This is what was on the site:


SATURDAY NIGHT AT SHAMROCK!
The BIG GAME every Saturday!
$125 = 50,000 Chips!
6pm till the cows come home at 1:45am

Ha, I know what you mean about TC/Soaring, but for me it feels like Vegas compared to options up here.

I've heard good things about Firekeepers but haven't had time to check them out yet.

I haven't been to Battle Creek in years, the Zoo is all I really know about there and Cereal City (RIP)

With having 5 kids they get brought along once and a while and need to be entertained. TC is good for that with the mall and we would usually stay at Great Wolf Lodge. But with TC you never know if a game is going to be running. I usually get sick of waiting and blast my money off in the pits.

Soaring is a longer drive and my kids didn’t like the area before, but now with the arcade and water park they have opened up to it. I like it better because there is always a game going and they are on Bravo.

Not really a fan of the charity rooms but GR games sound good, might have to come down that way to do some Christmas shopping and check them out.

Thanks for the info guys!

Pretty dead at Westgate last night. 2 short handed tables at 8:30 and we combined by 10:30. Very lucky a couple of players rolled in around 12:00 or it would've been an early night.

1) Could be lots went to Soaring for Event #1
2) Could be lots went deer hunting
3) Could be some checked out the new room
4) Could be lots out celebrating in the streets about Lions win ...

Survived on only 1 BI. Had it up 25% when we combined and then lost most but fought back to show a 50% BI win by 1:15 when I left due to fatigue. Actually played some good poker, both bluffs and laydowns, while calling out quite a few hands perfectly.

You can't help it when you tell a guy he has KK and you bet an Ace on the Turn ... only to Turn your Flopped set over after he calls your River 'bluff' as well.

Don't forget HPT ME this week, qualifiers everyday .. GL

41 entrants for Thursday's flight? I figure Fri/Sat will be much busier, but good grief. Glad I didn't waste my time driving up there to play short-handed two tables for who knows how long it took them to get to 9. That's a huge disparity vs what the Friday and Saturday flights will do.

Pope's Pub is now licensed by the state to offer poker Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Fruitport, a village in southern Muskegon County. Poker in Muskegon County is now offered seven days a week.

I have no other information at this time. The Big Game room, the company that runs the games at both Pope's Pub and at Northway Lanes in the city of Muskegon, does not have a web site.

You can see the list of all licensed charity poker rooms in the state of Michigan here:

http://milottery.state.mi.us/gc-mplocator.php

Yeah .. I was originally scheduled for Thursday but had something come up. They played 10 minutes into the 15th level on Thursday to set the bar for the other Day 1s.

I played Friday and although was a bit worried to start things went very well. Table 1 had 4 former HPT champs on it ... and then Vanessa Rouso sits down (yeah!!). I actually felt very comfortable and continued to chip up pretty much each level. VR was a bit chatty and there was one hand where I could've sent her packing but I correctly read her for an overpair to my J9 on J84. Plus she was goading me into calling ("Want to join the party?") after a late position short stack shoved on her bet and she insta-called, not really expecting me to 'consider' calling. Of course a 9 hit the Turn after I 'correctly' folded the Flop.

Had another hand where I would've been chip leader in Level 10 but there was too much action PF when I had 22. Would've made quads for at least 130K stack. It would've been all-in PF, but I again made a good read on the big stack having AA/KK/QQ at my new table.

After that things went badly ... losing AA<JJ and QQ<KK for most of my stack. Then to end things I get called by 47s v my QQ and he gets a straight to send me to the cash games.

We did have 2 (maybe 3) West Michigan players in the top 20 with 'one leg' Tim having another very good tournament showing.

All 3 of the other sessions were well over 100 players and they had exactly the same number of entrants as the Spring event, around 450 total.

Stacked final table ... watch it online today at 12:30 .. GL

Woody's is closed on Thursday, both day and night ... GL

Looks like the state is biting down on 'advertising' by the Supplier.

TJ's site (tjspoker.com) no longer shows 'what's up' for the week. They had been updating weekly.

I don't really think that it's 'advertising' when someone chooses to go to your site. Only when you 'force' it on them via one of the many platforms available to the public in today's world.

With these moving targets I'm not sure what the charity or landlord may or may not be able to do, but it looks like the Supplier can only show what it is they 'actually' do on their site ... which is to act as a host to Millionaire Parties. They just can't tell you where or when they are providing their services 'to others'. GL

I would think a way around this would be to maintain a Facebook page. The state can't limit social media I assume. Or is having a social media page considered "advertising"?

