Rumor has it------- I've heard rumors that it's October 8-10 but haven't seen anything official yet. Billy C
Meskwaki October Event Be patient everyone ... they have had a very busy August for events. Lots of poker tournaments. The tickets should be available online about Sept 6th at least that is rumor when you attend the monthly tournaments.
I got email from Sarah saying dates are Oct 15-17. Hope that is right because several of us already have plane tickets Talked to players club last week and they were not taking sign ups yet but it should be any time now. I don't know any other details yet.
SONUVABITCH. They told us it was the weekend before that, we've already arranged time off from work for it.
when we were there in april we were told either the 8th or the 15th depending on some band that negotiations were going on with. i'll still be happier when we get registered. always a little nervous to schedule plane without tournament.
I just got a call from Meskwaki. He could not confirm anything but the dates, which are set at October 15, 16 & 17. Sign up on Friday night, the 15th, with play starting on Saturday the 16th and finals on Sunday the 17th.
The Meskwaki event conflicts with the dates for the October Sam's Town Tunica BJT which was the biggest ever last week. I assume some decison making will be in store for many who'd like to be at both. Too bad because they are both very nice events! Overall less costly to buy/re-buy, payout is larger (Either $20K or $25K for first place), and more wild cards at Meskwaki but more chances to re-buy and get to the final table at Sam's Town.
Meskwaki hosts their BJT's in their large conference center room(s), which is a very popular place for booking other events since there isn't much else around that neck of the woods other than corn & cows. The BJT's must happen on weekends when there isn't anything else booked for that room. If all will remember, they held one a couple of years ago that clashed directly with an Ignace BJT and both venues suffered lower entry counts because of it. I've talked to their tournament staff about it and they say that they'll move heaven and earth to avoid conflicting with Ignace again but they've got to host it when the room is available. They asked a few BJT regulars, including myself, about doubling all $$$ for their BJT. Twice the entry fee, twice the rebuy fee, twice the prize fund. My freely stated opinion to them was that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Pointed out that a doubled entry fee would exclude a large percentage of their non-comped locals and would further cause a stunning increase in BJT assassins flying in from all over the country, which we know is not their goal. Whether they will try that doubled $$$ BJT anyway is anyone's guess for now. Quite frankly, I strongly believe that the Meskwaki BJT is the Gold Standard for open-entry BJT's right now.
This statement comes up periodically on this forum but I question if it's really true. Lets take a closer look. 1) The driving distance between the two casinos is a little over 600 miles or about 10 1/2 hours. Unless a player lives close the center point between the 2 casinos, most players will be faced with one casino being at least a 6 hour drive away. Other than die-hards, few casual players will drive over 5 hours to play a tournament unless the prize pool is really big. So for those players outside the 5 hour drive circle to one casino but within the 5 hour drive circle to another casino, one of the two casinos is out even if the dates don't conflict. 2) Each of the two casinos have comped entries which means that those players live relatively close to the casino giving the comp. That means they would probably never travel to the other casino anyway. 3) There are tournament players that would not go to Tama anyway. The ones I can think of off hand are Mr.Pill (and his group of 4 or 5) and Creeping Panther. I'm sure there are others. 4) There are tournament players that would not go to St. Ignace anyway. The Washington group for example. I know of a few others from the South that will drive to Tama but St. Ignace is too far. I'm sure there are others. 5) It is unlikely anyone who lives West, South West, or North West of Tama would travel to St. Ignace for any tournament - too far. 6) It is unlikely anyone who lives East, or South East of St. Ignace would travel to Tama for any tournament - too far. 7) Non-retirees may not want, or be able to, take a day off from work to get to a casino on Friday to play in a tournament over a weekend. For those, a casino more that a couple of hours drive is their only alternative. So those people would never go the further away casino anyway to play a tournament. 8) St. Ignace has a DE FACTO invitation only policy which means many players are excluded from that tournament. So for those excluded players, Tama is now their only option. 9) Information about BJTs. I would venture to say that most of players in the Tama and St. Ignace tournaments do not even know about this web site, let alone log in with any regularity. So, unless they have another source of information, the probability is that the majority do not even know a BJT is scheduled at a casino 600 miles from their regular casino. They are casual players and will only play a BJT if its convenient. They find out about a BJT at their local casino by signage or mailings. That majority will not travel to another casino 600 miles away just to play a BJT. So having events on the same date has no effect on where they will play. That leaves maybe a dozen or so die-hard players that would play both events if they are on different dates. That's hardly enough for either casino to worry about conflicting dates. Looks to me more like the particular date that the two casinos picked to hold their tournaments just happened to be not good for the players. It happens all the time. St. Ignace is not full all the time nor is Tama, the Fitz (Tunica), or most any tournament although the tournament rules are, or may be, good at all those locations.
