Did MGM Springfield recently allow straddling anywhere outside the blinds (not just Button straddle?)

I saw guys straddling all over the place at 1/3 today (not necessarily after they missed a blind, either)

there's a mgm springfield dedicated thread

i've been there a few times but not in the last year, you could straddle from anywhere and they had some sort of hierarchy for deciding who got it if both utg and btn wanted to do it

was usually done at the btn or utg but you had the occasional wild card

fun fact, i've played with at least 3 different people who disclosed they just got out and came here because they fell in love with poker during their stint at the prison in springfield

anyone else hear the rumor going around that Twin River is gonna partner with Maverick Gaming for some type of expansion? it was all the rage when I was there right before the new year.

Two special tournaments coming up in New England:

Foxwoods running a $395 (+$5 dealer add) on President's Day / Washington's Birthday.

Gate City running $380 (+$20 dealer add) multi-flight with Thursday/Friday/Saturday day 1s and day 2 Sunday, over the same weekend as Washington's Birthday.

Yes this is confirmed I believe.

I must once again 'rag' on my 'local room' Gate City Casino. Since the acquisition and transfer of management, the poker room has gone down hill very quickly.

The quality of promotions has drastically decreased, the hours of when the promotions would take place have decreased, and the number of games/tables have decreased leaving a few tables with OMCs, and mis-regs.

What makes matters worse is that they are now requiring Social Security numbers any time a player wins a HH promotion regardless of amount, in order to ensure players will be mailed a tax form at the end of the year. Does anyone else know if the other local NH rooms are doing this? What about Encore?

Is that new? I didn't see them doing it in December when someone at my table won.

TBH, I don't miss getting exiled to tables in the main billiard floor with the music blasting. The new room is a move up with more room between tables and natural light.

I think the Gate City Casino poker room has the harshest lighting I have ever seen.
And the chairs are the lowest chairs I have ever seen in a poker room.
I can't play poker in this room for these two reasons.

For sure a new policy. I was there at the start of the month 1/6, and no one mentioned it. Went on 1/28 and thats what everyone was talking about, and I witnessed it first hand when a player won a $200 high hand.

The player was very hesitant to give up his SS, and stated to the floor/table that this requirement was not posted anywhere in the room or on the 'rules board' and the floor had confirmed this but would not budge.

I left before the issue was settled, but the floor told him he had a week to make up his mind/come back in to speak the poker room manager.

Could they also be looking for things like owed taxes or back child support.l? If you hit any type of taxable jackpot at Encore and you have to go to the cage to get paid, they will keep it and put it toward your balance if they find out you owe something.

I was shocked when I got home yesterday, and checked the mail, and I had gotten a 1099 form from winning '$2700' worth of 'promotions' while playing at Boston Billiards/Gate City last year.

I don't know how they got my social, and I don't understand why I was taxed on winnings that were never more than 500 dollars. Did anyone else get a 1099 from them? What about anyone who played in any other poker rooms in the area Chasers, Encore etc?

You must have given them your social security number some time in the past. In theory, you have to report every dollar you earn in promotions. The casino has to report over a certain amount, but that doesn't mean they can't report less than that.

Anyone know how much snow Nashua NH got yesterday?

I only ask because Gate City Casino decided to move their only decent promotion '20 Min Tuesdays' where they pay out high hands every 20 minutes, to 'Snow Day High Hands' which is 100 dollars x the number of tables in the room every 2 hours. Literally no other poker room in the area changed their promotions.

Such a joke.

Table talk at Encore the other night was the polar opposite of this policy: that even with a rollover high hand ($1000, $1500, etc.), they treat it as multiple individual wins of $500 so they aren't required to issue a tax form. I've never won a rollover promo, so can't confirm by experience.

With that said, the absence of a tax form does not remove the reporting requirement, as others mentioned in the other thread.

Does anyone know anything about a poker room opening at The Lucky Moose in Nashua?

Given the casino portion of their website is empty, I'm guessing Gate City isn't stressing about the possibility. Probably one of those rumors that start when a manager says, "Sure, we'd like to put in some poker tables at some point."

The owner of the River and Lucky Moose sold out, and the new owner will be consolidating the licenses into a single larger casino in the Pheasant Lane Mall. I think the location is the old Sears store, but I'm not familiar with the mall.

Source: current and former Moose/River employees.

New info that I heard last night is 90 poker tables. Not sure I believe that one though.

Source: Gate City employee.

Does anyone know of any local spots for poker in the Portland Maine area? Going to be there for work and love playing locally anytime I travel. 2-5, 5/5 plo, etc.
TIA!

zero poker in maine to my knowledge but perhaps oxford casino is now spreading it so worth giving them a call

bunch of places in nh but it's a bit of a commute

What? No more poker at Hollywood Casino in Bangor?

i drove 2 hours each way to go there last week to play poker and make some sports bets

poker room was closed and still no plans for a sportsbook - not even a kiosk

even if it were, bangor is probably 2.5 hours from portland

maine has horrendous infrastructure of winding country roads so no drive is efficient

It's been a while since I was up that way. Played there in 2016 and 2018. We stayed in the hotel when visiting my wife's cousin. 6 hour ride from here in RI.

Used to love the $1-3 game up there with a straddle from any position $3-25 made for a great wild game. the Thur&sat $2-5 with 1k buy-in was also a good game.
they never reopened the poker after Covid and no mention of any plans to do so.

1hr drive from Portland to the Brook is your best bet.

All your winnings are considered taxable income whether you get a W2G or 1099 form or not.

FWIW, the Gate City chairs have now gotten wheel bases on them, making them a bit taller and less prone for roll over accidents.