Big tourney at the Gilpin

[SpookMeister]

I found this on their website


The Gilpin Poker Room is now open! Be part of history and join us for our first HUGE tournament April 2, 3 and 4. We're not bluffing when we say it's gonna be big -- it's $50,000 big!

Tournament space is limited, so come to The Gilpin Casino to register (you've gotta sign up on property) and prepare for your best poker game yet! The buy-in is $150 and there are only 300 seats available.

For tournament and poker room information call 303.582.2092

* Frequent bad beats
* Low-limit structured games
* 16 comfortable tables
* Daily smoke-free tournaments
* A variety of games ALL skill levels can enjoy

[pseudoswede]

It's $125+25. Gilpin will be chipping in $12,500 to make the total purse $50,000.

I'm really tempted to play. If I didn't have to work that Sunday... :(

[coloradomrg]

Hmmm.... guess I need to bring back atleast that much from Vegas huh? :D

[znamenacek]

I will probably be there. It sounds like fun.

[SpookMeister]

I called them up and this is what I was told about the tourney:

150 people will play on Saturday (Apparently you pick which day if there are still choices available)
150 people will play on Sunday
The top 30 from each day will advance to the Monday game
The top 30 on Monday get paid. 30th place gets $350 and the winner gets $15,000

T2000 in chips
Blinds start at 25/50 and double every 20 mins

they do not double every 20.. its a reasonable blind schedule although the ante's start kind of soon.


pseudoswede, you are out of excuses now buddy

[pseudoswede]

pseudoswede, you are out of excuses now buddy

Haha. Twist my arm a little more, why doncha? ;)

If I do well in some of the SnGs and tournaments the week before, I'll consider entering.

[SpookMeister]

Well I signed up for it. Wish me luck.

Review of the room:

I realy liked the room. The equipment was first class. The lighting could use some beefing up, but I could live with it. The dealers I had were perfectly fine, in fact I can't think of a single dealer error that I saw, and they were quiet pleasant to play with.

My only complaint is for the management. I'm sure with some more time things will go much more smoothly, but until then there are some serious bumps in an otherwise recomendable location.

The story:
After purchasing my seat for the $50K I decided to put my name on the list for a $10+3 SnG. The house vig is very steep at $3 but I was in the mood for a game so I was OK with it. I was the 3rd person to sign up so I knew there would be a wait, "no problem". Right after I sign up for it, I overheard the CM (Cardroom Manager) telling one of his troops that they aren't going to be doing any more 2 table $10 SnG's. I say to myself, fine... I'll just get a seat faster. An hour and a half later, the game still hasn't started. I look at the sheet and there are 20 names on the list... wtf? I ask about it and someone says it should be starting soon. Another half hour later they start calling 4 or 5 names for it. I pay for my seat and go wait at the table. Another half hour goes by before they finish processing everyone and the game can start. In the mean time I'm listening to the other players *****ing about how the CM was going to cancel the game completely but finally gave in and "let us" play. Rumor has it this is going to be the last $10 SnG they ever hold.

We have 11 people sitting at a "10" person SnG. The blinds are going to start at 25/50 and how much do they give us in starting chips? 500. Thats right, just 500. I couldn't believe it. If they wanted to leave a bad taste in someone's mouth they sure went about it the right way. Might as well as flipped coins to see who would win. If they are going to survive they are gonna have to wake up and get their **** together.

By the way, I won the damn thing and I still feel like I was screwed.

-Spook

[znamenacek]

Spook,

I understand your frustration. I played in a $30+5 SnG up there and I had the same starting chips. There is a reason why they do this. For a $10+3, the house is making $30 for 10 people, or in your case $33. Consider the average SnG of this type takes about 1 to 1 1/2 hours to complete. That is not much money to pay the dealer, have the floor oversee the tournament (read the rules, announce blind changes, etc). Any way that they can limit the time the tournament lasts, they boost their hourly take. This is why the rounds are short and the starting chips are small. If they start with more chips, the tournament takes longer. I still don't think it is a coin flip. While luck is certainly more of a factor with shorter rounds and less chips (10x the BB is not many chips), I think a skilled tournament player still has an advantage over less skilled players. I was told that for the $100 SnG you get 1000 starting chips. This will definitely help, but I would also like to see them make the rounds 30 minutes rather than 20 if they are going to take $15-25 from this tournament. I would love to play in the $50K tourney, but I just found out I might have family visiting that weekend.

[Bruno]

znamenacek said:

I understand your frustration. I played in a $30+5 SnG up there and I had the same starting chips. There is a reason why they do this. For a $10+3, the house is making $30 for 10 people, or in your case $33. Consider the average SnG of this type takes about 1 to 1 1/2 hours to complete. That is not much money to pay the dealer, have the floor oversee the tournament (read the rules, announce blind changes, etc). Any way that they can limit the time the tournament lasts, they boost their hourly take. This is why the rounds are short and the starting chips are small. If they start with more chips, the tournament takes longer.

This is an extreeeemly short sighted poker room management philosophy. And I'll agree that they are probably having the "normal" start-up issues any business has in regards to getting their tournies running on time. But paying $33 for T500 with 25/50 to start is way past rediculous: it's theivery.

I still don't think it is a coin flip. While luck is certainly more of a factor with shorter rounds and less chips (10x the BB is not many chips), I think a skilled tournament player still has an advantage over less skilled players.

Well....with all due respect, when the money is that shallow luck is the reigning factor, not skill. One round costs you 15% of your stack. Luck is damn near the only factor at that point. Luck as in: your the lucky one who gets a hand, or luck as in you are immediately pot committed and you got lucky against a better hand.

I was told that for the $100 SnG you get 1000 starting chips.

For 3x the T500 buy-in you only get 2x the chips????? Frankly, that's pathetic. Look, I haven't been to Gilpin (I will be playing in their big April event), but so far from what I've read they look like "hop-on-the poker-bandwagon" carpet baggers......

Bruno

[znamenacek]

Bruno,

I agree with you. Before I went on about things that I don't know much about, I was just suggesting that you can't expect much with a live $10 SnG in a casino. There is little or no way for them to make money without taking a substantial cut. I do think that if they try to run the $100 SnG the same way (especially since they are taking a substantially higher fee), that is pathetic.

[pseudoswede]

I just called The Gilpin. They've bumped up the starting chips for the SnG's to T1000.

They also said they haven't played a single multi-table (40+ player) tournament yet due to lack of interest. The manager did say that the SnGs are very popular.

He also said there are about 100 spots left in the big April tournament.

[SpookMeister]

Just got off the phone with them and they were saying it was still T500 in chips. Don't know if the guy knew what he was talking about or not.. but I'm not ready to make a trip up there to find out.

[pseudoswede]

The guy I talked to was named Matt. He said that they bumped it up to 1000 because people complained that 500 was too few chips to start with. I'll call again tomorrow.

[pseudoswede]

Obviously there was a compromise. The $30+5 SnG today started with T750.

I think we should all write to The Gilpin and talk to the floor managers about raising it to T1000. That's probably the max they would go, as they don't want these SnG's lasting forever and a day.