Oklahoma
CHEROKEE CASINO WEST SILOAM SPRINGS: The 10th annual Ozark Poker Championships at Cherokee Casino West Siloam Springs concluded March 13 as Mary Sonntag of Bentonville, Ark., overcame a field of 149 to win the $330 buy-in, $40K guarantee main event, earning $12,066. Joseph Cuce took down the $10K guarantee deepstack for $3,717. Other winners included Thomas Crick, Nicholas Rosenberger, Travis Riggs, Bartz Johnson, Robert Randolph and Rick Gebhart. Results from the seniors tour will be in a future column.
CHEROKEE CASINO ROLAND: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Roland series ran March 25-29 as event winners were Wesley Jones (PLO); Daniel and Krista Lowery (partners); Jarrel D’Andrea (no-limit pineapple) and William Sanders (bounty). The opening, survivor and main events were chopped.
INDIGO SKY CASINO: Reginald Roberts of Springfield, Mo., went back to back in taking down the Heartland Poker Tour’s main event March 9. This year’s win earned him $40,051.
Roberts, a business owner from Springfield, Mo., also won this event the last time the tour visited Indigo Sky in 2013.
“It’s awesome to come back here and win it back-to-back,” Roberts said.
Coming into the day, the nine remaining players had a total of 19 HPT final-table appearances and eight titles on their resumés. The last man standing between Roberts and the championship was John “Cowboy” Land. The chips went back and forth for more than 60 hands in the heads-up match before Roberts hit a straight to send Land to the rail in second place for $25,032.
The general contractor from Frisco, Texas, was pleased with the runner-up finish, which happened to come on the weekend of his birthday.
Daniel Snowden of Arkansas City, Kan., finished third when his pocket sixes failed to catch up to Land’s pocket nines. The semi-retired dentist would walk away with $16,396.
Kansas
PRAIRIE BAND CASINO: This five-table room has a $2-$5 game as its standard NLHE offering, but what really carves a niche is its long-running $5-$10 HO game. Additionally, $5-$10 Omaha/8 with a half-kill ($8-16) is featured on Tuesdays. The room offers bad beat, mini-bad beat, and high-hand promotions. Popular are its Thursday and Sunday evening tournaments, particularly the Sunday $215 freeze out.
Colorado
BLACK HAWK: The Reserve Casino caters to low-limit players with $2-$5 and $2-$10 spread-limit games in this friendly four-table room. A Monte Carlo board and an easier-to-hit aces full of jacks bad-beat jackpot (near $20K) spark interest in attendance where the finger food is complimentary. High-hand poker parties are offered on the weekends in the evenings. … The Lodge Casino has hourly high hands of $200 (10 a.m.-
10 p.m.) seven days a week.
CRIPPLE CREEK: Midnight Rose offers Saturday and Sunday deepstack events and you can increase starting stacks by 33 percent with five hours of live play.. … The Wildwood recently hit 69 entries in its newer $80 deepstack tournament at 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Based on this success, the poker room will add the same tournament at 1 p.m. on Sundays. Other promotions include freerolls after 2 hours of live play on Wednesdays and Fridays and Aces Cracked on Thursdays. — Follow Dick Stein on Twitter @dickStein52.
Arizona
Casino Del Sol Resort continues to show appreciation for its customers with a $15K guarantee Guest Appreciation tournament May 26-30.
Qualifying rounds will be Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday with the conclusion Saturday at noon. This event is limited to the first 180 players who qualify by playing 40 hours between now and May 28.
Also, on June 6, Casino Del Sol Resort kicks it up another notch by hosting a $10K guarantee for all customers that have played 100 hours of live poker from between March 20-June 4. Players will only need to pay a $15 entry fee to compete. This is open to the first 80 qualified and registered players.
BUCKY’S CASINO: Here are the winners of the recently concluded Ante Up Poker Cruise giveaway: Josh Chaney, Ken Dunlap, Karyn Colianni and Bud Pennington. Ante Up Poker Cruises are a great way to reward players and we encourage more rooms to look into this fantastic prize.
HON-DAH CASINO RESORT: The Tournament of Champions on March 10 went to Jock Phillips.
TALKING STICK RESORT: The Getaway Classic didn’t end by press time so we’ll have results in our June issue.
TSR’s larger scale tournaments include the Big Stack on May 2, Super Bounty on May 9 and the End of the Month event on May 30. It’s never too early to start playing some shootouts to secure your spot for the Arizona State Championship.
Much of the talk right now is about which events people will be playing at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this summer, but not long after the WSOP concludes everyone’s focus turns to the Arena Poker Room and the Arizona State Poker Championship.
VEE QUIVA CASINO: The poker room continues to offer NBA and MLB splash pots, Rolling Cash Fever, Wheel and Deal and royal-flush payouts.
