Breaking News!! In what was a horrible attempt at keeping a secret .. at least for one day. Not sure how long it's been in the planning, but the Gun Lake Poker Room is 'already' moving AND expanding with speculation that it will be completed by Labor Day-ish.

In quick fashion a construction barrier was put up along the walkway between the 'cold case' food (at Sandhill) and the Buffet this week .. even confusing employees as they showed up for work since it now blocks one of the ways they get to their lockers/break room.

Speculation took off like a rocket when a Dealer let it slip that "It's all gonna change next month" and then our table kept pressing each Floor and Dealer for more details .. with one Dealer even saying they "got a tour" of the new area. Nothing firm of course, but the assumption currently is that the room will expand to at least 12, maybe 16-18 tables and they will look to start up some tournaments going into the Fall.

What will this spell for the charity rooms? We'll see .. I don't think the 'daily' tournaments will fly since Players do have the 'local' options and why drive the extra miles? However I do think that a Saturday morning/Sunday Noon 'special' would go very well .. possibly a Fri/Sat night, especially if they put out a guarantee of some kind.

Will there be free food? It's close to the kitchen now. Where will the cage go? (Minor detail) Will this be the resting spot for the room after the hotel is built? Not if the numbers keep up. What kind of barrier will there be for noise and gawkers?

They're also reworking a room near the CBK entrance that perhaps was once a non-smoking room .. way too small to move into unless they want to go down to 5 tables.

It'll be a much farther walk for those that valet or use the North Lot, but (dah) a much shorter walk for those that use the covered parking .. flip a coin for the CBK South/VIP Lot.

High Hands went over very well and the PLO list was 4-7 deep pretty much all day through 9pm. GL

That doesn’t sound like good news, it sounds like poker is halfway out the door at Gun Lake Casino. And they worry about matching whatever Firekeepers does.

Would definitely like an expansion on the 'not' good news comment ..

It appears that my initial location was a bit off. The construction wall is probably for some upgrades to the employee areas whereas the poker room could be moving towards the now closed (emergency only) west doors. August 7th is being tossed around and I just can't imagine that a conversion of an area that had zero wiring and such forth could be converted and ready to inhabit by that date.

The new 'area' will have 16 tables .. not sure how that's going out the door?

Pick your poison this Thursday as both GL and FK are offering $1K HH promos 'all day' with FK starting at 10am-8pm and GL going Noon-11pm. FK will also have their newly touted '$500 Hot Seat' promo at 5,7,9 and 11pm

As the WSOP in Vegas winds down (and past the holiday) I've already seen an uptick in poker the last couple of weeks .. games still aren't consistently going 'all night' as they usually did Pre-CV but we are still in Summer, eh? GL

That's what I hear.

If you exit the buffet and look straight across, that's gonna be the new poker room.

Yep .. the dead body tape is in place for 10 of the tables now .. gonna be mixed reviews for sure .. gl

Eat the buffet, miss only one orbit?

$500 Hourly High Hands.. Wed/Thur Noon to 1am this week (like tomorrow!!)

Looks like new area may only be 10 tables.. not more .. GL


Ps .. at Gun Lake

FKeepers also has Hourly High Hands ($1K) today from 1pm-10pm .. pick your poison, eh? It's been a little tit/tat for promos the last few months. FK usually publishes promos for the whole month whereas GL tends to 'surprise' us with 1-2 week notice.

If you play PLO, FK has hit an uptick for their Thursday night 6pm sign ups sitting at 25 right now. Intel has it that Players are showing up from Detroit and Fort Wayne lately for this weekly 'event'. Pretty sure this is a Match The Stack game. Last week the table lasted until 4pm the next day with a lot of that being a Heads Up match. From what I'm being told the game WILL NOT start before 6pm even if there's enough Players waiting around. Pretty silly, but I guess they are protecting the list and those who are at the top. (Not that you couldn't just reorganize the table at 6pm, but hey .. who am I)

Speaking of tit/tat pot/kettle scenarios .. The PLO game at GLake kind of fizzled out around 7pm but some Players stuck it out and played short with the game eventually filling up with some of the Players being NL Players who couldn't get on those tables (2?). Well, those NL Player ran pretty good, thus building their stacks. In a 'reverse' day time scenario .. which usually has the PLO Players looking to start their table ASAP (sometimes with little regard for the NL game) .. they (GL Floors) to the bewilderment of both Players and Dealers decided to start a new NL game with only 6 Players on the list and the night getting 'late'. Well, about 70% of the chips on the PLO table were suddenly gone taking 3 NL Players and then a 4th Player who saw the opportunity to 'Go South' by switching to the new NL table.

Typically a game is not started if it will cripple another game but this is the 2nd time PLO has suffered during the evening hours when 2nd shift Floors decided to open a NL table, thus stripping the PLO game down to short with no list in the last 4-5 visits I've had during those hours.

Last night it really stung as I don't think the new table even lasted an hour .. and those Player left, not returning to PLO. Sour grapes? .. of course. I'm just doing a small rant. People tell me that I 'protect' Gun Lake too much, so I guess I'm venting some negative here. Did I run bad? Sure, but I tend to think that I can separate my 'operational' opinions from my short term session. The first time it happened I didn't even get two orbits in and had called to make sure the game 'had legs' .. it definitely didn't.

