At last word, the restrictions in place via MGCB for charity rooms didn't make it feasible to run games due to both cost (plexiglass) and capacity limits for the location/room. My assumption is that 'eventually' those restrictions will loosen up and the opportunity for charity rooms will be there should the Suppliers, Locations and Charities want to get back involved.

It will be very difficult to get official word of anything out of GLake. One of the supposed hurdles has been cleared .. slots are back to 100% availability. The other hurdle that I was told about was that they wouldn't open poker back up until the hotel was open. Well, that's going to be a while.

One would also have to assume that they will keep a close eye on Firekeepers, Four Winds-South Bend and Horseshoe-Hammond to see how the numbers look. It appears that the 'new' Hard Rock casino in Gary will not have poker, at least initially. You also have the issue of Summer, when poker is typically the slowest.

We should all keep an eye on Bravo to see what happens in Detroit as well. The numbers there have been pretty weak except on weekends due to both capacity issues and (IMO) staffing issues.

Is poker dead .. by no means at all. Florida and Texas are jumpin'! We'll see what happens in Vegas this Oct/Nov with the live WSOP events.

Players have also been spoiled by the home game scene, but that's only a small portion of the whole Player pool. There's also the online options to deal with as well. Some Players just want something to do and they may not care that they are playing .05/.10 online v traveling to a room to play.

I think WM would rebound, it's a social game and a very large portion of the 1/2 cash and tournament Player pool would come back 'outside' to play .. it's just a matter of where. GL

According to Bravo, Firekeepers is now 9 handed!

I sure hope Gun Lake opens their poker room again. I'm hoping that when the current expansion is complete, Gun Lake will find a place for it. The press releases say "late summer", so I'm thinking September. If it's not open by then, I'm going to assume it will not reopen.

1) Yes, right after my post I received word of the change at FKeepers. I was hoping for 8-handed M-Th and 9-handed F-Su, but that would be a 'thing' for most poker Players as we all know.

2) They are still working on their staffing, so really no plan for tournaments as of yet. It will take them some time to work their way back up to where they were. I would hope that they would pursue bringing in a pool of Dealers for the MSPT .. but who knows where the WSOPc pool of Dealers stands as of today.

3) I think you mean that the GLake expansion is slated to open 'late summer' with no exact mention of poker, but I'm not taking the time to look into their press releases today! No biggie .. we all can hope. We can only hope that Fkeepers has a bang up Summer (as well as GLake slots) and someone at GLake can catch Sal's ear. I'm pretty sure that GLake had a better landing spot for Dealers, but they had the benefit of a full slate of local Dealers ready to get involved .. the 2nd time around may not go the same. GL

There is some talk of charity rooms opening back up in July. If that's the case there will be a rush of license applications down at MGCB and also a rush for the Suppliers to locate and rehire their staff. Assuming the locations are all back to 100%, they will also be welcoming any extra income they can get.

Summer is historically slower in charity rooms, but this may not be the case this year with Gun Lake still out of the loop and folks just wanting to get out and do 'anything'.

I played at FK on Sat and left a post in that thread, no reason to repost here. The 2/5 game was (surprisingly) everything you would want in a poker game. It's possible the 'match the stack' has some influence, but 'real' poker was being played. GL

King's room opens TODAY!! Not sure what time, but they'll try to get poker going on Division Ave once again. Looks like the ownership of the building has changed names, but I think it's just a formality .. same 'girls' making food and pizza.

Word was that the Muskegon room was opening next week but there's no license shown as of yet. King's doesn't have a charity listed for next week either, but it does two week from today as the state is working it's way through applications as quickly as it can.

At least one 'Detroit' area charity room is opening today as well.

No 'real' word from Gun Lake or Soaring Eagle. MSPT doesn't show the Fall event at Firekeepers on their calendar either, but that may have happened some time ago. FK is still growing their Dealer pool and it's no news that they will take baby steps to get back into a full poker location. The BBJ (and reserve) are both in 'room share' as of today.

Make sure that if you have any thoughts of going to the live WSOP in Vegas that you get on your horse and lock up a room/bed. A quick look at hotels shows they know when the Raiders are at home and with the WSOP not being in 'slow time' for Vegas you may find comps hard to come by. GL

You know good news/bad news? Well in this case the bad news far outweighs the good.

There was a major traffic accident in AZ that impacted direct family members of our poker community that any of you who played 1/2 in charity rooms .. and some at GLake .. would most certainly know. I'm not going to directly name this person, but there is a GoFundMe available to assist with making arrangements to bring the FIVE family members home for burial. That's a very big 'number' to deal with and if you feel inclined you may want to at least check out the story on any local news agency website.

