The Delta Gold Poker Classic at Gold Strike (results at the end of this column) has come and gone, putting Mississippi tournament poker on hiatus until after the World Series in Las Vegas. For those of you who won’t be joining us for a summer of 120-degree heat indexes and bad beats, there’s still plenty of action here at home. From the southern most poker rooms to the Tunica cotton fields, promotions designed to bait particularly fishy tables are worth checking out. I’ll run through a few of my favorites.
Hard Rock, Biloxi, Start Me Up Promotion & More: Be one of the first seven players to start a game Monday-Friday, buy in with $100 and earn $20 cash after one hour of active play. Also earn $60 any time you make quads, deuces through nines, as long as you have a pocket pair. One of my favorites: the “Set over Set” bad beat awards $200 to the losing side and $100 to the winner. Both players must have a pocket pair.
IP, Biloxi, Play Your Way: At the IP, if you clock five hours of live play you receive $50 off a tournament entry. On Tuesday and Thursday from 4 p.m. to midnight, randomly drawn tables award $100 to the winner of the next hand dealt at the top of every hour. The IP also has the typical high hand and Aces Cracked promotions, along with daily events; to make it one of most active rooms in Mississippi.
Harlow’s Casino, Greenville, Hot Pockets and Aces Cracked: Harlow’s has a cozy seven-table room that packs a crowd. Its Hot Pocket promotion awards a cash bonus if a pot is awarded to a player with a pocket pair. The standard high hand and Aces Cracked promotions are ongoing as well.
Gold Strike, Tunica, Get Paid to Play: This promotion is pretty popular at poker hot spots in Vegas, but isn’t nearly as common in the South. At Gold Strike this spring/summer, players earn $1 for every hour played and $2 between 3-10 a.m. You must accumulate at least 25 hours in a calendar month to qualify. Gold Strike routinely offers lucky seat drawings as well, where every hour cash is awarded to a randomly drawn seat in live poker.
Sam’s Town, Tunica, $15K guarantee: The second Saturday of every month has become something to mark on the calendar. Just about everyone shows up for this 11 a.m. tournament. With a $15K guarantee,this $150 buy-in event is the best way to start your Saturday.
Horseshoe, Tunica, A bevy of options: Horseshoe boasts the largest number of promotions at any given time in Mississippi. Poker room manager Lisa Crompton distributes flyers at the beginning of every week to detail current offers, and makes sure to change them regularly to keep things interesting. The daily tournament lineup features reduced juice, a variety of tournament styles, including bounty and deepstack structures, and, of course, its regular $10K guarantee on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Next month, I’ll cover the rest of the poker roomsand keep you updated on the points race for the WSOP freeroll. There are plenty of Magnolia State hopefuls still in the running. If you’re traveling to Vegas for the summer, drop me a line and let me know. The more familiar faces the better.
— Jennifer Gay is Ante Up’s Mississippi Ambassador.She can be contacted at facebook.com/aceofjewels or at jennifergay80@hotmail.com.
Delta Gold Classic, March 23-April 2
Event 1 • $230 NLHE
203 Entries • Prize Pool: $39,382
Billy Lewis, $12,995
Event 2 • $230 PLO/8
79 Entries • Prize Pool: $15,326
Andy Alina, $5,517
Event 3 • $340 NLHE
214 Entries • Prize Pool: $62,274
Johnny Sanders, $20,549
Event 4 • $230 Omaha/8
70 Entries • Prize Pool: $13,580
Wayne Pickard, $4,889
Event 5 • $230 NLHE
156 Entries • Prize Pool: $30,264
Ryan Stevenson, $9,986
Event 6 • $230 Ladies
23 Entries • Prize Pool: $4,462
Margie Bell, $2,231
Event 7 • $125 NLHE w/rb
78 Entries • Prize Pool: $17,654
Francis Anton, $1,046*
* This event was chopped 17 ways.
Event 8 • $230 Stud/8
45 Entries • Prize Pool: $8,730
James Fleming, $3,144
Event 9 • $230 NLHE
98 Entries • Prize Pool: $19,012
Clyde Bass, $6,845
Event 10 • $125 PLO w/rb
98 Entries • Prize Pool: $10,185
Andy Alina, $3,667
Event 11 • $400 6-Max
74 Entries • Prize Pool: $21,401
Lee Sawyer, $6,849
Event 12 • $125 NLHE
114 Entries • Prize Pool: $11,058
Wayne Jones, $3,980
Event 13 • $550 NLHE
90 Entries • Prize Pool: $43,650
Jonathan Moseley, $15,712
Event 14 • $230 Omaha/8
58 Entries • Prize Pool: $11,252
Dennis Hicks, $4,050
Event 15 • $230 NLHE
152 Entries • Prize Pool: $29,488
Kerry Dawson, $9,729
$1,080 Main Event
190 Entries • Prize Pool: $184,300
Radwan Khuri, $60,818
Event 17 • $340 Omaha/8
44 Entries • Prize Pool: $12,804
William Fitzgerald, $5,762
Event 18 • $230 NLHE
96 Entries • Prize Pool: $18,624
David Kirkcey, $6,704*
* This event was chopped four ways.
Event 19 • $125 NLHE
112 Entries • Prize Pool: $10,864
Chico Pho, $3,911