Don't forget that they do have High Hands tomorrow as well as today .. GL

GLake has .. had? .. rumors that the Reward Dollars Program was to end at the end of 2023. A letter was going to be circulated to all casino patrons (not just poker) that they needed to run their balances down or lose the ability to use that benefit. Last night, after PLO got going around 9pm, a couple of Players said that the 'idea' had come and gone. Who knows .. always some kind of tweaking going on.

I didn't walk down to the new 'area' .. so no report on that as we are 7 days from the projected move date.

FKeepers had 2-3 PLO tables going strong last Thursday night with the last table running through 4pm Friday (from what I'm told). GL

Westgate first Thursday tournament is tomorrow.. $125 I believe

Then they are going to try to offer plo x nl x bomb pot in a RxRxR format on all the other Thursdays of the month ..

FKeepers has all kinds of poker promotions in August.. mainly wed/fri/Sat.. but check Bravo for all details

GLake move will not be ready by Monday.. it looks like only 10 tables now as well .. GL

Will be in Grand Rapids later this month. What are my options for live cash games? What are charity poker rooms like and are they a good option? Looks like the poker room at the nearest casino is closed until September? Staying in GR and prefer not to drive more than an hour or so. Thanks ahead of time.

Seems like the GLC poker promo fund must be getting up there... wonder if they are going to really slam a few high hand promos after the move.

The nearest casino is Gun Lake Casino and should be open during your visit.

Charity Poker ..

1) Mon-Thur .. Westgate Bowl on the NE side (Alpine and 6 mile .. ish) 2pm open for cash thru 130am if table running .. 7pm tournaments Mon-Wed .. You can text (don't call) 616-802-0205 anytime before 130pm to get on the list .. usually 2 cash games going by 5pm if not earlier .. very good/weak $500 BI 1/2 NL .. These games can play like 2/5 with the right players at the table

2) Thur-Sun .. King's Room on the south side .. Division Ave at the M6 overpass, 430pm .. same deal .. cash and then 7pm small BI tournaments

3) Gun Lake casino .. 22 miles south of M6 off US131 .. 7 days a week, open at 10am to 4am and 24 from Thur-Sun/Mon 4am .. cash only .. 1/2 and 2/5 NL and 1/3 PLO

4) North Point Bowling .. Muskegon .. 26 miles from 131 off I96/US31 .. 5pm thur/fri and 2pm Sat/Sun but mainly tournaments unless enough players show up for cash .. they can run some crazy PLO games

All Michigan charity poker can be accessed by searching for Millionaire Party Locator and then picking the city you are near. It will show dates and approximate times for poker.

Let us know more where and when you're staying and what type of game you're looking for .. GL

$500 High Hands this coming Wed and Thur Noon to 1am .. so this will dent the fund a bit (13k) .. I don't remember where it was at on the scroll Friday, but probably over 20k

Speaking of Friday.. PLO had 2 tables going by 130, which was much earlier than normal. I think that with the WSOP now in the past that the 'patterns' that we saw developing in the Spring will now return.

Westgate first Thursday tournament had well over 60 entries and moved along at a comfortable pace until the blinds really ramped up and 4-7bb shoves were actually getting thru quite often. Just a function of a 1/4 day tournament structure! GL

Two tables of PLO on a Sunday night at Gun Lake? Yes in deed and they both got going around the same time .. after 5pm. Must move broke after 10pm with the main game full pushing 1200. Not much activity in the new area last week but they were working on installing other games around the floor.

There's actually a 5/10 Omaha Hi/Lo game running right now, Monday am .. no NL. Somebody must've organized it .. might be the Sunday game?

Make sure to check Bravo for all the opportunities at FKeepers this month .. anniversary promos.

SEagle is having an Aug Saturday $500 promo for NL tables .. random table will runout a faceup NL hand with the winner take all (or chop) of the $500 'in chips'. 1215pm-1215am .. so 13 times. They are also running $200 2-hour HH Sunday to Thursday 1pm-1am with rollovers .. AAAJJ min.

Four Winds-SBend has HH, Quad and Royal promos .. see Bravo for those

Motor City seems to be having a few more games lately .. perhaps taking some Players from MGM's wait list. I've heard that MGM is doing Bomb Pots .. Bravo says all day every day, but I don't know the details. Also over 200k in HH promos in that room as well.

Lots of poker being played in August! GL

In a growing trend .. hint, hint FK and GL .. Rivers Casino near O'Hare Airport is now Bravo Live signup capable. Thus adding to the list in the immediate area:

Soaring Eagle
Motor City
Hollywood Toledo
Horseshoe Hammond
Also Columbus, Indy and Cincy

As a Player you need to do some prep work by:
1) Getting a Player's Card for that casino .. which you should be able to get one online.
2) Register/get verified thru Bravo .. which may take a day or two (or less than 30 minutes)

Then you can 'simply' go into the Bravo Live App and pick which games you want to play and get added to the list without a phone call .. or the worry about being forgotten about once you hang up.

