This is incorrect. AFAIK, Seneca continues to be one of the rare casinos in the US that will withholds 30% any tournament winnings even if it's below $5,000 net. If a Canadian is among the final 10% in the $1,500 event, but min-cashes at about $2K, Seneca withholds 30% of that or $600, so you actually go home with less money despite "winning!" When I won first place in a small Las Vegas tournament, it was not above $5,000 net winnings so that casino did not withhold anything, but when my friend made a smaller cash at Seneca, 30% of his winnings were gone.


Legally, you need proof or receipts of gambling losses to offset part or all of your tournament winnings. What RMS and other recovery firms do is skip the proof/receipt part for non-huge wins. Some players later got audited by the IRS, but I don't know what the outcome was.

In other words, Ontario players should first play any of the many decent tournaments in the following casinos before driving across the border to have 30% withheld for even a min-cash: Casino Rama (5% rake), Brantford Deep Stacks (rake as low as 8%), Woodbine SNGs (rake as low as 4%), Point Edward, Great Blue Heron, Fallsview Poker Classic, Western Fair Racetrack, Mohawk Racetrack, etc. In addition, while Seneca and most other casinos have an extra ~3% fee/add-on for staff gratuities, Ontario casinos (except for Fallsview) have zero hidden fees.

Yeah, it is a shame about the 30% tax withholding for those that don't want to wait until the end of the year to get the money back. It's well known the staff at most of the Canadian casinos pretty much suck, from floors down to the dealers. Just like it ruins the experience for a Canadian to have 30% taken out, it ruins the experience for most players from this side of the border to have to deal with incompetence when they play a tournament in Canada.

How likely is it to get your 30% back in full at the end of the year? If you don't have the receipts to prove equal losses (assuming this means pit games because htf are you gonna show it for poker if you mainly play cash) is it even possible if you hit a big score?

How have the sattelites been for the main at Seneca? Soft?

Hard to gauge at this point. I will give you the scoop on main event satellites. They are a two step process. You can play a $50 satellite, where 1 in every 5 win a $200 satellite... Or, skip right to the $200 satellite, where 1 in every 8 are going to punch their ticket to the $1500 main event. The twist... Cash game players, Mon-Thu@2pm and 6pm, have the opportunity to win a FREE $50 seat just for having their table/chair called. This has been going on for several weeks. Also, certain opportunities arise (like 1st Wednesday of the month) where cash game players win $200 satellite seats for their table/chair being called. To summarize, there are a TON of satellite seats floating around. Could be 2-4 limit players, could be 2-5 no limit players. Either way, a flooded satellite seat market usually means the week before the main event qualifies dozens upon dozens of people for the main event. Some nights the $200 main event qualifiers could be softer than others...all depends on who cashes in their free satellite seats when... I've seen $200 satellites get 50-60 players in them the week before the main, which could possibly produce the softer fields you seek...but gauging "soft" or not is a tough judgement to make overall...

Understandable. My birthday is only a day away, so I'll be there on Friday around 3pm to play in the $50 satty. Maybe make a nice run into the main, lol. Looking forward to finally play tournaments.

Also looking forward to the FWOTM tourneys and saturday tourneys as I hear these $50 tourneys are a waste of time.

The $50 tourneys are pretty bad. They basically have a $15 rake on them when you add in the staff fee.


I'm really looking forward to playing the November series. I'm going to play the two $125 tournaments, the $200, and the $300. I'm not planning to play the main event unless I manage to win a seat.

I'm playing the 2 125s, and the 300. I just played the $50 sattelite and finished 6th, 3 got the seat oi.

How are the Saturday tournaments?

Can't really say, I haven't played one in years.

Ahh gotcha. I'll prolly play the FWOTM tourney this week and see how that is. I'm glad I went today, got a good feel for the room

The best "regular tournament" they run is Saturday mornings and Sunday nights, in my opinion. Best structure/buy-in/etc. 1st Wednesday of the month is a popular one, but isn't known for the structure. It's basically a huge field, with a big prize pool, which is the draw. It's over quickly. 7pm start, 8k chips, 15 minute levels: it's over by 12:30-1am. Saturday mornings is your best bet for a regularly scheduled tournament where you get the most bang for your buck...

Got it. Thanks for this

I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but how many entries do these usually get? Should be last question lol

Saturday morning gets 40+, depending on what time of the year it is. (It's higher in the winter) 1st Wednesday is usually 160-180.

Well good luck to everyone playing this week. I'm playing today and stop and say hi if you see me (I will be the only person in the room rocking a black Tron Legacy hoodie)

Gl gl let us know how many entries please!

So far they have 86 people. Not doing that good so far. Keep running into the top of peoples ranges but just picked up a nice pot.

Ended up with 103 entries

Not bad for a Monday morning kick off tournament. The real fun begins later in the week when the tournaments hit the balcony. Word is already 40 entries in the main event with satellites and whatnot... Considering the bulk of the satellites take place Thursday and Friday night, this could be another big main event field of 200+...

50 people in the middle of the 3rd round so far today. Some guy sat down next to me and it folded around to me in the Sb with AQs. Blinds are 50-100 and i make it 300, he says "im the last person you want to do that too in this room" and then folds lol. I also ended making a mistake when it comes around to me in the big blind with 10's. There was one limper and t
he SB completed. I pulled back my $150 and put a $500 chip in thinking it would be a raise

Any estimates on the $500 on Thursday? I'll be in it, and poker news is reporting it

Tough call being on a Thursday. Here is the thing: in the past, this event has been held on a Friday, but with the extended structure relative to the buy-in, the tournament was going deep into the next morning, which conflicted with many that wanted to play the main event, which started just 4-5 hours later on some occasions. This go around, the $500 prelim was put on Thursdays schedule. I will predict anywhere from 80-100 entries. Could be more based on past success drawing bigger fields on bigger buy-ins. The main event is going to be the biggest field of the week, IMO...

Yeah I figured the main would be the biggest event. When do you expect the $500 to end? 3-4am?

It all depends. I've seen it end in as quickly as 12-14 hours, bringing you to about 1am... I've also seen this event last as long as 16 hours. By that time, you're sitting on a potential 5-figure payout and time is irrelevant! Lol.

Save some of your poker bankroll for the upcoming Fallsview Poker Classic. The series will be longer than last year and will have an extra event. Satellites will probably start after Fallsview players like me return from the WPT or WSOP-C events currently running in Canada. Caesars Windsor is also having its "Nothing To Hide 5" tournament next week.

84 people in the $200 at the start of level 5.