A lot of tournament action highlighted the Northern Oklahoma poker scene since our last issue, and some of those tournaments still were running at press time, so we’ll be sure to recap those events in our July issue.
The Hard Rock Casino in Tulsa hosted the Mid-South Poker Classic on May 2-11, consisting of 22 events with buy-ins ranging from $60 to $550. Michelle Lorett and Eric Thompson won the opening event, a Jack and Jill tournament for $2,554. Event 2, a bounty tourney, chopped four ways ($1,851 each) with Joe Ferguson awarded the win. Eric Thompson collected $3,800 for his win in Event 3.
It also ended in a four-way chop with Greg Elliot capturing the title in the Event 4 $100K guarantee, besting nearly 600 players. We’ll report on the $1,090 buy-in, $50K guarantee main event in next issue.
CHEROKEE CASINO WEST SILOAM SPRINGS: The Cherokee Poker Classic ran May 16-25 (some of you may still be able to enter events if you read this in time), featuring tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $50-$550. The opening event boasted a $20K guarantee while the main event offered a $50K guarantee.
KANSAS STAR CASINO: The poker room is working on a variety of initiatives, including a player appreciation buffet in April and a $10K guarantee $230 buy-in with $20 add-on no-limit hold’em tournament capped at 100 players in late May. Cash action includes $1-$3 and $2-$5 NLHE and a $2-$5 (usually $5-$5) pot-limit Omaha-PLO/8 mixed game. Since the bad-beat qualifier was changed at the first of the year to quads beaten, it has grown to more than $57K.
INDIGO SKY CASINO: The Heartland Poker Tour, after a successful first event in October 2013, will return here Dec. 5-14.
GOLDEN EAGLE CASINO: The Eagle’s Nest Poker Room is a small room of which many players may not have heard. A comfortable room, it’s known for spreading a variety of games, including a rare $2-$10 stud/8 game.
The stud bad beat was more than $8K at press time and features an aces-full-of-10s qualifier. Other games that can be found are $1-$2 NLHE, $2-$4 to $3-$6 limit, $4-$8 Omaha/8 with a half-kill and a $3-$6 dealer’s choice mixed game.
HPT AT AMERISTAR: Ameristar Casino Kansas City’s HPT stop ran April 25-May 5. I had the opportunity to visit with Jennifer Mastrud, Heartland Poker Tour’s director of operations, about the success of the stop, which attracted what she called a “phenomenal turnout.”
For a recap of the event, please read our June 2014 Missouri column.
— Email Robert at anteuprob@gmail.com.