Sault Saint Marie is not covered in my post so I will not comment on that casino. The last time I was at St.Ignace for their BJT was about 2007 although it could have been 2006. At that time, I was playing blackjack at a table where a gentleman was averaging $100+ per hand. I struck up a conversation with him and asked if he was in the tournament. He said yes but he was already eliminated. He also said it didn't matter because he got comped in anyway so it didn't cost him anything. Like any casino, St. Ignace has its share of higher rollers. Probably not whales but some players are on the higher end of play considering the casino's location. Those higher rollers probably have a host. So if the casino is already providing free rooms and food to those higher rollers and they ask for a comp into the tournament, I can't see the casino turning them down since the incremental cost is low. Granted that St. Ignace does not advertise comped entries but nor do they advertise their DE FACTO invitation only policy. There are probably very few comped entries but I'm sure they exist. The comped entries are one reason St. Ignace keeps some on-site rooms open while placing the low rollers off-site. Also, I've noticed they keep the tournament unfilled until the last few days before its start. This, I believe, is to accommodate their last minute higher rollers - who may be comped in. If I'm wrong then St. Ignace is the only casino I know of that would not comp a sufficiently higher roller into a tournament when the cost to the casino is small.
keep checking I stopped by Meskwaki yesterday. Cannot sign up yet. The ticket office said they were waiting on the Gaming commission to approve the event first. They did not think there would be any problems. Got a different story from the pit boys. Just the same, it is planned and you have to keep an eye out for when it will happen. Best to all.
pit boys The pit boys usually get it right. There seems to have been a slack in certain depts. lately. Promotions and online are dragging their feet trying to sort out events and getting it posted. It will happen, there is a conflict over the event center they have to agree upon. They had a big promotion for bingo recently and expected over 1,000 players but after setting up a huge event in two rooms they ended up with just over 100 players. Reason...not properly promoted. Heard someone lost their job over the deal. Management is micromanaging now as a result and you know how that can be. It looks to be a last minute deal but it will happen. I stayed a couple days at the hotel and the desk was aware of it but did not have the exact dates for it, could only say it was Oct. for sure. I find it all a bit unusual for Mesk as they have always had a good track record especially for the BJT. I'm guessing there is turmoil among management for reasons unknown. I would keep the middle two weekends in Oct. open, it likely will be one of the two. The pit guys are planning on the 8th,9th and 10th, they quoted Bob on those dates. I did not see Bob this trip and so it is second hand to me. The lady at the ticket desk thought it was the weekend of 15-17th. She could not sign me up or take any moneyyet. She is the one that told me they were waiting for the Gaming Commission to approve it. Mine is not to reason why, mine is to play until I die. Best to all !!!
Thanks, smitty. If you happen by there again in the near future, let 'em know that if they go back to the 8th-10th, they will likely lose the entire Seattle contingent because they've already paid for their travel for the following weekend. Deb will not be able to go as she has managed to change her work days off and can't change those again. There's no way to tell how many others are in the same boat. I was told at the last Meskwaki BJT that someone from their staff monitors this forum. Let's hope so.
Open to criticism This could get interesting-------a month out and they haven't set a date??? Not good!!!!! Everbody has to do SOME planning. Billy C
Meskwaki website Don't know if this was already mentioned, but the Meskwaki website (click on "entertainment", then "buy tickets") shows that the Fall Blackjack Tournament is for October 16. It says that sign-ups are "available soon."
You are right You are right and I saw that before I stopped in to Mesk, which is why I checked in at the ticket office while I was there. I asked specifically about the date because there were two different dates mentioned. So I figured it wasn't carved in stone. Hope to see the Seattle gang and the St. Louis crowd. Ok, the Minnesota guys are cool as well.