It also hosts a quarterly Tournament of Champions freeroll. To qualify, players must finish first or second in a weekly tournament or log the most hours played live in a week. The next TOC event is May 30.
Along with the regular slate of weekly tourneys, a $5K monthly super stack is the first Saturday of each month. This tournament offers a $5K guarantee for a $110 buy-in.
WILD HORSE PASS HOTEL AND CASINO: With daily high-hand payouts, Rolling Cash Fever, progressive royal flushes, basketball and baseball splash pots and Aces Cracked, there’s plenty of extra promotional money up for grabs.
There are tournaments Monday-Thursday with money added to all prize pools, a Sunday tournament and biweekly $5K freerolls in which players need to be in the top 120 players with at least 20 hours played in a two-week period.
New Mexico
SANDIA RESORT AND CASINO: The poker room’s deepstack series began April 26 and is running through its main event on May 24. Buy-ins and house add-ons will increase progressively as the event continues, culminating with a $300 final, which will have $2,500 added to the prize pool. The winner earns a bracelet on top of first-place cash. Other hold’em tournaments, which have rebuys available, include Sundays at noon ($45); Tuesday evenings ($55) and Thursday evening bounties ($65).
NORTHERN EDGE CASINO: The Omaha bad beat recently hit, paying nearly $12K on March 17 as Anthony Swift (Fruitland, N.M., $5,990) had his quad jacks beaten by the jack-high straight flush of John Hall (Farmington, N.M., $2,995). The eight other players split nearly $3K.
The poker room has new hours. It will be closed Mondays and Thursdays, open noon-3:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays, 6 p.m.-2 a.m. on Wednesdays, 4 p.m.-3:30 a.m. on Fridays and noon-8 p.m. on Sundays.
Tournaments and promotions include a $35 event on Tuesdays at 7 p.m.; $50 for Aces Cracked on Wednesdays, 6 p.m. -2 a.m.; $25 shootouts on Fridays and a $40 event on Saturday afternoons. Call for details.
BUFFALO THUNDER RESORT AND CASINO: The $10K guarantee March 7 had 78 entries for $15,600, paying first place $4,992.
This month, look for special games of $20-$40 limit every Wednesday at 9 a.m.; $4-$8 Omaha every Thursday at 3 p.m.; $1-$2 pot-limit Omaha every Saturday at 3 and $3-$6 Omaha every Saturday at 3. Evening tournaments will be Sundays ($25 with unlimited rebuys the first hour and $50 added per table); Mondays ($25, one rebuy and $50 added per table); Tuesdays ($40 and one rebuy); Wednesdays (bounty events on May 6 and May 20 will be $100 with $10 bounties); and Friday and Saturday nights ($75 and no rebuts).
A special Memorial Day rebuy event (May 25) features a $30 buy-in with unlimited $20 rebuys the first hour and one $25 add-on. A $100 Omaha/8 tournament is May 17 at 2 p.m. with $100 added per table and one rebuy allowed. May 30 is the Last Saturday of the Month deepstack for $150.
Daily, the first seven players seated and playing by 10 a.m. receive $25 in chips toward a $50 buy-in. For Omaha, on Thursdays and Sundays, the first seven players seated by 3 p.m. receive $20 in chips toward a $100 buy-in. Besides the daily hold’em progressive bad-beat jackpot, there’s an Easy Aces Mini Bad Beat Jackpot, for four of a kind or better high hands and Sunday-Thursday late night high hands (11-2 a.m.) that pay $225 nightly.
INN OF THE MOUNTAIN GODS RESORT AND CASINO: The $75 Sunday tournaments continue at 2 p.m. as do the Friday night One-Twenty with unlimited rebuys for the first hour and free Losers Lounge on Saturday morning. Also returning May 18-19 is the Road to the Main Event. Call for details.
Meet Rick Chaurette
Rick Chaurette is a 24-year veteran of the gaming industry who has been the poker director at Casino Del Sol Resort for the past 12 years and is always looking for ways to improve poker in the Tucson area and beyond.
Please tell our readers about your innovative poker side bet. We were approached about a year ago with the idea of a side bet at the poker tables, but there were challenges. I’m very fortunate to work with supportive agencies and individuals who understand the need for poker to evolve. The Hot Poker Spot (was set) to debut in late April. Players will have an opportunity to win up to $1K for a dollar wagered in the designated side-bet spot. We are extremely excited to offer something new and innovative in our room.
What amenities have been added to draw them in for a stay this summer? The resort is a Forbes Four Star and AAA Four Diamond recipient. We offer seven full-service restaurants, including award-winning PY Steak House. Our Sewailo golf course is home to the University of Arizona men’s and women’s golf teams. AVA concert season is just kicking off another loaded summer lineup. Things are pretty nice in Tucson. — Chris Cronin
