Anyone need a room at Red River Inn & Suites tonight? 2 queens, $140

There wasn't enough players in the main to meet the $2 million, I think there was like ~$70k overlay. I wonder if this will affect the future of the River Series?

Can't say I'm surprised. The River Series used to be the only tourney of importance in town but Choctaws 2 WSOP circuit events and WPT have rendered it less important, particularly given that it's sandwiched right between a WPT and a WSOP circuit event.

The fact that Winstar's cash game business has decreased can only hurt these series. 5/T used to run 7 days a week and 2/5 used to run virtually 24/7 365 days a year. Neither of these is anywhere close to being the case now.

On a positive note at least they can fit the tournaments and cash games in the poker room now and with lower attendance there is plenty of room for both with less of a wait to get in a cash game.

winstar chooses not to bring in extra dealers to make the river series a bigger sucess.

Winstar should have allowed outside dealers in so that it could have landed a deal with the WPT or WSOP. The River does not have a strong brand and it's only getting weaker. Other than Maria Ho, the only advantage this tournament series has is location as it is much closer for half of the DFW Metroplex than Choctaw but other than that if I'm some random player I'd much rather play for a circuit ring or a WPT title.

Playing cash at Winstar yesterday. Final table of main was being played out. Final 4 chopped for about $240k each (think it was even, not positive) then played for the bracelet. Young kid in Mavericks jersey won it. Didn’t catch his name.

I believe they did an ICM chop 5 handed and played it out for title/bracelet.

This tournament should not be played in the poker room. I heard tons of complaints on this over the weekend. Next year if they were smart they would go back to 3 starting days in the global event center and it will easily cover a 2 milly guarantee. If they keep it like it was this year this tournament will die a slow death in the coming years. Also, don’t skip key levels like 100/200 25 in a big main event.

What's wrong with having it in the poker room?

Extremely crowded, constant name calling for live games is very annoying, distractions everywhere with live and busted players creeping around, lost the big tournament atmosphere that the GEC provided, felt like any old $200 tourney being played in the poker room. That is what comes to mind from my experience.

Does anyone know if anything going on at Winstar this weekend? tourneys?


I've never been but my dad likes to go there and will be there this weekend (9/7 thru 9/10)

The Labor Day River Series is the biggest tournament of the year at Winstar. Generally after Labor Day, it becomes the deadest part of the year for the poker room. Even so, 2/5 and lower are soft as butter every weekend. 5/T+ is hit or miss although it tends to skew towards a miss. 2/5 PLO can be good if it's running. 1/2/5 is meh, generally not that bad or that great.

In terms of tourneys the Saturday one is probably pretty good. I've never played it. This is probably the same weekly tournament list that runs today:

Thank sir, I haven't played poker in years, how bad will I fair having nothing in my arsenal besides playing tight and knowing people perceive me as tight so I run the occasional bluff?

You should fair well. On Saturday I'd expect the 1/2NL, 1/3NL, and 2/5NL games to all be soft. If you aren't on a good game or if your game is too slow then request a table change (or change levels). It's very easy to change tables but you can only bring up to the table max in chips to your new table.

On a Saturday:

1/2 I'd expect some short stacking nits and a lot of players that have no clue whatsoever.

1/3 I'd expect a few grinders here and there but mostly bad players

2/5 This is the first level where you'll face some strong pros. Still there shouldn't be more than 2 or 3 long term winners on a given table. The games can vary quite a bit stylistically but it is possible to find a game that has 0 grinders/pros in it whatsoever.

If there are multiple 5/T+ games running and/or 2/5 PLO that will remove many of the best players from 2/5NL.

Thank you sir.

Sounds like you spend a lot of time out there, how often do you get up there?

I try not to make the long drive at all. However, I played full time there for 4+ years and have played virtually all the games offered.

When is the next tournament series?