The good news is that Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota just announced that it will host the first annual Twin Cities Poker Open, a $1,500 buyin + $120 entry fee no-limit hold'em tournament, on Sunday, August 10th. Players can either buy their way into the finals, or earn their way in through one of the qualifying heats taking place on Wednesday August 6 through Saturday August 9. The top 20 percent of each qualifying heat-$300 buy-in + $40 entry fee-will earn a nontransferable seat into the finals with no additional entry fee. One-table satellites for both the heats and the finals will begin on August 4.
In March, Canterbury Park hosted the Minnesota State Poker Championship. The event featured a similar structure and drew 188 entrants for the championship with a $271,212 total prize pool.
"We are the Twin Cities poker leader, and are excited to offer our players this new tournament," said Canterbury Park President Randy Sampson. Canterbury Park is home to Minnesota's largest and longest-standing poker room with 34 poker tables.
Tournament qualifying heats will run Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday at 10:30 a.m. The finals will begin Sunday at 10:30 a.m. For more information, log on to www.canterburypark.com or call 866-667-6537.
The bad news is that several days after the Heartland Poker Tour announced the opening of the firstever Heartland Poker Tour branded poker room in the Greektown Casino, Detroit, Michigan, the casino announced it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
According to a news release, James McTevia, managing member of McTevia & Associates, a turnaround management firm, called Chapter 11, "The best place for Greektown Casino to be," given its situation. "There are a lot of reasons why companies go into Chapter 11," McTevia said. "But, what it comes down to is that something is not working."
In Greektown Casino's case, McTevia said, the problem is that it has more debt than it can service and needs to work out a deal that will allow it to keep operating while it finishes its expansion construction. He added that some casino bondholders may have to accept some sort of an equity stake, in exchange for forgiving some of the outstanding debt. In addition, unsecured creditors might end up accepting less than they are owed, in exchange for helping to salvage a valuable customer. McTevia said the woes of Greektown Casino are not unique- noting that even legendary investor Donald Trump was once forced to put a casino into Chapter 11. But he added that Greektown's situation "begs the question" of whether the current plans for Detroit's casinos are still realistic given the recent downturn in the marketplace.
Ugly may be a too harsh of a word to describe the old Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana; however both the casino and surrounding lakefront area have now become beautiful as a result of extensive makeovers. The all-new Horseshoe Casino Hammond will soon complete its transformation. Construction is nearing completion, as an amazing new gaming and entertainment facility will be unveiled this summer. With over 108,000 square feet of gambling space-more than triple the size of the current casino-the new casino will include spectacular amenities, an incredible entertainment venue, and more luxury than ever before. It's truly a remarkable expansion boasting a $500 million price tag.
The Horseshoe Casino Hammond is expected to be the largest casino and entertainment destination in all of Chicagoland when completed in late summer 2008.
In addition, the new facility will be home to the largest poker room in the area, with plans to offer exciting new tournament venues and unprecedented prize pools. Contact Jeremy in the poker room at 866-711-SHOE for further details about this exciting new addition to the Chicagoland poker scene.
