Maxx Coleman of Wichita, Kan., claimed a major victory by winning the River Series $2,500 main event, defeating 1,164 players to earn a whopping $775K.
In the end, Coleman, Joseph Skinner and Jake Haller agreed to a chop, with Coleman ultimately earning the most. Skinner of Lubbock, Texas, and Haller of Mustang, Okla., each pocketed $345K.
After the deal, the final three players increased the blinds significantly until there was a winner, which was Coleman, who earned a gold bracelet for the victory.
The final three were followed by Andy Andrejevic of Miami ($134,238), Barry Hutter of Hollywood, Fla. ($108,161), Lonny Hardcastle of Rockwall, Texas ($93,022), Jose Montes of the Bronx ($79,049), Douglas Claybrook of Vidor, Texas ($58,576) and Numit Agrawal of West Lafayette, Ind. ($44,186).
DOWNSTREAM CASINO: The RunGoodGear.com series visits on Nov. 4-8. Also, Jason Collins replaces Dale Hunter as poker room manager. Collins is well-regarded in the area and players can expect a continuation of great games and customer service.
HARD ROCK TULSA: Different games are featured throughout the week, including $2-$5 NLHE, $5-$10 PLO, $10-$20 Omaha and $6-$12 Omaha/8 with a kill. Promotions include hour promos (and double-hours times) for freerolls, achievement jacket, cash giveaway entries and apparel.
INDIGO SKY CASINO: Oct. 3-4 is the annual Fall Classic. It will be a $275 event with $5K added to the prize pool. Crazy pineapple, seniors and PLO continue to share space with NLHE tournaments on the calendar. Be sure to sign up for the email newsletter that includes the monthly tournament calendar and promotional information. Contact manager John Maurer to get added to the distribution list.
RIVERWIND CASINO: The room opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 3:30 a.m. during the week and 4:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Six tournaments are offered throughout the week and a $330 event runs at 1 p.m. on the last Saturday of the month. Promos include splash pots, high hands and hot-seat drawings.
There are more than a dozen big-screen TVs and a large projection screen for sports. Max rake is $5 with a $1 jackpot drop. There is $3-$6 limit hold’em and a variety of NLHE stakes as well as PLO.
CHEROKEE CASINO WEST SILOAM SPRINGS: Splash-pot promotions run Sunday and Monday evenings through Dec. 28 during football games. The eight-table room will splash two live tables with $200 for a safety, $100 for a touchdown and $50 for a field goal. The room also offers Aces Cracked, progressive quads and other promotions. The tournament schedule includes a Wednesday freezeout, Thursday Seniors Poker Night and Friday Mystery Bounty.
RIVERSPIRIT CASINO: Freeroll and high-hand promotions still are popular and $1-$2 PLO, $1-$2 NLHE and $3-$6 limit are common games. The tournament schedule includes a $50 Tuesday night NLHE/Omaha and a variety of tournaments with $20-$60 buy-ins. The room’s bad-beat jackpot was nearly $90K at press time.
CHOCTAW RESORT CASINO: The 30-table room’s promotions include high hand, bonus tournament chips for cash play and bad-beat jackpots.
Arizona
HARRAH’S AK-CHIN: World Series of Poker satellites are running Wednesdays from 5-9 p.m. ($220 single table). Winners receive a $1,500 buy-in seat while second earns $300 and third gets $200.
On Saturdays (5-9 p.m.), there will be $170 SNGs. Winners receive a $1K main-event satellite seat. Second and third win $300 and $200, respectively. The main-event satellite is Nov. 21 at 7:30. Entry is earned only by playing in the weekly Saturday satellites.
CASINO DEL SOL RESORT: There’s still time to qualify for the $7,500 Guest Appreciation Omaha/8 tournament on Oct. 31 at 5 p.m. and the $15K Guest Appreciation NLHE tournament Oct. 14-17.
Just a reminder, this is the only poker room in the state to host the Hot Poker Spot side bet in hold’em cash games and there will be plenty of promos during selected college and pro football games.
DESERT DIAMOND: The Tucson room has two long-running tournaments, the Cup of Coffee runs Monday and Thursday mornings at 9:30 and the Sundown Showdown is Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7.
Both are just $35. The Pigskin Poker Party gives guests a shot at winning prizes and giveaways during selected football games.
TALKING STICK RESORT: The Arena Fall Classic (Sept. 11-13) and 10th annual Arizona Ladies State Championship (Sept. 19-20) hadn’t finished at press time so look for results in the November issue. Some upcoming larger scale events at TSR include the $345 buy-in Big Stack on Oct. 3 and the $160 End of the Month on Oct. 31. Daily events at 11:15 a.m. are $125 and Monday-Thursday at 7:15 is $145. Players competing in these events can qualify for the Fall Point Challenge by making multiple final tables.
