Running Aces Harness Park in Columbus, MN is hosting a Mega Qualifier Event with an estimated $250,000 prize pool for the 2010 Midwest Poker Classic scheduled October 1-10. 

Starting July and running through September 25^th Running Aces will be giving out nine $1,100 seats (each week) into the Midwest Poker Classic in a weekly tournament – just 10 hours of live play each week qualifies you to play in the weekly tournament.

An additional $1,100 seat will be given out each week in their Monday free roll. 

They estimate the prize pool at $250,000 with a 1^st place prize of $70,000.  They are guaranteeing a $120,000 prize pool. 

Check out www.runningacesharness.com for more details.

Mega Qualifier Flier

If you have a group of 2-4 players and plan on coming to Jackpot Junction for the Minnesota State Poker Tour to play in satellites and qualifiers Wednesday through Saturday…til you can’t keep your eyes open…get a hold of me…I may be able to hook you up with a room!  Email:  bryan@mnpokermag.com

I’ve often thought, if I got really hungry for a good milk shake, how much would I pay for one? People will pay a hundred dollars for a bottle of wine; to me that’s not worth it. But I’m not going to say it is foolish or wrong to spend that kind of money, if that’s what you want. So if a guy wants to bet twenty or thirty thousand dollars in a poker game, that is his privilege. ~Jack Binion

Since the motto of the Minnesota State Poker Tour is “Suited for Players”, we definitely try to listen to what the players have to say.

After the Mille Lacs event in February, we received a ton of feedback from players requesting we pay more places similar to the HPT.  So we obliged.  We increased the payouts from 18 to 27 places.  After all, on average 60% of MSPT main event fields are players who qualified through means of a $250 satellite or less.

With the massive turnout at Running Aces in April, paying 27 was perfect and not one suggested change was filed.

But this backfired slightly at Northern Lights.  Due to a perfect storm…the largest graduation weekend of the year and the WSOP in Vegas, the turnout at Northern Lights was still ok but less than anticipated.  Paying 27 spots in an 87 player field was not ideal.  Because it was advertised that 27 places would be paid we didn’t change it the day of the Main Event.

It still worked out ok for most since 80% of the field in that instance were in for $250 or less as the majority of the typical direct-buys were in Vegas for the WSOP.

But going forward the payout structure will be modified slightly.  Update: In instances of 119 players or less, which likely won’t happen if we avoid June tournaments, the MSPT will pay 18 places.  120 players or more and the payout will remain 27.

Update: In instances where the Main Event field contains 79 players or fewer, the MSPT and host casino reserve the right to pay nine places, rather than 18.

We welcome your feedback, please feel free to email me anytime at bryan@mnpokermag.com with questions, concerns or compliments.

Peace out!

Looking for a FREE room at Northern Lights Casino during MSPT week? 

 Yes there’s a catch…

If you are a group of three or four players staying in one room…and all are “FOR SURE” playing in the Main Event, I will personally set you up with a room courtesy of Minnesota Poker Magazine from Wed, June 9 through Sun, June 13 in Walker at Northern Lights Casino for the Minnesota State Poker Tour.

 Email me at bryan@mnpokermag.com for more details. 

 Limited rooms available.  First come, first served to eligible players.

*Players who have or will be qualified through their local bar/free leagues are not eligible for the free room promotion

In April, it came down to Hudson and Joe Matheson for the Minnesota State Poker Tour title at Running Aces in what is remembered as the longest tournement from start to finish in Minnesota History.

After a see-saw battle, Matheson eventually took home the bracelet and $51,349.  Hudson earned $25,321 for his second place finish.

http://www.mnpokermag.com/2010/04/12/joe-matheson-wins-mspt-running-aces-event-51k/

This past Wednesday at Canterbury though Mario tasted victory once again by taking down the $200 buy-in weekly tournament for $5,130.

Its been a nice run for Hudson the past couple months.

There’s been a lot of talk during this year’s WSOP about the decline in numbers.  So far in 2010 the fields for the lower buy-in NLHE events are down 7-27% when comparing to 2009.

Obviously the first reaction for most is to point out the shaky economy.  Due to the US economy continuing to struggle, your recreational players have less disposable income to go around.

In the last several months, Europeans have been getting hammered as well.  The Euro compared to the dollar is at its lowest point in four years making it less affordable for players to travel.

There could be many other reasons as well.  Because the WSOP committee adjusts the schedule of events each year, its difficult to compare apples to apples.  For example, in 2009 there was only one $1,000 buy-in tourney while in 2010 there are six, I believe.  Plus there are several additional $1,500 events.  This means players can travel to Vegas throughout the entire month to play in an affordable event as oppose to the first weekend.

When you couple the poor economy with the increased price in travel, you have a bad combination if you’re a poker player who respects ROI.  Most are aware that airlines have reduced the number of flights they send to each location in an effort to cut costs.  This fills up the planes and now airlines can charge more.

