The Colorado Poker Championship series at Golden Gates grows in popularity all the time. So perhaps it’s no surprise that even though CPC6 just ran in May, the Gates has scheduled CPC7 to begin Aug. 12 and will run through Sept. 2.
The May event drew a 183-player field for the $1,000 no-limit hold’em main event and solid turnouts for all the series events, so it’s hard to blame the Gates for going back to the well so soon.
MARDI GRAS TRANSFORMATION: One of the Gates’ neighboring sister sites, the Golden Mardi Gras, is well into an expansion and renovation project that includes not only a renovated poker room but new carpet, escalators on the second and third floors and more than 300 new slots.
This comes on the heels of some substantial renovations at the Gates, as local rooms look to modernize and provide some of the creature comforts typical of newer casinos.
BRUCE FINISHES FIFTH: Congratulations to Connie Bruce of Longmont, who earned $36,078 for her fifth-place finish in the $1K ladies event at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
It was the first visit to the WSOP for the real-estate agent, who had placed 30th in a Heartland Poker Tour stop at Golden Gates. She cashed $2,606 in that September 2010 event.
TAX RATE REMAINS: The Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission recently announced Colorado casinos won’t have any change in their 20 percent tax rate this year.
The Colorado Gaming Association, which regulates the casinos, had pushed for a decrease in the past — and it succeeded in getting a 5 percent cut for a couple of years — but it elected not to ask for another cut this year.
The 20 percent rate is the most the state can tax the casinos without taking it to the voters.
According to the commission’s numbers, gross gaming revenue for the state’s 41 casinos was about $763 million in 2012, up from $745 million in 2011. That suggests the casinos have bounced back somewhat from a recession-related dip, so poker players should remain confident there will be plenty of rooms running now and in the future.
NAME CHANGE: Fitzgeralds Casino is now Saratoga Casino Black Hawk. The change follows a $7.5-million renovation courtesy of new owner Saratoga Harness Racing Inc. Improvements include a remodeled third floor and two new dining options, Diamond Jim’s Bar and the Garden Buffet. The site still doesn’t offer a poker room, but its table games do include craps, blackjack and roulette.
— Rick Gershman is Ante Up’s Colorado Ambassador. You can email him at rickgershman@gmail.com.