There is a comment in the Detroit group where a Facebook page has been thinned down recently.

Haven't had time to dig into this one (if I even do) but I would still think the charity could do something, just not the supplier. And the landlord would be limited to property signage only.

Woody's website doesn't have the word 'poker' in it, but still has some very old pictures posted. Once they finish their new TV set up they may change those out.

Westgate still has a 'poker room' link, but this also has very old pictures.

One other room I have been to still has all of their poker content listed.

These are all landlords, not suppliers ... and the state's focus has been 'mostly' on the supplier's (and bogus charities). GL

It must be getting colder outside ... The games are picking up a bit as we head into less daylight.

Don't know of any 'big' tournaments going on very close to West Michigan ... Hollywood Toledo has some stuff going on but both the MSPT and HPT are off until next year. Firekeepers has it's normal Sunday schedule .. still time to get into the 4th quarter and year-end freerolls down there.

There have been a couple of 'celebrity' moments that I've heard of, but you can hear about those on your own at the tables if you don't know about them already. GL

There has been some 'good' chatter about King's Room. I haven't heard too much of it since it was at a different table than mine, but it seems as if they are pulling players away from TJ's and TJ's is resorting to calling 'the state' and reporting 'stuff' about them.

I briefly heard something about free pizza, but I can confirm nothing since I haven't been there.

Pretty decent games at Woodys yesterday ... 2 tables for most of the Day shift and plenty of interest in the Monday night lists ... both 1/2 and RxR ... GL

From the pictures posted on Facebook by King's room, it looked as packed as what "old TJ's" was when they filled the house on Friday nights. Seems like most of the regulars have returned.

The location is a good one; just the battles over parking/the robbery/and TJ's old staff were downsides. A few corrections and I'm sure they will have consistently good numbers.

Also what a surprise that TJ's is trying to get other games shut down. Not like they haven't attempted that before...

I"ll be making my first visit to Kings Room on Friday.

Very lively 2 tables at Woody's last night ... multiple stacks over $600 when we combined ... The short stacks were constantly 3-betting and shoving PF ... Fun!!

I did extremely well at showdowns (and non-showdowns) but lost my hands when the shorty was all-in and we ran it twice. I think I split once and lost both boards 3 times while never being dominated.

King's room chatter indicates 4-5 table tournaments with cash. Just like the old days.

Not sure when I will make an appearance, but eventually. GL

I cashed.

Finally got back down to muskegon (here now)... still as sketchy as I remember, and games are juicy. Lots of all in pre at my table. I think there's 3 tables of 1/2 going and tourney is about over.. very small wait for a seat.

for most of the Muskegon tournaments not only is there not a wait, but players are often very late. I remember one tournament where we waited a half hour to start with 10 players and players started gradually dribbling in after that. We wound up with over 40.

The Thursday and Sunday tournaments are popular and could be full if you don't show up on time, but you should have no problem in the rest of the week.

I will repost the Thursday though Sunday schedule at Northway Lanes tomorrow (Monday). I don't have all the information on Pope's Pub (in Fruitport, poker Tuesday through Thursday) but I will post that when I have it as well.

The last sentence is incorrect. It should have said:

poker MONDAY through WEDNESDAY

Thursday---1500---build a stack tournament---$20 BI + up to $40 AO---50,000 starting chips

Friday---1800---$50 freezeout---25,000 starting chips

Saturday---1800---$50 freezeout---25,000 starting chips

Sunday---1500---build a stack tournament---$20 BI + up to $40 AO---50,000 starting chips

Reminder: you can't use names of cardroom staff or non-famous players on the forum.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/27...-16-a-1532627/

If you have any comments, please post in the Moderation Discussion Thread or send me a PM. Thanks.

1. You're right about the parking. I played there a week, arriving about 20 minutes before the start of the tournament. I had to park a block away.

2. Robberies happen. Poker rooms robberies happened twice in Muskegon. They have happened in Detroit.

3. I've seen the comment about TJs trying to get other rooms shut down before. It there any proof of that? I am somewhat aware of the state rules, and in 2015 I have played in five rooms in Kent County and one in Muskegon County. I have not seen anything in any of those rooms that would be a violation.