The Poker Atlas App has been way ahead of Bravo in this aspect by also showing users to see who is actually on the list for each game and allowing Players to check in once they are on the property.

I've spoken to GL about this .. I'm sure it costs extra. But the time savings and Player comfort is worth a lot too. GL's short term solution was to train/allow the cashier to answer the phone and put Players on the list when a Floor is not in the cage. GL

Pretty small showing at GL yesterday for $500 HH with FK running $1400 HH. I think the NL game barely got going before the Noon qualifying period. PLO soon followed and when I looked later there was only 3 tables of NL. Hopefully some rollovers for those that were there. Today GL is once again offering $500 HH.

Don't forget that Westgate is trying to get RxRxR going later today .. NLxPLOxNL Bomb. I assume that it may be just NL at 2pm but they will be pressing to get this new event going at some point in time based on traffic.

If you want to go to Fox 17 from earlier this week a local poker legend was found outside a party store and commented on what he would do with the over Billion jackpot. I rarely enter gas stations anymore, so I don't really play too much (and don't teach me how to do it on my phone please). GL

The first four hours all rolled over at GLC yesterday! Became a $2500 high hand jackpot in the 4:00-5:00 hour that finally hit.

GLake poker will be in the new area tomorrow.. by 1100, hopefully 1000am.

GL is also (supposedly) doing away will Reward Dollars on October 1st .. and you'll have until Dec 31st to use up any that you have left.

They introduce Poker Dollars on Oct 1st as well. So the poker room really doesn't change. Just a new name.

It remains unknown what changes will be made to the tier credits, if any. GL

Firekeepers ..

1) $1400 Hourly High Hands every Wed/Sat in August .. 11am to 8/9pm .. plus other promos .. see Bravo

2) MSPT $70 (12:15PM) Mega and $270 (6PM) ME Sattys start Saturdays this week and run thru Sept .. then every day until the Thursday Oct 12th Day 1A of the $1100 ME.


Westgate .. Hanging tough with good cash and tournaments. The RxRxR ($3 rake) last Thursday went pretty well for the 1st week. NL x PLO x Bomb Pots

Kings .. Also hanging tough .. stop in and give your opinion as to whether or not they should go back to two charities a day with that 1 hour break as required by Gaming.

The state is also considering bumping up charity sales to 30k per day .. That would definitely have an impact charity hours and offerings.

PLO at Gun Lake is getting back to April/May numbers .. Two tables each the last 2-3 Tuesdays and Fridays with the Must Move going by 2pm.

Rivers (by O'Hare Airport, Chicago) has graduated a new group of Dealers that have impressed so far, greatly helping out the staffing issues for that room. With Poto in Milwaukee no where near reopening their room this is a huge draw from within a 90 minute radius. Make sure you get a Casino Rewards Number so you can sign up via the Bravo App well before you arrive. They are no longer taking phone calls!

Even amid some reservations on how the new 'area' at Gun Lake will go over there's good positive poker talk all over WMi going into Fall .. and football, which brings out more Players it seems. Even some young bloods are showing signs of turning into 'good Regs' .. which the Player pool always needs to grow. GL

Well.. looks like I jinxed the positive talk vibe ..

Major 'evacuation' of the GLAKE poker area within 30 minutes of the 131 Lounge band starting up Friday night. Word was 60-70% of the players cashed out, which left just 2 NL games going on a weekend night .. not good.

The day game was ok, but the noise level was picking up around 3pm with a couple of Dealers having issues with some soft spoken player actions. They are also using Bravo to call for chips, partially since the Dealers are facing away from the podium.

It's only been 3 days .. but poker Players are really good/bad at picking at details and scabs. The noise level may be hard to overcome. GL

Seems like this is something that could have been foreseen. Brutal.

I didn't look at Bravo much Saturday .. Sunday at GLake the 5/10 PLO Hi/Lo game ran longer than usual IMO and PLO never got going.

Muskegon PLO started before 4pm Sunday and ran into 12am when chips sales ran out .. some Players were staying longer so not sure how it worked out. I think the facility wanted everyone out by 115. I still don't have a perfect feel for Muskegon but it's not that complicated either .. 2 to 3 tournament tables with the potential for NL or PLO if enough Players show up to support it either before or after the tournament. The Player pool is definitely smaller with some familiar faces who come into Kent County for additional action. PLO has been running both Thursday and Sunday for the past 6-7 weeks for sure.

Westgate had a very good showing for the RxRxR game last Thursday .. hopefully this will continue. They may bring in a 2nd Dealer earlier since there were Players waiting around a bit. The game ran strong until towards 8pm .. so a good run IMO.

PLO should be strong on Tue and Fri at GLake with the potential for running it basically every day by 6pm. Sat PLO seems to be a dud, but the trending worst day overall is Monday. They are listening to all suggestions, but as you know things take time (especially there). Any suggestions you may have for the Promo Fund (besides a BBJ) are heard and considered. GL

Not sure when it popped up .. but Gun Lake has $500 Hourly High Hands today and tomorrow from Noon to 1am. GL