As this issue hits the stands, I will be roaming the streets and poker rooms of Las Vegas. Please contact me via email to track me down, especially if you’re a Kansas or Northern Oklahoma poker player.
CHEROKEE CASINO WEST SILOAM SPRINGS: I enjoyed a good conversation with Arkansas-based professional Michael Sanders about his visit to the casino for the Cherokee Poker Classic on May 16-25. He finished eighth in the $550 re-entry main event, collecting $1,750. Terry Thomas of Clarksville, Ark., took down title and $16K.
Sanders said the event was run well and structures were good, but he was surprised the number of runners weren’t better given the main offered a $50K prize pool. Entries were just shy of expectations and created an overlay of several grand. The series saw two Arkansas men take down two events each: Bentonville’s Mathew Ellis shipped Events 1 and 3 ($230 and $125 NLHE), for $9,309 and Fayetteville’s McDonald Ledbetter took down Events 6 and 7 ($125 NLHE) for $4,101. Other winners were Isaac Hensen, Phillip Ford, Della Jones and Cheston O’Neal.
HARD ROCK CASINO: The Tulsa property hosted the Mid-South Poker Classic on May 2-11. I reported a few results that came in before last issue’s deadline, so here are some more: Sandy Postelwait, Ricky Waggle (as part of a five-way chop in the senior event), Steven McKinzie, Eric Thompson, George Pearson, Jesse Brown, Donald Julien, Joe Ferguson and Eric Meola won preliminary events. Amey Watters captured the $50K guarantee main event for $13,700.
DOWNSTREAM CASINO: The Four States Poker Championships returns July 9-13. Most days there will be two tournaments on the schedule (1 and 7 p.m). An interesting tournament on the schedule is the $25 rebuy Flip It. In almost a shootout fashion, once enough Flip It winners advance to the final table, all finalists will begin with equal stacks to determine a winner. Each Flip It winner essentially has min-cashed. Among the other events offered will be a $25 rebuy and a $120 pot-limit Omaha.
KANSAS STAR CASINO: The poker room hosted its largest buy-in tournament at $230 buy-in. It was a $10K guarantee on Memorial Day. Offering 30-minute rounds and a unique structure that after several levels only the antes increased. While the event’s result wasn’t available, the 100-seat maximum tournament sold out, boding well for future events.
ROAD TRIP: My most recent road trip found me on a junket from Wichita to Laughlin, Nev. I thoroughly enjoyed playing $3-$6 limit hold’em with a full kill at Harrah’s eight-table room, the monthly $10K guarantee at Golden Nugget and the daily tournaments and low-limit games at the 10-table Colorado Belle/Edgewater Casino. While the floor staff at Harrah’s was friendly and courteous I’d like to offer a special thanks to Colorado Belle’s poker room supervisor Ed Marsh for supplying an enjoyable atmosphere.
— Email Robert at anteuprob@gmail.com.
