek that you may want to check out. At least bring a change of clothes in the car.

Day 1s will end just past 1130 PM (15 levels x 40 min plus 70 minutes in breaks) ...

So if you bust in Level 13-15 then you will have very little turnaround time to get back for a Noon start Friday. Certainly you can late reg until about Level 12 (9 PM) but you'll have about 10 BB in that Level.

The rub will be if you bust Thursday and reg for Friday before you leave Thursday night your stack will be in play at Noon. Whereas if you hold onto your ticket until you arrive you may be wait listed. So make your 'wise' decision based on all the factors. GL

My memory is not what it used to be, but I recall Black Friday being 2011.

Good luck in the MSPT.

Thanks very much for the advice and well wishes, answer20. GL to you as well, and you've been a big source of info throughout this thread, so thanks for that.

I've also been thinking about the logistical possibilities and, yes, worse case scenario is that I go deep on Thursday and bust right before it's time to bag chips for the night. That would be one scenario where I opt for the hotel.

If I do bag chips on Thursday, I will have to work on selling the Friday ticket before I head for home, although I'm guessing that won't be a problem. I wish I lived closer to FK -- I really like the room, the dealers, and the regs.