Bally's Poker Tournament

Last night was the first Bally's Free Roll Poker Tournament under its new format and it was an interesting evening.

In order to qualify for the free tourney, each of us had to log 60 hours of play during January. I put in 61 hours, just enough to get a seat at the event which pays $400 to the first 50 finishers. Well, turns out that the 60 hour requirement was just too tough for most players. When play was set to begin at 6 p.m. there were only 40 players who put in enough hours and out of those 40, only 39 showed up to play.

So the poker room manager Mike ruled that everyone there would split the $20,000 pot. We each took down $512, with a lucky few getting$513. So without playing a hand in the tourney last night, I was a big winner.

I actually got down to Bally's about 1 p.m. and played for a couple of hours, winning $200. Half of that came on my second hand when I was dealt 8-7, both diamonds. The flop showed two more diamonds. I bet $20 and got one caller. The turn was the Ace of Diamonds, giving me a flush. I bet $60, expecting my lone opponent to fold, but he called the bet, then mucked his hand when I showed the flush! Nice win there!

A little after 3 p.m. I left the poker room, grabbing a tasty (and comped) Italian sandwich from the Nosh Deli and walked to the Paris sports book to watch Michigan State play Nebraska. Enjoyed the sandwich and the game as the Spartans rolled to an easy win. I didn't have any $$$ on the game, because I just don't trust the Spartans, especially on the road.

Then it was back to the Poker room to collect my winnings, which totaled $713 for the day in poker. While there, we learned that the free roll tourney will be changed again for the next month. Instead of requiring 60 hours, it will only require 45 in order to attract more players. Also, the top 40 finishers will win $500 each.

And at each of the monthly tourneys they will have 10 random drawings to win a seat at a World Series of Poker Event - a $365 value. So if there are 50 or 60 players each month and they give away 10 seats each month, you'd have a decent shot at winning one. And the seats are transferable, meaning you could sell it if you didn't want to play in the event, which takes place in May or June.  Between the seat and the cash, it's conceivable to pocket more than $800 for just playing 45 hours of poker. Pretty good value, it seems.

This morning, Helen and I are packing, getting ready to spend 3 nights at the Venetian. We'll check in this afternoon. Over the next 3 days we're looking forward to eating at the Grand Lux Café, one of our favorite eateries and, of course, Sunday's big SuperBowl Party.

We're not taking the laptop and will be off line for a few days. But I'll post the details of our visit there as our adventure continues...