After a drought of no-limit hold’em tournaments in downtown Detroit casinos, Motor City Casino has started offering weekly events again. Tournaments at Motor City are every Saturday at 11 a.m. for $100, with the exception of the last Saturday of the month, when the buy-in is $300. Tournaments also run on Mondays (6 p.m., $100; midnight, $60).
According to dual-rate poker manager Lisa Wilkins, the tournaments have been attracting 20-40 players. When asked why Motor City started offering tournaments again, Wilkins said, “A few of our regular players kept asking if we would spread tournaments.” All tournaments are NLHE freezeouts and no special variations.
It seems unusual for such a busy room with a weekend waiting list 30 players long and with a bad-beat jackpot nearing $300K at press time to need to offer tournaments. It’s a testament to how competitive the Detroit poker scene has become that rooms are trying to keep players happy by listening to requests and finding ways to make them happen.
How about bringing a tournament poker series to Motor City, such as the Ante Up Poker Tour? Wilkins said it’s been discussed, but there are no immediate plans. At least for now, tournaments are back in downtown Detroit casinos.
— Frank Panama and Gambit Gras are Ante Up’s Michigan Ambassadors. They host the Michigan Poker Monster weekly podcast at mipokermonster.com. You can email them at anteupmichigan@gmail.com.
