St. Ignace, The Final, Final Table....

.....as we've known it for the past several years.

This past weekend we made the trip to St. Ignace for thier final $30,000 Blackjack Blowout tourney for the year. Much to our suprise when getting there we learned it would also be the final one with this prize pool. :sad:

Next year they will be giving away one seat to the WSOB in it's place. The initial details of what will take place as explained to me were:
1. Weekly Saturday (one day) Tourney for $25 buy-in.
2. No package deals (rooms or food) as previous years.
3. Those making it to the final table in a weekly will be invited back in November to play for the seat in the WSOB. (one seat)

Sounds interesting but with such a long drive and no package deal we will not be able make it as often. We might look at a week long camping trip to the U.P. and catch it on two consecutive Saturdays for a try at the seat.

They were going to be sending out a letter to anounce it with all the details. I will update everyone when I get more info.

Oh, how did I do in the tourney? I once again made it to the final table (two in a row) and took 4th place.:cheers: There was about 140 entered to play. I wanted to do a final 5 hand play by play but even after sending a letter in advance to request permission they would not allow MonkeySystem or myself to do it.

Dan

 

Reason?

Dan:

What's your best guess as to why the tournaments are no more. They certainly have the players. My guess is that the players were not giving them enough side action. Several players have told me outright that they just come for the tournament and a weekend get away with great scenery, but don't give a penny (or dollar) in side action. If this is the case, the players ruined a great deal by their own greed. Just my thoughts.

 

My Thoughts

Toolman,

I've always enjoyed the company of those tourny players at the tables throughout the weekend. Although most of them did not play the stakes you do, if they dropped only a $100-$150 a day times 3 days times 100 players would still amount to a good deal added to their coffers. They did get a lot of play from the tourney players in my mind.

I think Peggy was interested in trying something different and in her words she "wanted to offer the chance for someone to have a chance at winning enough to retire". And a seat in the WSOB might offer that. They have done pretty well with their WSOP seat tourneys and hope to have the same result with the BJ tournys. I guess only time will tell.

Of course the mishap with the casino on the hill may also have had some effect. It is a nice building though: New Casino Mishap?

Hope to see ya again in the future.

Dan

 

St. Ignace changes:

Youse all: Just some idle thought while gnashing my teeth on other developments of late:

Hate to be a real kooky conspiracy dolt, but, I've had an anti-Indian casino bias for quite soon after they appeared. There are too many layers of authority .... Federal/state....with the one over riding power of the particular casino or tribe at it's location. Stories abound of non-payout jackpots and house rules. I've posted elsewhere of the Abermouth and Berman connections. And Abermouth's go to Delay and their college frat buddy as well as the well oiled wheels they all greased to lead up to our current dilemma.

Great leap here: So, it makes sense that an Indian Casino covers itself with a ready made back side protection of little expense for a supposed great payout to GSN WSOB.

As much as most of us who post here like to think we know better, not all of us do, but even the least of us knows better than most "ploppies" and that's who any casino is after, after all. If they have a formula in place to gauge how much side action they are or are not getting when they offer a tourney then I guess the phrase, "greed killed" would be accurate. But none of the "greedy" players would play a "terrible" game. If a house wants side action from knowledgeable tourney players it should offer a "reasonable" game.

Otherwise there is no sense for one who posts here to believe they are advantage or good in tourney play, only to turn around and act like any conventioneer or tourista.

Long and short(aside from current politics) it comes down to what has been debated for quite some time. Which UBT seems to be fullfilling. Offer a tourney for a fee and a vig. Straight up. If a brick and mortar can't make a profit off of it, don't offer it. Let it go to side sights.

 

Other Kewadin casinos

Not that I play (tournaments or otherwise) at any of the other Kewadin casinos, does anyone know if tournaments will still be held at the other Kewadin casinos?

 

They Offer a GOOD Game

Noman,

They offer the best game for many miles around.
Six Deck shoe with house edge of only 0.23%. Not always the best penetration, but it can be found.

Double Deck game, rules are not the best (-0.46%) but I've seen it dealt down to only around 18 cards left, many times.

Dan

 

Yes

Toolman,

Yes they were planning on continuing the smaller ($5K) tournies at the smaller Kewadin casinos in the U.P. with full weekend package.

Dan

 

Last Trip?

I've probably made my last trip to St. Ignace and I regret it. Their tournaments have always been the best value in the tournament world and DeAnn, Peggy and Ernie always did a great job and were a pleasure to deal with!
As far as supporting the house, I always averaged about 10,000 points per trip on video poker machines.
With a 430 mile drive I can't justify going to what they are offering now.

