The region’s flurry of poker tournament series that began shortly after the conclusion of the summer tournament season in Las Vegas, has eased up a bit. Downstream, WinStar World, Choctaw, Hard Rock, Cherokee West Siloam Springs, Indigo Sky hosted at least one tournament series up until mid October.
About a month will pass before the next series begins. While dates had not been released at press time, that series will be Hard Rock Casino’s annual Hard Rock Poker Open. Typically running 10 days, the series will begin in November.
Downstream Casino is hosting its “Fish n Chips” event Nov. 13-16. Some of the top anglers in the country will gather to fish for two days and then play a poker event. Competitors receive points for the weight of the fish and their place in the poker tournament. The Saturday tournament will be a $225 no-limit hold’em event that will be open to the public, enabling players to play with the anglers.
BAD BEAT NEWS: A few area casinos are seeing their bad-beat jackpots climb to life-changing amounts, and one reason is each bad beat requires quads beaten. Hard Rock’s was almost $300K at press time. Boot Hill Casino’s was near $200K and River Spirit Casino’s was more than $125K. Players in the region have noticed the growing jackpots have drawn action away from non-hold’em games.
An interesting development to keep an eye on in the region is the involvement of Hollywood Casino Kansas Speedway in the second season of the Hollywood Poker Open. M Resort in Las Vegas will once again host the championship event in June. This past season, Hollywood Casino Kansas Speedway qualified players, based upon hours of seat time, into a freeroll for championship seats. It’s likely its promotion will begin in December.
— Email Robert Kelly at anteuprob@gmail.com.
