Am I imagining things or were there posters up that said "$63000 Blackjack Tournament"? I would almost swear I saw some but if you do the math, they only paid $55800. Still a small overlay but not what it was last time.
I noticed that also. What's worse is that they removed the Pick 'em poker machines. There was also a problem with the $65,000 bingo tournament. A St. Louis bj player's wife may get screwed out of $5,000. I'll report more on this when the facts are all known. tgun
actually, 56,100 was the total payout, by my math. how many knew that the dealers were toked 5200 dollars by the casino for their efforts? none of us from the seattle area knew this until after the fact. i know one of our party that made the final table toked 10%, without knowing this. looks like this was were some of the monies went from the previous prize pool.
Will we be back? Probably, but it certainly was not as good as last time. We sometimes forget the adage "buyer beware".
A good tourney. Good Friends. Good Drink. Good Food and maybe a thou Though I wanted to, I did not make M. Planned for six months, but fortune did not smile. So all ya'll take this with a grain and for what its worth. But anymore supposed EV in a tourney or the side action of the tourney ain't where it's at. Investment to return. Plus FUN, camaraderie and playin experience. And at this one against some of the best. That alone should have made it memorable. Too few like that. (From another post, will shoot for June at sister St. Iggie) Bound to get outta the dark side soon.
besides the above complaints, how about a run down of some of the top plays'. Did anyone progress past the first rds? Who won? TLR
As long as we're airing complaints------I witnessed more dealer errors this time, than in the past and that is troublesome. All in all, it's still a terrific VALUE event for $200!!!!! Billy C
Harold Carr won the 20k. Both he and his wife are regulars on the tourney circuit. They play all of the tournaments in the Minnesota/Wisconsin area. They have been asking about the Michigan events, so don't be surprised if they show up at Sault Saint Marie in June. They both have played for years and are two of the best and nicest people around, glad to see that he took home the cash! One minor fault I saw,was that every round starts with seat position one ON the button. Both rounds I played I was seat five, which meant unless someone busted out, I was going to be betting first on the last hand. That is NOT a good position in this tournament and the all-in bet format. I would prefer drawing cards for seat position AND also a minimum/maximum bet. With that said, we all play by the same rules and the positives far outweigh a few negatives. The staff at Meskwaki should be commended for doing an outstanding job.
I will be working on one of my CHEERS and JEERS posts for this BJT in the next couple of days, am waiting to see how they respond to the allegation that they lopped off part of the prize fund for dealer tips without telling the players they were doing that. Other than that possibility, it is an extremely well-run tournament. Some tweaking wouldn't hurt it at all (like Schultzy's comment about starting position for the button). One thing to note - even if they did screw up and fail to tell the players what they were doing, the BJT is still a good deal.
Their rules pamphlet mentioned what the prize money would be if the tournament was full and all re-buys were made. The total prize pool would be $56,100. That made for a very positive equity considering the entry fee of $200 included 2 night the hotel, one dinner, a full breakfast and $20 in food coupons. So if they choose to give some money to the dealers, that's their business - it did not come out of the prize pool. If they didn't give money to the dealers, most likely that would not have increased the prize pool anyway. I saw absolutely no signage about the prize pool being in the $60,000 range as some have said. I think they were are confusing the signage from the last tournament. The only signage I saw was guaranteeing $20,000 for first place. All that being said, they should have told the players that dealer tips were paid by the casino so tipping by those who cash is unnecessary. I'm not trying to defend the casino, just trying to set the record straight. All in all, the tournament was well run although many rules are stupid and the elimination process takes much too long. It's also a very good value. Will I return? Probably not. Don't care for the casino and the dealers are a bunch of phonies - pretending to be friendly just to get tips. Yes, that happens in most casinos but it's blatantly obvious at this casino.
Different tip policy! Being a BJ dealer can't be a real desirable job considering the amount of jerks they HAVE to tolerate. A bad mood coupled with a losing session have put me in the jerk category at times and I've been less than pleasant with dealers as a result (but not really abusive). Unlike MOST ALL other places, Tama doesn't "pool" tips (at least it appears that way because each dealer takes the toke box with them when leaving tables). That system would benefit nice friendly dealers much more than the others while at the same time exposing the "phonies". This could explain toolman1's observations. While sincerity is much preferred to phoniness, even a phony dealer is better than a rude dealer. I would like to see Tama's tip policy more widely used so the undeserving dealers don't get equal shares with the deserving! Billy C
Can you name a better BJT value ANYWHERE????? It's wrong to say Tama "is just another tourney" Reason #1--------For $200 you get (besides entry) 2 nights in very nice room, 2 free (good) meals and another $20 in food vouchers good at any venue and a few other minor niceties. Reason #2 (overlooked by many) NO side action required. This is an open to ALL event!!!!! Billy C
Reason #3 Reason #3 I have never seen a tournament with such a big prize that offers you a re-buy for ONLY $50! Alot of the bigger tournaments in Minnesota and Wisconsin offer a re-buy for $100. So not only can you re-buy for a low price, but they have multiple rounds with two and three advance per table.
I agree with Billy and Schultzy--it is a good value, and schedule permitting, we will be back.. I was just suprised at the difference in the prize pool when one of our party, who was not there last time, swears she saw a 63K poster. I asked about the dealer tip boxes since I am a former dealer. If they deal all games, they hold 75% of their own and pool the other 25%. If they only deal some games, they hold 50%. I think it is a good system because it rewards good dealers but does not penalize if they are on a dead table. I will admit though, these were the worst Pai Gow and Baccarat dealers I have EVER seen. Talking about coming to Sault but I am not sure you can get there from here.
You have to travel by helicopter AND go over Detroit on the way! Seriously, it would be nice to see your Seattle posse there!!!!! Billy C
I agree with Schultzy I think the people at meskwaki are trying very hard to bring a great tournament to us in the midwest, no not every one is happy with the tournament including me but most of it can be changed, there are comment cards there for every one to express there thought's how many casino's will even listen to us not many hope every one will give it a try in the fall I will be there again cant find another better tournament for the cost , they feed us friday night saturday morning plus give us 2 $10.00 coupon's what more can we ask for
So, what was the issue with the posts removed above? Just a slowly escalating unpleasantness, tilting toward personal issues rather than a straight debate of the pros and cons. In cleaning up the thread, I opted to remove all posts that were part of that side of the conversation. Not all removed posts were an issue. I suspect there's a lot more going on here than what was actually posted. Animosity online is often a result of things that happen offline. Please try to resolve these issues amongst yourselves, not in public.