Billy C

 

Gonna Need Other Reasons to Go Now

Billy C,

I agree 100% on your comments about the hosts!

Our drive is also rather long (330 miles) and I would tend to agree with you. Unless you have another reason to go up that way it will be difficult to justify the drive for the one day tournies.

I'll have to wait and see all the details when they come out and the timing of the events. There is a lot of pretty country up that way and alot of things to do. It would make for a great camping/fishing/hunting/?? trip.

Dan

P.S. Did we meet up there at all? Send me a PM

 

DanMayo:

Okay then.

 

Good games?

I wouldn't play this game, would you? I assume when you are talking about good games you were only talking about VP and craps.

By the way, last year their VP was so bad that nobody was playing them.

 

Hmm.......

Toolman,

Actually the name of this game is penetration and it is quite playable for the red chip to low green chip advantage player.

Using Arnold Snyder's Profit Index (SPI) as outlined in his book, Blackbelt in Blackjack this game score's pretty high if played during the correct conditions. Rates at a SPI of 75 to 82. Arnold gives criteria of > 50 as a winner game worth playing.

I've seen it played with good success many times. Red chip 5 to 100 gives you a 1-20 spread and low green of 25 to 2x100 gives you a 1-8 spread. I have never seen or had any heat with this kind of play there.

Of course if you are simply a BS player, I would stick with the shoe game which as stated above has a house edge of only 0.23%. (The DD is -0.47%).

Good Cards,
Pill

 

DD with 75% penetration

I see what you are saying. Just curious, have other members found this game to be worthwhile? I'm seeing it pop up more and more in the casinos but probably not with a 75% penetration.

 

It Means A Lot.

Toolman,

This game would not be worth playing if the pen was 50% or less and marginal at best if it was only 60%.

It's amazing how this changes the playability of certain games. Arnold Synder was one of the first to write about this concept in the early eighties and was initially scoffed at. Now, you find this concept in every "How to Beat Blackjack" book that is worth anything.

Sometimes you also need to be patient and find the right dealer. Some houses may have deeply dealt games where the norm is shallow. Someone that is well armed with the knowledge and patience will always prosper or otherwise would avoid a losing situation.

Pill

 

Wow!

Dan, that`s awesome! Congratulaions for making the finals there two times in a row. I couldn`t be there this time. But If I ever will play in St. Ignace again, you will be the player I will mostly fear!

Keep on going with making it to the final tables, that can`t only be luck

Best wishes from Germany,

Sirklas

 

Thanks!

Sirklas,

Glad you made it back home safe!

Yes, final table again and this time got a little better cards then when we played together at the last final table. Still not good enough to do better than 4th though.

If I get to Germany next year I'll give you a yell. Maybe I can buy you a beer!:cheers:

Take Care,
Dan

 

Ignace tourneys

Observations on why no more tourneys, although I now see a BJ Blowout Tourney posted for Febuary 07, but only on a Sunday. (Must be the new format). They also have the free BJ Tourney on Sunday's.

I believe there is not enough room in the new casino to house a large tourney. Sunday events are restricted to 3 tables at a time.

I do believe that when they are allowed to use the large gaming floor BJ Tourneys will be back.

It is not from lack of side action, as there has always seems to have been enough of that, overall. And remember these tourneys are scheduled for usually slow times. Although I have noticed that many tourney players do not populate the BJ tables as one may think they would, noticing many not playing at all.

Also note the cost of all tourneys at Ignace are going up an average of $100 for 07.

The tribe is hurting financially from the debacle following the new construction and has raised prices and cut out many items in its operation to try and make ends meet.

There has been discussion here about the pitch game at Ignace and I will tell you now that that has changed in some important ways, since going to the new building, that makes it frustrating for the AP. I believe this also stems from the financial problems of this casino. As a matter of fact I am planning a trip starting early Friday and I will leave Ignace off the schedule because of these change in conditions on the DD.

There has also been some discussion here about 2.1 Bj pays. This is now going on in the GNW on regular BJ but ONLY on a $21 bet, but a nice gesture, for sure.

Overall I thing Ignace has made some bad decisions and dropping the BJ Blowout was one of the worst, for all you folks that are into the tourney scene, AND for Ignace!

Soaring Eagle is now offering BJ Tourneys so some of you may want to check that out.

This is a nice site for all you tourney players, kudos!

Have a nice Thanksgiving.

Creeping Panther.

 

I see they have a 30K BJ Blowout now listed on the calender for April 27-29, 2007 so maybe they have changed their minds and stayed with what works. Haven't been up to this place in about 5 years but plan on going once or twice this year. $250 Entry fee with the room. The rest looks the same as I remember it.