Meskwaki bingo casino and hotel is located in Tama, Iowa.  One of the unique casinos where 18 year olds can go to play poker in Iowa.    7 Card stud high, Hi/Low 7 Card Stud, Hold’em, Omaha Hi/Low 8 or Better and Omaha High are the games that you can sit down and play.  No limit, spread, kill and pot limit games run on a regular basis.  They also run tournaments five days a week.

Meskwaki is holding their Spring Classic on May 21st 2011.  $200 +$25.  If you would like anymore information you can call the poker room.  1-800-728-4263 ext 2119

Day 1 Ends with 17 Players

Level 11: 5,000-10,000, 1,000 ante

The first day of the Super High Roller has drawn to a close and 17 players will be returning at 12pm today for Day 2 action.

Justin Bonomo leads the pack with 1,837,000 and Erick Lindgren and Vivek Rajkumar are close behind with around 1.6 million each.  

The players will be back at Bellagio at 12pm, but action will play out in the poker room rather than the Fontana Lounge.

Here is a look at the top five chip counts headed into Day 2:

1. Justin Bonomo – 1,837,000
2. Vivek Rajkumar – 1,628,000
3. Erick Lindgren – 1,607,000
4. John Morgan – 1,009,000
5. Randy Dorfman – 968,000

For LIVE tournament updates:  http://www.worldpokertour.com/Live_Updates/Live.aspx?c=all&q={3DA2DFF6-B16B-4751-9C18-3B4F52582737}

Canterbury Park will be hosting a $500+50 buy-in tournament this Sunday, May 22.  The tournament will start at 10:30 AM, registration begins at 9:00 and continues through the first two levels of play.

The blind levels will be 40 minutes and players will start with 15,000 in chips.

Canterbury Park will also be increasing the buy-in on the Sunday evening tournament from $45 to $100+20.  This tournament typically draws over 200 players. 

The tournament begins at 6:30 PM, registration opens at 4 PM and continues through the first two rounds of play.  130 seats guaranteed, additional seating if available. 

Blind levels are 20 minutes and players will start with 8,000 in chips.

Heads-up in an 8-16 limit hold’em game, I have K-Q.  The flop is J-10-5.  My opponent bets into me, and I raise.  He re-raises and I just call.

The turn is a 7.  He bets and I call.

The river is an Ace.  He bets again, and I raise.  He calls, and I show him the nuts.  He annoyingly mucks his cards.  A few moments pass as I begin stacking my modest pot, and my opponent leans into me and says, completely seriously:

“I had you crushed before the river, you know?”

Oh, did you sir?  Here I am, foolishly raising on the flop thinking my King-high was the best hand.  I was merely trying to protect what I felt was the superior hand; the ace on the river giving me the nuts was simply a bonus!

You had me beat before the river? Yes, well, no shit!  He says this to me, as if to suggest that had the river been another 7 instead of an Ace, I still would’ve called.  Has this gentleman heard of a “draw,” or does he just assume we play poker in a robotic vacuum?  ”I only have king-high.  This hand cannot be good.  I must fold.  Automated message #439.”

ALSO, FOR ANY READERS WHO ENJOY MY BLOGS, PLEASE CHECK OUT MY NEW WEBSITE, A PERSONAL BLOG SITE:

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Shooting Star Casino held their 4 Days of Poker series this weekend and it concluded today with the $300+30 Main Event.

The field consisted of 72 entrants and Dale Nelson took home the impressive first place prize of $10,428.  Shooting Star Casino generously added $10,000 to the prize pool bringing the total pool to over $31K.

Nelson is from Grand Forks, ND and has a Midwest Poker Classic final table already on his resume.  He earned over $6K for a 6th place finish there.

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We are 3 days into Shooting Star Casino’s 4 Days of Poker here in Mahnomen, MN.  The poker room has been completely full and action packed. 

Saturday (Day 3) featured a $100+20 buy-in with an optional $50 add-on at the end of round 3 and an $8,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool.  106 players took their shot at the title. 

Mark Lessin of Detroit Lakes emerged on top.  Detroit Lakes is roughly 45 minutes from Shooting Star Casino.  Lessin and his family – who were in house rooting him on – moved to Detroit Lakes 11 years ago after he was raised in Coon Rapids.  Lessin owns a Tires Plus in the DL area.  “I was pretty much just an online player.” Lessin said. ”But now I’m getting out to play more live games again after Black Friday.”  Lessin earned $4,950 for his victory.

Lessin became a dominant chip leader when – 3-handed – his pocket 7′s held up versus 3rd place finisher Alan Nelson’s KJ.  Just a few hands later he eliminated Tam Do when his suited Q8 outran Do’s 10-9 off.  Lessin turned 2-pair to seal the deal.

The 4 Days of Poker will conclude Sunday with a $300+30 NLHE tourney with a Guaranteed first place prize of $10,000.

Day 3 Results, $100+20 w/optional $50 add-on, 106 entrants:

Scott Heiligman is the first Minnesota man to make his mark at this year’s California State Poker Championship being held at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, CA. 