I have a single source that indicates that GLake emailed Poker Dealers indicating that the current plan is to reopen the 8-table poker room sometime in October. This correlates with indications that I received from GLake that the poker room wouldn't reopen until slots were back at full capacity. I'm not sure how October was chosen, but with the anticipated opening of the 'delayed' expansion AND with slots being back at 100% availability this would seem to fit nicely into somebody's flow chart. GL

Pretty lonely in here ..

A quick trip to SEagle provided some insight from that location ..

1) Poker is 'trying' to open in Aug/Sept but they are struggling with filling the staff for the room. Not really sure what that means since they historically pulled pit Dealers into that room when necessary. Could be they don't have any 'spares' in the pits right now.

2) Their Ultimate Texas Hold'em table had the highest minimum bet that I've seen in Michigan. $15 min bet on Blind/Ante .. AND .. Trips. So if you also play the $1 Flop Jackpot spot you are putting out $46 just to get into the game! Even if you don't play the '@%&' bets you're still looking at $30 per hand against an opponent who doesn't fold!

Might be the reason that only 3 people actually played at the two tables in the 2 hours I was there. One guy said it was fine for him since he didn't like the fact that it took 5-7 minutes per hand at Gun Lake .. so he's never going back!

3) First time I'd seen Criss-Cross poker in action .. not really too fond of that game.

4) SEagle was giving away $20 gas cards if you got a flyer in the mail .. I wasn't on that list since I might go twice a year. GL

Staffing issues are the issues everywhere, and are going to continue to be until the $300/week unemployment boost benefit is taken away, which is currently scheduled for September (unless of course they extend it again). As of right now people are just happy living off the government instead of going to work for an extra couple hundred a week. Until this happens things will continue to be slow everywhere and we won't see a full reopening.

I won't get too political. The unemployment benefit definitely plays a part in the labor shortage, but it's way more complex than that. We basically had 15 months where a good portion of jobs in this country were completely eliminated. Many of those people have gone on and found different lines of work. Nearly overnight the demand for those jobs came back to near pre-pandemic levels, but the supply of that labor will take some time to come back. There certainly are some people who are going to just stay home and collect UE as long as they can without seriously looking for a job, but the numbers suggest that's only a relatively small number. The US UE rate is currently 5.9%, and 5% is considered the standard churn in a healthy economy.

Even the states that have already ended the extra UE money are struggling with staffing shortages. Our labor market got thrown out of whack in the last 15 months, and it's going to take some time to re-stabilize. There's not much for us to do other than be patient and wait for the supply of labor to catch up with demand.

Great post ..

Actually stopped in at GLake yesterday for the first time since the last raffle. Lots of slot turnover and they moved most of the pits into the section by the cafe along the wall of the expansion. (Apparently done a couple months ago)

Couple of birds suggested that poker's target is October 1st but plans are never laid in stone.

Obv the new 131 freeway exit will dwarf the old and I interpret the picture that it will be similar to 131 and 44th street. The 'west' ramps are all closed, I think they want you to go south/north one exit and come back. I came from Caledonia/179 so I didn't get to experience what the signs want you to do .. can't imagine they want all that traffic going through 'downtown' Wayland and coming down Division, but I'm sure lots of folks are doing it anyway. Hard to come in from the west I would think.

Staff all seemed to be chipper, even during the false fire alert. One mentioned that the expansion will have quite a few more 'doors' and wasn't sure how they were going to install a security check station to cover all of the new entry points. Mostly familiar faces from what I encountered .. GL

Looks like both King's and 'Muskegon' got their charity licenses for this weekend. No report on any action as of yet .. may hit up King's tonight.

PLO got going at FKeepers Friday by 530pm and lasted past Midnight, hopefully a trend of at least one day a week that PLO gets going down there .. if you want to make the drive.

2/5 at FKeepers def has legs. Although it started after PLO on Friday it was still currently going Sunday morning, which had the same scenario whenever I stopped in 6-7 weeks ago. Word is that this game can be great to agonizing depending on the flow of the list. There were actually three 2/5 games going Wed night, possibly due to the rain outside .. bringing all the golfers inside!

The Go-Fund-Me for the AZ tragedy is going well, with over $80k, but still time to donate if you choose. Most of the donations are anonymous .. GL

In a bit of a surprise .. couple of sources indicate that 'The Tribe' at Gun Lake didn't approve the reopening of the poker room at a recent meeting.

