My latest poker road trip led me to Hard Rock Casino in Tulsa on March 22. Action was very good as the 12-table room was busy spreading $1-$2 and $2-$5 no-limit hold’em, $2-$5 pot-limit Omaha and $2-$4 limit hold’em.
A completely enclosed room with good ambiance, it’s close to restrooms and a drink station is straight out the room’s entrance.
Bags of potato chips are freely available and the room offers the nicest waiting areas I’ve seen in the region. The nine-handed tables sport the most comfortable chairs I’ve seen in years.
HOLLYWOOD CASINO AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY: A Hollywood Poker Open $280 buy-in qualifying tournament will run May 30-June 1.
Five players are guaranteed to win a trip to compete in the $2,500 HPO Championship slated for June 27-29 at the M Resort in Las Vegas.
There will be $65 satellites into the $280 qualifier on May 3, 8, 10, 19 and 22. Then 70 players will play flights on May 30 and June 1. The top 10 from each flight will return June 1 to play for the trips.
OZARK CHAMPIONSHIPS: Final results for the Ozark Poker Championships at Cherokee Casino West Siloam Springs (March 7-16) came shortly after press time for the April issue. The series featured a $550 main event that had a $50K guarantee as Terry Presley of Huntsville, Ark., took down the tournament and $14,840. The main event had 112 entries, surpassing the guarantee by $6K.
The other NLHE event winners were Kisston Mercer (Event 5, $1,660); Roberts Braden (Event 6, $1,250), Jerry Larkin (Event 7, $2,718), Robert “Buck” Conway (Event 8, $2,135) and Jayma Everhard, (Event 12, $773).
HPT IN K.C.: Arguably the most significant event in the Kansas City area is running at Ameristar Kansas City. Having begun April 25, the Heartland Poker Tour is making its first stop in the area.
The tournament schedule includes daily slates of qualifiers into the $1,650 main event, seven other tour events including six-handed and survivor with $150-$230 buy-ins and $100 nightly events.
The main event wraps up the series with three Day 1s on May 2-3. The televised final table is scheduled for May 5. Pinnacle Entertainment completed its acquisition of Ameristar Casinos in August after acquiring the HPT when it purchased bankrupt Federated Sports + Entertainment in 2012.
— Email Robert at anteuprob@gmail.com.