Heiligman hails from Minneapolis and yesterday took down Event #7, $335 buy-in, six-handed no-limit hold ‘em.  There were 133 entrants.  The first place prize was $13,255.  Heiligman and California’s Michael Noori made a 2-way chop heads up.

Heiligman was 2nd in chips of the six players entering Day 2, behind eventual runner-up Noori. 

Heiligman also recently final tabled and finished 9th at Season 2, Event 2 of the Minnesota State Poker Tour at Diamond Jo Casino in Northwood, Iowa.  He also took down the $100K Guaranteed on Bodog last December as “poker_toker_”, that win earned him $23,600.

For Event #7 final results:  http://commercecasino.com/images/uploads/TournamentResults/CSPC%202011%20Event%2007%20Final.pdf

I realize that perhaps 87% of the blogs I write have something to do, either directly or indirectly, with the sociopathic narcissism of poker players.  Today will be no different.  Sorry.

I witnessed an exchange this week that I believe serves as a perfect microcosm of this phenomenon.

During a limit hold’em game, the following hand occurred in which I was not involved.  It was a three-handed pot, two of the participants were sitting right next to me; I was in the seven-seat, and these two gentlemen were in the eight- and nine-seats.  The third opponent was on the other side of the table in the two-seat.  I was on the button.  For purposes of clarity, I will tell you now what each player held:

Seat-eight:   8-9 offsuit

Seat-nine:    A-4 of spades

Seat-two:    7-7

The flop was 6s-7s-10h.  Seat-eight, of course, flopped the nuts.  Seat-nine flopped the nut-flush draw, and seat-two flopped middle-set.  There were predictable fireworks on the flop.

The turn was the 2-of-spades, giving seat-nine the nuts.  Once again, there were multiple bets wagered.

The river was the 6-of-clubs, giving seat-two the winning full-boat.  Two large bets from each participant entered the pot on the river, and seat-eight and seat-nine angrily mucked after flashing their cards to everybody at the table.

As seat-two scooped his pot, a conversation sparked up between seat-eight and seat-nine.  This conversation was really a remarkable thing to watch, and could not be more perfectly suited for an example of poker-player narcissism.  The two gentlemen managed to somehow hold a conversation where neither one of them acknowledged the words of the other.  In other words, each man was simply using the other as a vessel to receive the vitriolic passionate victimization each one felt at the completion of the hand.  In fact, it wasn’t a conversation at all.  It was, rather, two intertwined loosely-connected monologues.

Seat-eight:  ”Shit, I flopped the nuts!”

Seat-nine:  ”Yeah I can’t believe my hand lost!”

Seat-eight:  ”What a lucky river that guy got on me!”

Seat-nine:  ”I had the nut flush!”

Seat-eight:  ”That guy was so lucky to beat me!”

Seat-nine”  ”That guy was so lucky to beat me!”

Being the victim in a particular poker hand, and how this “victim” revels in pointing out how screwed he got, is a fascinating phenomenon to me.  I almost feel as if some players enjoy losing, simply in the sense that they can attempt to receive pity from the rest of us.  But it is exceedingly rare that one hand of poker leaves two players feeling as if they are the victim.  It is during this rare event that the true narcissism of the gambler is revealed.  Both men want to complain, and both men lost this pot.  It is only natural that they would speak to one another.  But there is no empathy.  There isn’t even any listening.  It’s simply a complaint-fest, where one man waits for the other one to stop talking so he can begin complaining about his own problems.

(Quick disclaimer:  I, too, couldn’t care less about other player’s hands.  But, as such, I do not complain about my own hand.  I am certain nobody cares about how unlucky I got, so I keep it to myself.)

I will say, I love players like this.  Honestly, players like this, and they exist by the millions, cannot ever be good poker players.  Just as they refuse to consider another player’s situation, they equally refuse to consider another player’s cards.  Their narcissism manifests itself even as they’re in the middle of a hand.  They look at their cards and that’s it.  These are the players who have two black aces but refuse to fold on the 5h-6h-7h-8h-10c board.  Hey man, they’ve got pocket aces!  How could they fold? Even if they know their hand is no good, they’ll call down to the river so they have a chance to show you their cards and receive the pity they so feel they are due.

ALSO, FOR ANY READERS WHO ENJOY MY BLOGS, PLEASE CHECK OUT MY NEW WEBSITE, A PERSONAL BLOG SITE:

JAYMIND.COM

Looking for the perfect graduation gift that will be treasured for years to come?  A diamond necklace or cuff links from RF Moeller are a couple of examples of great graduation gifts.  The friendly staff at all of the locations will help you find something unique to commemorate the special day.

R.F Moeller is a premier designer of fine jewelry in the great state of Minnesota.  They represent the finest jewelry brands in the world including Scott Kay, Mark Patterson and Christopher Designs to mention a few.  If you’re looking for something unique their in-house jewelry designers will work with you and design a one of a kind custom design.

R.F Moeller is celebrating their 60^th anniversary this year and want to share their excitement with you.  Now through May 14 they are featuring 600 pieces marked at 60% off.  Check out their diamond, fashion and colored stone jewelry; as well as watches and men’s jewelry.