In what to many wont be a surprise .. Why would you send out an email to Dealers before this vote/approval had taken place? I guess it was assumed that the council would just toss it's magic wand on whatever was on the agenda. Perhaps they weren't consulted enough or were pissed off that an assumption was made by management in sending out the email before the actual approval was made.

This certainly isn't the first time that we've had misinformation or just an about-face on an issue in that facility.

The intel also included the presumption that poker will not be readdressed until the hotel expansion is complete .. which could be as much as two years down the road.

Certainly a disappointment, but also an opportunity for the charity rooms to try and recapture the days of old .. GL

Disappointing to say the least. Thanks for keeping us afloat. Any word on Westgate Bowl? I know you previously stated a target date of 8/1.

That date was not for Westgate .. That was for the charity room in Muskegon, which is up and running every weekend.

There was some chatter about King's maybe opening before 4PM as well, but I've yet to grace them with my presence!! GL

Short trip into King's Friday afternoon ..

1) Pretty sure they open/start taking names at 330 on Thurs/Fri
2) Pretty sure I heard they open earlier on Saturdays, but I was too busy playing to chat

3) The game was very good as expected .. basically all the same Players
4) Tournaments are up and running .. 3-5 tables per

5) They are working on a 2nd location, which would run Mon-Thur and be located north of the S-curve (but not Westgate) in a very convenient neighborhood
6) There was a brief PLO discussion, but IMO I don't think it would be consistently running until the 2nd location is open .. perhaps on the overlap day of Thursday?

Hard to tell if Players are avoiding Gun Lake (as they said they would until poker returns), but if they truly are on a 2-year plan now then it might be hard for them to keep their 'good' intentions in tack.

There was also intel that the 'social card club' in the U.P. got raided by MGCB and MSP last week. Which until that is all sorted out .. should the operators even care to pursue the issue with the State .. puts any attempt on a card club in WMich on hold for sure. GL

Looks like there 'already' poker 7 days a week in WM. Westgate was/is open this week Mon-Thur (possibly 4 pm) and it appears that they have charities lined up going forward. No word on tournaments .. perhaps I'll stop in next week. It may have affected things at King's a bit tonight already as they typically had 3 cash going before the tournament and only had 2 tonight. Strong tournament showing .. capped at the first 60 entrants. GL

Iv tried reading all the comments on here but wanted to confirm the casinos in West Michigan (I assume that entails along the east coast of Lake Michigan).

Iv been looking to purchase property up North in the region and Poker is important to me. What rooms in mid to west Michigan has good $1/2 and $2/5 that I can check out. I will be up there next month (if I can get out of a wedding) and would love to check them out. If I had a list of casinos I can add them to my property map and it will help narrow down my search.

At the moment the list is pretty short.. zero casinos offer poker up and down 131.

Firekeepers casinos near I94 and I69 is currently the only casino offering poker outside Detroit and would fill the 1/3 and 2/5 NL fix.

There was a poker room at Gun Lake casino south of Grand Rapids but they decided not to reopen poker, probably for quite a while. Plenty of home games, but those are dominated by PLO.

GR and Muskegon offer charity poker rooms typically with plenty of action but are limited to 20k a day in chips and rarely get games above 1/2 going.. still can find a couple 800 stacks if the player doesn't go into lock down.

DM me for more specifics.. GL

PS .. Soaring Eagle casino in Mount Pleasant will eventually reopen their limited action room and be the only option north of I96.

Westgate cash got going right at 4PM yesterday. I believe they got a 5-6 handed 2nd table going by 5PM or sooner.

Good vibes from their 'first' $100 tournament that had 20+ entries.

So far they are re-opening 'right' .. always 2-3 Dealers on site (and they are mostly former Gun Lake Dealers, so top notch).

King's staff commented that last Friday's early cash was a bit slower than the first couple .. this WAS a Dealer problem when I've been there and heard other comments as well. Still offering 3+ table tournaments .. not sure if they will continue to cap tournament entries or not. It may depend on which tournament they are offering that day.

FKeepers BBJ still hasn't hit since reopening and is now at $139K with room share. Intel indicates the reserve pot is also over $100K so room share will still be in effect when the the primary hits. They do have a 2nd reserve .. not sure that status but it's probably growing fast since their formula 'floats' depending on the value of the primary pot.

FKeepers is also having $500 HH promo on Labor Day with 10 awards starting at 11 AM, so qualifying begins at 10 AM .. AAAJJ to get on the board.

MGM has been running a 25/50/100 PLO game the last few weekends .. so if you want to go down there and gawk, take a peek!

I've not really been stalking Bravo as much as I've used to .. plenty of non-Bravo poker in West Michigan to fill my plate.

No word on when Poto in Milwaukee is going to open.

