Couple of Minnesota Questions
 

Hello

I remember hearing awhile back about another card room opening does anyone have any info on this? Also I wanted to know what everyone recommends as far as live weekly/monthly tournaments? So far it looks like Hinckley has the best weekly tourney with 10k starting stacks on saturday is anyone familiar with this one and there card room?

Thanks!

Re: Couple of Minnesota Questions
 

The new card room Running Aces i ssupposed to open in about a year in a one stoplight town just south of Forest Lake. The harness track is supposed to open next spring.

The Hinckley Saturday tourny is pretty fun. $170 entry with about 110 players and first is usually ~$4800. 10k chips but the blinds go up every 20 minutes. The betting gets wild because the locals and tourists like to donk it up--even in the first few rounds. There are more and more CP'ers going up to play over the past few months. However, the dealers don't always have a sense of urgency with the short blinds. Sometimes they will talk in the middle of a hand. The locals are slow to act. So 20 minutes goes fast.

Canturbury Park has a Wed and Sun $230 MTT with 140-150 player fields and firsy is usually ~$8-9k. 4k chips and 30 minute blinds. The chips don't last long unless you are aggressive. They also have a $440 MTT the first Sunday each month. 4k chips and 40 minute blinds. About 80 players and a better field than the $230 MTT's. There also SNG's on Mon & Thurs, but the structure sucks.

Re: Couple of Minnesota Questions
 

[ QUOTE ]

The Hinckley Saturday tourny is pretty fun. $170 entry with about 110 players and first is usually ~$4800. 10k chips but the blinds go up every 20 minutes. The betting gets wild because the locals and tourists like to donk it up--even in the first few rounds. There are more and more CP'ers going up to play over the past few months. However, the dealers don't always have a sense of urgency with the short blinds. Sometimes they will talk in the middle of a hand. The locals are slow to act. So 20 minutes goes fast.

Canturbury Park has a Wed and Sun $230 MTT with 140-150 player fields and firsy is usually ~$8-9k. 4k chips and 30 minute blinds. The chips don't last long unless you are aggressive. They also have a $440 MTT the first Sunday each month. 4k chips and 40 minute blinds. About 80 players and a better field than the $230 MTT's. There also SNG's on Mon & Thurs, but the structure sucks.

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I played the Hinckley tourney for the first time on Sat. Went out about 18th of 80. The final 10 made the money. There were more than a few that went out in the first rounds donking it up. (I was pretty well card dead all day.)

Re: Couple of Minnesota Questions
 

Everyone should support the Grand Casino Hinckley $170 MTT on Saturdays because it is the best value MTT in MN in my opinion. Yes the blinds go up every 20 min compared to 30 at Canterbury but the rate that the blinds go up is almost exactly the same and you start with 10K in chips compared to 4K at CP giving you way more play.
Just be patient early and don't donk of everything with one pair and you have a great chance to go far.

The CP $230 and $440 MTT are decent structures and OK if you can't make it up to GC Hinckley.
The SNG's are unbelievably bad. You only start with like 300 chips and you need to be very aggressive early or you will be pushing 15 minutes in.

The Running Aces card club will open sometime next fall in Columbus Township just south of Forest Lake.

Re: Couple of Minnesota Questions
 

The harness track in Columbus (near Forest Lake) expects to start racing in April 2008. The card room can open "after the track's first 50-day live race meet".

From what I can gather, the MN Racing Commission may not yet have approved the card room's plan of operation; a discussion was on the agenda for the October meeting but they don't have the minutes posted.