As I went to plan my annual trip to the WSOP, I was a bit shocked at the price of travel.  In the past I would even fly down to Vegas multiple times during the month of June, round trip was $300.  In 2007 I flew back and forth five times. 

My flight this year from Wednesday night to Monday would run me $525.  Plus hotels don’t give away free rooms like they use to.  Hotel cost for a decent place (I do have standards and won’t stay in dumps) was to be about $700 after taxes and whatever else.  That was at Caesers and was a nicely discounted poker room rate.  I could stay at the Rio a little cheaper, they had rooms left surprisingly.  Caesers is a $5 cab ride to the Rio.

You know how it is, when in Vegas you’re destined to buy a few $10+ Captain Cokes, cab fairs and meals aren’t cheap.  So tack on another $400-$500 for meals and entertainment. 

So four full days in Vegas and I’m stuck $1,700-$1,800 before I buy-in for a tourney!  That sucks.  And let’s be honest, $1,700 goes a looooong way when playing online and you still have a shot at large prize pools.

I love the experience of playing in the WSOP events and the atmosphere but its mathematically not the smartest decision to play in those events if you don’t have a large bankroll.  We still have some great $1,000 buy-in options here in the state to get your fix and you don’t have to pay the travel expense. 

And if I decide to play more conservative buy-ins like the $300 or $500 Venetian Deep Stack or Caesers Mega Stack events, I would pretty much have to final two-table in a 400-600 person field to simply get back my travel expense and be even on the weekend.

 The cost of travel will definitely limit my WSOP experience this year.  Pretty sure I won’t be making five trips, probably just one.  Thus I can understand why numbers are down this year.  It’s the mid-tier players like me that take the WSOP to the next level from a participation perspective.

Here are the 2010 WSOP stats from Events #1-10, provided by PokerNews.com:

Event #1 – $500 Casino Employees NLHE, 721 players, down 16.7% from 2009 (866 players)

Event #2 – $50,000 Players’ Championship, 116 players, up 22% from 2009 (95 players), down 22% from 2008 **

Event #3 – $1,000 NLHE, 4,345 players, down 27.7% from 2009 (6,012 players)***

Event #4 – $1,500 Omaha 8 or better, 818 players, down 11% from 2009 (918 players)

Event #5 – $1,500 NLHE, 2,092 players, down 25% from 2009 (2,791 players)

Event #6 – $5,000 NLHE Shootout, 358 players, up 27.8% from 2009 (280 players)

Event #7 – $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw, 291 players, up 13.2% from 2009 (257 players)

Event #8 – $1,500 NLHE, 2,341 entries, down 7% from 2009 (2,506 entries)

Event #9 – $1,500 PLHE, 650 entries, up 2.6% from 2009 (633 players)

Event #10 – $10,000 Seven-Card Stud, 150 players, up 5.6% from 2009 (142 players)

**= format changed from H.O.R.S.E. to 8-Game
***= this was the only $1,000 NLHE event offered in 2009. Six are scheduled this summer.

Running Aces Harness Park in Columbus, MN has added a $1,000+$100 2nd Anniversary Tournament to the June calendar.

The event will take place on Sunday, June 27th.  Cards fly at 10:00 a.m.  Players will start with 25K in chips and blind levels will be 40 minutes.  The blind structure has not yet been released.

Minnesota Poker Magazine Player of the Year points will be awarded.

Satellites will be held for the July 14th – 18th Minnesota State Poker Tour event at Jackpot Junction each Wednesday in June at 4pm as well as Saturday, June 12^th and Sunday, June 27^th at 2pm. 

Players can win seats into one of the $250 Minnesota State Poker Tour Qualifiers held July 14^th-17^th with $1,100 seats to the two-day Main Event awarded at the weekend satellites (based on minimum amount of participants).  

Cash prizes will also be awarded in the event a player already has won a seat for the Minnesota State Poker Tour event or the prize payout for the player’s finish does not equal the seat value.  The entry fee will be $40+$10 on Wednesdays and $60+$15 for weekend tournaments. 

More information available online at jackpotjunction.com.  Pre-register in the live poker room or call 1.800 Win Cash, ext 98147. 

For structures, additional dates or more details regarding the Minnesota State Poker Tour, visit: www.MinnesotaStatePokerTour.com or www.MNPokerMag.com

For those interested in changing things up a bit, Shooting Star Casino will be hosting a 3-Card Poker tournament on the 2nd Sunday of each month.  The next one takes place on Sunday, June 13.

The buy-in is only $20 and they are guaranteeing a $10,000 payout to the top 7 spots and $5,000 to 1st!  And they also have ten $100 dollar winners each round with 7 rounds, all semifinalists get $100 as well.  So the total payout is $19,800.  Not only that, each registered guest receives $10 off dining, and every paid entry receives a $15 BJ match play

Registration starts at 2:00, play begins at 3:00 pm.

Check it out, this sounds like a blast and is definitely a sweet deal!