Hammond is, well, Hammond, with plenty of action while they try to rebuild their staff. Make sure YOU CALL them to be sure of their hours/staff if you plan on going down there.

South Bend has been about 50% of what they were doing since FK/Hammond opened back up. REALLY large BBJ down there but hard to hit. GL

Bad news ... BBJ of around 143k hit a FKeepers Sunday at 5AM (26s > 33) on the 2/5 table .. 57K to 33, 28K to 26s .. room share was around $800 with 4 other tables running at the time.

5 tables going 'strong' at 5AM on a Sunday means poker is going strong right now IMO.

Good news .. BBJ at FKeepers is reset to around 115K, so room share is still in effect. GL

Stopped into GLake today .. You can see most of the new areas, while the old 131 is now boarded off for repurposing (since there's a 'new' 131 Lounge area).

Lots, lots and lots more slots along with an 'interior' cashier area for the busier times. The two new restaurants look sharp and fresh, as they should.

Talked to one passing team member that indicated that the 'poker decision' was influenced by continued concerns over CV 'not' being 'over' with little to no idea as to when it might be readdressed.

Played a few hands of Ultimate Texas HE with little excitement for my stack. However it was very interesting that the table was running decently hot (including a Turned quads) .. and, boom, they changed the cards at the next Dealer change. One of the Players piped up that they 'just changed the cards' an hour ago. The table then basically broke .. great message to send you clients .. GL

Assess .. and reassess. Looks as though there will not be a second 'north side' poker room 'coming soon' Mon-Thur.

But Kings' is now focused on providing a 'two shift' operation 'soon'. Obv no clear statement of hours and or offerings and I'm assuming the state will require some sort of shutdown between as before (hour?).

There is a 'new' Floor at Kings which many Players will know from GLake.

My very brief session at West Gate provided very little new scoop. But one (of 5 apparently) 'State' men was there and indicated that Gaming is attempting to comb through both the 'Act' (law) and the current rules for clarity and some discrepancies that have been brought to their attention.

Totally forgot to check Bravo yesterday to see how FKeepers did with their HH promo .. hope all had fun. GL


PS .. as a bit of a PSA .. both Bally's and Flamingo will close their rooms by the end of September so those Dealers can work the WSOP tables. Bally's has indicated that they will reopen their room, but Flamingo may fall by the wayside .. time will tell.

Westgate is going strong .. plenty of action right from the git go and sometimes 3 cash tables .. $500 BI 1/2 is 'good for the game' IMO. There are some Nits rolling in so you just need to table and seat select a bit (if you 'really' care).

There's a $200 BI tournament in Muskegon on Sunday that will benefit the family of a long time worker there who passed away from CV. I believe this made the news as both this person and their mother were in the hospital at the same time and mother made decision to discontinue life support. Not sure the starting time (100?) and they wont be running cash games until the tournament starts to lose Players.

Fall is normally a time poker picks up, but with the WSOP starting later this week is may have a small affect on our area .. probably not so much the Reg 1/2 Players, but the splashy Players may be looking west. I know of a couple multi-bed houses in Vegas that are rented for 2 months and Players will be coming and going. It will be interesting out there to see how long the cash game lists will be since the Rio may not host cash games every day .. plus the vaccine issues that may or may not affect various venues. GL


PS .. Hopefully someone from Muskegon can chime in here with better details ..

Took a impromptu trip to Vegas .. yay me!! Couple tournament, plenty of cash games with super reasonable hotel rates and probably below average crowds for Mon-Thur, but what do I know?

Tournament at Rio (PLO), bust just before dinning .. chose not to reenter with only 10bb
Cash at Rio, good action, good to bad Dealers

Tournament at Venetian (PLO), went here instead of rebuying at Rio .. cashed, very easy table to read and good Dealers

Cash at Resorts World .. wow, like the wild west! They give the Players a lot of latitude, more like a home game feel. I saw rabbit hunting and mid-hand deal making. But I also saw Floors that controlled the room very well, staying professional the whole time.

Cash at Aria .. get there early as the lists are 'real'. You have two hours to show up so plan ahead as this will get you closer to your seat for sure. I've heard you can 'buy' your way up the list there by tipping the Floors, but ???

Overall it was a great trip for me to take .. getting away from all the Regs around here!!

We play some very good poker in WMich and you should be proud of that!!

ITMT .. We have two Players who made Day 2 in the PLO (event 28) so hopefully they do well to ladder up as they are already in the money in that tournament. GL

You can get almost anything you want with a $20 bill to staff in Vegas. Put a $20 bill on the counter, ask for a room upgrade and see what happens.