Horseshoe Southern Indiana $100K - Sep 18-19, 2010

Can't help you on the BJT itself, Ken, but are you sure you want to fly? It's damn close to the very southern tip of Indiana. I checked it from your town and it's only a smidgen over 500 miles, don't think there are any major airports close enough to avoid renting a car. We drive longer than that for Meskwaki and the Minnesota crowd drives about that for Ignace/Soo.

P.S. That's strange - I tried Hattiesburg to this casino again and the second time it came up quite a bit over 600 miles.

 

You would fly into Louisville, KY - the home of the Kentucky Derby. The casino is just across the Ohio River. Louisville is their biggest draw of local players. I don't know anyone who flew in but I think transportation from the airport could be a problem. Probably no taxi service and I doubt the casino provides any shuttle service. Renting a car could also be a problem because, from what I've heard, the directions could be confusing - that's just from information I heard since I never came from the airport.

The casino sends out "offer codes" to select players even if the "offer code" might only entitle a player to play but requiring the full $500 buy-in. I tried to preregister without an "offer code" and met with failure although I was willing to pay the full $500 entry fee. So if you don't get an "offer code" in the mail, preregistration is not possible. Then just showing up on Sept 18 and hoping for a seat is your only alternative. Most likely, the tournament will not be full so you should be able to get into one of the later sessions of the first round which reduces the chances for a re-buy if needed. The first and possibly the second session will probably be filled with those that preregistered because during the preregistration process, the player reserves his/her playing time.

On the positive side, most players are fully or partly comped in. Most are not knowledgeable in tournament play so your chances of getting past the first and second rounds will be above your normal average. I've found the semi-final is a lot more difficult. A lot of conservative players (like me) are in the semi-final so most are there for the last hand. Chip counting skills are a must for the last few hands of the semi-final round.

Dealers are not proficient so they must be watched like a hawk. In my experience, if they take a dislike to you, they will try to screw you if possible. If they take a liking to you, they "bend" the time limit rule a little. Best bet is to remain a "no person" - don't make waves. Before you play, it's best to check the time limit for making a bet. They may or may not enforce it. Also, when insurance becomes an option, some dealers ask in order while others ask "in general" like live Blackjack.

Nothing starts on time. It's organized disorganization but somehow the tournament does get done - although late.

One last comment. If you do decide to go and rent a car or drive from home, make sure you get separate directions (from mapquest probably) for going to the casino and returning from the casino. It's not just a simple matter of reversing a route. You would use slightly different local streets when returning because of "one way" streets and expressway enter/exit ramp locations will be different.

Good luck if you go!!!

 

Here are the comments I made after attending the March event there

Report on $100,000 Horseshoe-Southern Indiana Tournament

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Hi Toolman - The tournament had more than 400 entrants. At least half of them were comped or partially comped. I met a few locals, but didn't meet up with any regulars from this site.

It wasn't quite as badly run as you had led me to expect. Nothing like the old days at Majestic Star.

All of the rounds were 15 hands.

Each player began each round with $1,000 in house chips.

Minimum bet $25, no maximum.

There were six sessions of round 1 on Saturday, seven players at a table with three advancing (It only took me three trys with the $100 re-buy).

Round two began at noon Sunday - seven players at a table with two advancing (not me).

Semi-finals followed with one advancing from each of seven tables. They drew six wild cards for this round.

Finals paid 50,000, 20,000, 10,000 and down to 1,500 for seventh. Semi-finalists who didn't advance received 250.

If I had known about the small number of hands per round and the no-limit betting, I wouldn't have made the trip and paid the $500. Almost every round that I watched ended with kamikaze-type all-in play with wild results.


Bottom line - unless you are comped and live close to Louisville, I don't think this is an event worth attending.

 

This time around they are starting the Saturday sessions at 2pm. In the past it was 12pm. So I don't know if this later start will carry over into Sunday or not. The final table in the past was usually scheduled to end at 5:30pm but that's no guarantee that will be the case this time. Also, they usually run late so timing becomes difficult.

Were you able to register? Did you get a "offer code" in the mail?

 

hey ken! elizabeth indiana is across river from louisville ky,but there is not a bridge where they are so you must drive north or south to cross over to ky.
stay at hotel on site because nothing else close.

 

anyone driving from Indy?

I'll consider this event if I can share a ride with someone from Indy or Chicago.

 

I just received some literature from the Horseshoe-Southern Indiana and updated the calender accordingly. A new payout schedule is included and they added an extra round.

As I said before, they are usually late on starting the rounds so keep that in mind. Also, Final Table at 5:00pm with awards ceremony at 5:30pm - I can't see how that will happen.

With regard to the payouts, I copied the following from the calender posting I made. This is an exact quote from their literature - all phrases and mis-spellings are theirs, not my typo:

"The 7 players from the Semifinal round who do not advance to the Final round as a Wild Card will receive $500 in free lay."​

Have fun with that one.

Maybe anyone attending may want to leave their other half and children home.

 

Louisville

"I'll be there." Sounds catchy, ought to be lyrics in a song.

I have never been in the area. I'll be arriving Friday and leaving Monday and will have a rental car. I get bored with casinos so what might there be to see in the area?

Larry

 

All sorts of things:

You can go outside on the deck of the boat and watch the barges being pushed down the Ohio River.

While outside, you can watch the pollution billowing from the smoke stacks of a power plant on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River.

You can re-due the scenic drive from that bustling town of Elizabeth to the casino. The smoke stacks mentioned above can be seen for miles.

Now, all kidding aside. There simply is not much to occupy your time at this casino outside of gaming. They do have a walking path outside. I think they may have a spa but that's not my style so I never inquired. I only stayed there 3 nights (Friday - Monday), like you intend, once. I was so bored, I left to drive home at 1:00am Monday morning. Hope you like coffee. It's free at the snack bar and you can sit there for hours and watch the players hustle back and forth.

 

Horseshoe So Ind.??

who can I speak to and get a confirmation without an offer code I am 800 miles away and don't want to "Just Showup" and hope to get to play BJ tourn.

 

I doubt is the smoke you're referring to is pollution.

If it's white smoke it is steam. If it's dark grey or black it's pollution.


tgun

 

I spoke with a JT Douglas who at first indicated they did have seats available and he would confirm availability and call me with information. This was on Tuesday haven't heard from him yet and have not been able to get him back on the phone. I did not ask for a comped entry . I am willing to pay to play. Just wish he had the courtesy to reply and say either way yea or nay.

 

Horseshoe Southern Indiana

I agree with Ken on the tournament. Their manual system is a little bit chaotic and the rounds usually started a little bit late, but not much.

There were a couple of things that were different. We played 15 hands. There was no chip count during the round. The tournament was played on poker tables. This means if you were on one of the ends, you were a long way from the other end. It would take good eyesight to count the chips accurately from seat 1 or 7.

I think I heard that the total entry was around 270. You could rebuy probably as many times as you needed to get in the top 3 to advance from round 1 to round 2. There were 14 tables of at most 7 players (most tables did not have that). They were going to have 8 sessions of round 1. I do not know if they had that many before people quit rebuying.

I would likely play the tournament again.

Larry