BUCKY’S CASINO: The seventh annual Northern Arizona Texas Hold’em Championship ran Aug. 30 in Prescott, drawing 173 players.
The prize pool topped out at $22,300. One deal was worked out once the field was narrowed to 18, guaranteeing everyone $1,137. A second deal with six left guaranteed $1,443 each.
The cashers were Ed Pickens, Chad Randall, Dennis Hoins, William Briefenberg, David Brinkhurst, Lee Farris, John Alter, Rolph Affinito, Dominick Angulo, Lowell Johnson, Thomas Howard, Carl Marckmann, Chris Fields, Kim Farley, Bob Heathman, Kristen Cree and Brian Boyonovsky.
Colorado
MIDNIGHT ROSE: Would you like a chance to go on the Ante Up Poker Cruise out of Los Angeles on Jan. 24? The poker room in Cripple Creek, Colo., is offering two opportunities for you to cash in on the vacation of a lifetime.
The Ante Up Poker League runs Oct. 2-Dec. 18 on Fridays and the player with the most points wins the package for two.
Cash players won’t be left out as the player with the most live hours logged from Nov. 1-Dec. 18 wins a package, too.
For more details, call the poker room.
Also at Midnight Rose, you can get a free hotel room with four hours of live play (Monday through Thursday) and a $20 food voucher. Per poker room manager Jeff Peck, stud games are part of Throwback Thursdays and have seen limits of $4-$8 and $10-$20.
“It’s good to see this game in Colorado again,” Peck said. “We splash the potsand do hot-seat drawings to encourage the play.”
WILDWOOD CASINO: The$50 deepstack on Fridays at 4 p.m. is garnering 50 players on average.
BLACK HAWK: Ameristar’spopular$30-$60 game has introduced a kill pot to $50-$100, a game it also spreads. … TheHeartland Poker Tour at Golden Gates was running at press time with Event 1, which was capped at 90 but had 110 alternates. It was quite a draw on Labor Day as 18 cashed and a five-way unequal chop netted Matt Andrighetti of Cripple Creek $4,200.
New Mexico
BUFFALO THUNDER RESORT AND CASINO: There’s a new addition to the Thursday tournament lineup, a 6:30 p.m. $30 Omaha/8 rebuy tournament with unlimited $20 rebuys in the first hour and one $25 add-on.
The October tournament schedule includesSundays ($25, unlimited rebuys first hour) with $50 added per table; Mondays ($25, one rebuy), $50 added per table; Tuesdays ($40, one rebuy); Thursdays Omaha/8 ($30, unlimited $20 rebuys first hour, $25 add-on); Fridays and Saturdays ($75, no rebuys).
Special events are Oct. 7 and 21, $100 bounty ($10 bounties); $100 Omaha/8 on Oct. 11 ($100 added per table, one re-entry) and the Last Saturday of the Month deepstack (Oct. 31, $150).
The latest daily game schedule features $20-$40 hold’em Wednesdays at 10 a.m.; $1-$2 PLO half-and-half, Wednesdays at 3 p.m.; $4-$8 Omaha on Thursdays at 3; $1-$2 PLO/8 Fridays at 3 and $3-$6 Omaha every Saturday at 3.
INN OF THE MOUNTAIN GODS CASINO AND RESORT: Ask about the new biweekly multilevel tournament where players can enter at three levels ($40, $80 and $120 with $500 added to the prize pool.) The first one will be Oct. 4.
And then there’s the Hot Poker Spot, a side bet for poker in which players will be able to bet $1-$5 before cards are dealt and be eligible for generous odds payouts. Call the poker room for more details.
Meet Kelly Minkin
This month’s profile spotlight shines on a player who has only been playing for a few short years, yet she has burst onto the scene in a major way.
Kelly Minkin was born in Waukesha, Wis., and spent most of her younger years in Milwaukee. For the past 20 years, she has called the Phoenix area home. A graduate of Chaparral High and the University of Arizona, she works as a medical malpractice defense attorney in downtown Phoenix.
“I spend the majority of my free time playing poker or relaxing and spending time with family and friends. I began playing poker more seriously when I started law school in 2011.” Her breakthrough moment came in the ninth annual Arizona State Poker Championship in 2013 when she finished runner-up to Joe Kuether and scored a nice $151,983 payday. She has since had several nice cashes, including a win at the 2015 L.A. Poker Classic for more than $50K, a third at the 2015 WPT Lucky Hearts Open in Florida worth almost $263K and, of course, a 29th-place finish in this past summer’s World Series of Poker Main Event for $211,821.
“Being the last female player and last Arizonan standing is a great accomplishment for me,” she said. “I’m happy to represent both female and Arizona poker players. The last couple of years have been very exciting. I have learned so much on my poker journey through experience as well as meeting new people and gaining some great friends. In the near future, I hope to continue to play as often as I can without it interfering with my work.” — Chris Cronin