We need a lot of rooms. We need competition and choices, and we should all be willing to stand up for that.

I think of Muskegon and Kent counties as an ecosystem where a lot of players move back and forth between the various rooms depending on what games or tournaments are offered. Spring Lake and Grand Haven are roughly equidistant from Grand Rapids and Muskegon. Kent County has tournaments with a buy-in of over $100--Muskegon Country does not. I played a tournament at a TJs room where the majority of the players at the final table were staff or regular players from Northway Lanes in Muskegon.

We need each other. If anyone is messing with that system or trying to get a room in trouble, we should be asking why and on what grounds they are doing so.

Should be a pretty fun 2/5 at Woody's tonight ... 7pm ... call ahead. GL

Quite the table last night!! Good action, good people with 1-2 players waiting pretty much all night. Even the raises weren't really out of line. A few Bingo hands of course, but this would be a very nice game to keep going if you want some 2/5 action and also want to weed out some of the 'cogs' in the 1/2 wheel that we normally run into in GR. GL


PS ... And this is from a guy who ...

1) Had a guy call his own 2-outer, and hit it .. then ran it back up to $1k and ...

2) Lost both boards after gii on the Flop (as a 68% favorite) when 3 of the 4 cards hit my opponent ... then ...

3) Had my AA cracked when I front straddled (first time all night) on the last hand of the night (for me anyway) and went for a little too much value at 1:30 AM.

I'm posting something I should have put up a while ago. Several times I have bashed the Mugkegon room (there are now two in Muskegon County) for not giving any information. They didn't have a web site long before the MGCB crackdown, but it's worse than that. I saw people wander in asking about the games and they didn't even have a handout with information for prospective players.

That said, about a month ago TJs had a tournament that was a disaster. The room was Shamrock, but nothing that happened was the room's fault.

I was the first person to sign up, an hour before the start of the tournament, but after the tournament started I was not allowed to play for almost an hour. Here's what happened:

There weren't enough dealers to start the tournament. After about 20 minutes the owner (supplier?) of TJs decided to start the tournament for some of the players. She seated by table number, table 1, then 2, and when she ran out of dealers, including herself, the other players had to wait. She knew that I was the first one to sign up for the tournament, but I didn't get a seat. I thought it was because my table number was too high but someone told me that it was because it was in the bathroom when some of the players were seated. I was in the bathroom for two minutes at most.

When she (I guess I'm not allowed to say her name) came to speak to those of us who didn't get a seat, she said that we weren't really missing much by having to wait for "a few minutes" since other dealers had been called in.

Maybe I should have spoken up then, maybe I was too stunned by what was going on, I don't know. What I was thinking was that I had been working a lot on playing a larger number of speculative when effective stacks are big enough to offer good implied odds. Somes player were already seated and waiting for the go-ahead. It was a really awkward situation.

So, I was the first to sign up, and hour before the tournament. I drove 30 miles to get there. I waited 20 minutes after the scheduled time because there weren't enough dealers. Then the selected players started and I had to wait another 25 minutes to get a seat.

I eventually played, and shortly after we were down to two tables I heard arguing at the other table. Someone called "floor!" There was no floor person. When we got enough dealers, the owner went home, and every other available staff person was dealing. I guess the dealer must have made the ruling.

A week later, back in the Muskegon room I was talking to another player who had been in that tournament. He told me that wasn't the only problem. To get more players started they seated 11 players at his table. That's bad enough, but if they were going to do that, why not add the guy who was first to sign up?

I don't know why dealers showed up late or not at all. There could have been other issues at play such as staff illness. Still, a poker tournament has to be a level playing field. By not being able to play when effective stacks were highest, the very thing I had been working on in my studies, I was put at a competitive disadvantage. That should never happen. There were at least three ways where this could have been fixed.

3.Worst Option (at least most players would probably think so)--Cancel the tournament. No one risks a buy-in while at a competitive disadvantage.

2. Better Option--Hold the tournament until enough dealers report. There were a bunch of Muskegon county players in the room who had already driven 30 miles and probably would have waited a little longer. I waited, but in hindsight I should have left rather than agree to play in a -EV situation.

3. Best Option--Split the field in half and have two smaller tournaments, one to start immediately and the other when more dealers show up and/or enough players are knocked out to free up the needed seats. Two tournaments, each with a level playing field. Smaller prize pools to win, but I think it would have been the best of three bad options.