Ameristar Poker Tournament

The poker scene in Colorado has grown significantly since the popular card game was legalized in 1991.

• Ameristar Poker Tournaments St Charles
• Ameristar Poker Tournaments

Poker tournaments in Colorado are widely available at the state’s casinos and suit players of all skill levels, whether you are an amateur or have desires to enter the WSOP main event. Colorado casino poker tournaments are offered frequently, from walk-in games to prestigious events such as the Colorado Poker Championship.

• Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles offers an exceptional gaming and entertainment experience in the St. Louis metropolitan area. The property features a 130,000-square-foot casino; AAA Four Diamond full-service luxury suite hotel with 400 well-appointed rooms, an indoor-outdoor pool, seven dining venues; 12 bars, an entertainment venue, a full-service luxury day spa, and a 20,000-square.
• Detailed information about the Ameristar Poker Open Main Event ($30,000 Guaranteed) poker tournament at the 2020 Ameristar Poker Open - St. Charles on Nov 15, 2020 in St. Attention Poker Rooms.

By Anthony Thompson of PokerNews For the second time this year, the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) held its $1,650 Main Event in East Chicago at the Ameristar Casino, which drew a massive 579 entries and created an $833,760 prize pool. The Heartland Poker Tour is a US-based poker tour and internationally syndicated television series that airs over 52 weeks and makes numerous stops across the traditional American Heartland. While originally intended to be a Midwest, regional tour and television program, as the US ‘s appetite for televised poker increased, the HPT went into.

The Centennial State is home to some world-class poker rooms. Players can access these rooms any day of the week and play high-stakes games in an elegant environment—the games available range from Limit and no-limit Texas Hold’em, live tournaments, and more. Online poker is not yet legal in Colorado; however, following the success of the online industry in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, it is expected to be introduced in the state. Additionally, lawmakers may be encouraged by the success of CO sportsbook apps since the sports betting industry was launched and look to replicate that with poker.

Luckily, if Colorado residents search for ‘poker tournaments near me,’ they will find numerous casinos that offer cash tournaments. These casinos are located around three significant towns; Cripple Creek, Central City, and Black Hawk. There is no need to travel to poker tournaments in Las Vegas; there are plenty of quality poker room options in Colorado. This article will list the best live poker rooms available in Colorado, offering cash games in superb settings.

Live Poker in Colorado

There is a vibrant poker scene in Colorado, with plenty of tournament options available, giving players of all abilities a chance to win. The first limited-stakes casinos were launched in Central City, Cripple Creek, and Black Hawk, Colorado, in 1991. The rules back then were somewhat restrictive; the maximum bet allowed was $5, and casinos were required to shut from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. Moreover, the only games that were legal to play were poker, slots, and blackjack.

Nowadays, if you want to play poker in Colorado, there are more options. In 2008 the CO poker industry expanded as voters passed Amendment 50. Consequently, the maximum bet was raised to $100, and casinos were allowed to stay open 24 hours a day. There are a total of six live poker rooms in Colorado, including:

• Ameristar Casino Poker Room: Black Hawk
• Golden Gates Casino Poker Parlour: Black Hawk
• Isle Casino Poker Room: Black Hawk
• Midnight Rose Poker Room: Cripple Creek
• Sky Ute Casino Poker Room (tribal casino):
• Ute Mountain Casino Poker Room (tribal casino):

There is currently work being done to remove the $100 betting limit at the above gaming properties. This would be good news for Colorado poker players as the live poker action would increase even more. This could also be good news for CO online poker, and players could access those WSOP free chips online in the Centennial State.

Ameristar Poker Room-Black Hawk

There are plenty of Black Hawk Colorado poker tournaments to choose from, and the poker room at Ameristar is one of the biggest rooms available in the state. The Ameristar is home to 22 live tables for you to try, offering a variety of the best poker games and limits. The Ameristar venue is a stylish location, boasting striking skylight ceilings and grand stone fireplaces. The spread games include:

• $1-3-100 Spread Hold
• $2-5-100 Spread Hold
• $2-5-100 Spread Big-O
• $30-60 Limit Hold em
• $50-100 Limit Hold em

Players at the Ameristar have the potential to earn $1 per hour in comps on all play in the poker room.

Golden Gates Casino Poker Room-Black Hawk

Another on the list of Black Hawk casinos, the Golden Gates casino is home to one of the most renowned poker rooms in the state. It has hosted televised games from the Colorado Poker Championship and the Heartland Poker Tour. There is also a poker parlour available at Golden Gates, with a luxurious log cabin design.

Golden Gates is open 24 hours a day, and players have access to no-limit hold ’em, limit hold ’em, and pot-limit Omaha cash games. With the added bonus of tableside food service, Golden Gates is one of the best venues for any poker player.

Isle Casino Poker Room-Black Hawk

Isle casino is home to 30 poker tables. Games such as Bonus 6, Texas Hold ’em, and Mississippi Stud are all available, while players can get their table games fix by playing several blackjack and roulette variants. The poker room offers free drinks with tableside service, numerous televisions, and a smoking terrace. Additionally, there is an Isle casino fan club. It is free to join, and new members get a free buffet after an hour of playing.

Midnight Rose Poker Room-Cripple Creek

We now come to the Cripple Creek Colorado poker tournaments. The Midnight Rose is intimate and attempts to create that feeling of playing with your friends, taking the edge of each hand. It is the only room available in Cripple Creek, with eight tables offering $1/$2-$50, $1/$2-$20, $1/$3-$100, Texas Hold’em daily. There are also $5/$10 Omaha Hi-Lo games on offer every Saturday.

Ameristar Poker Tournaments St Charles

Emphasizing that Colorado has a thrilling poker scene, the state has tournaments with some of the country’s highest stakes. The Midnight Rose offers these tournament options during the weekend, as an addition to the daily poker provided throughout the week.

FAQs

How do Colorado poker tournaments work?

The premise of a poker tournament in Colorado is the same as it would be when playing for cash at any other state where the card game is legal. Each player buys-in and will receive a set number of tournament chips. There are different types of tournaments. With cash games, players can buy in for different amounts and leave the table at any time; however, Texas Hold Em games have a start, middle, and end.

What bars and clubs in Colorado can have poker tournaments?

Legal poker tournaments are available in the six poker rooms in the Centennial State, which are:

• Ameristar Casino Poker Room: Black Hawk
• Golden Gates Casino Poker Parlour: Black Hawk
• Isle Casino Poker Room: Black Hawk
• Midnight Rose Poker Room: Cripple Creek
• Sky Ute Casino Poker Room (tribal casino): Ignacio
• Ute Mountain Casino Poker Room (tribal casino): Towaoc

Gaming is authorized in these locations, and responsible gaming practices are also in place.

How long do casino poker tournaments last at Colorado Belle?

This depends on what game you choose to play. If you are playing a regular cash game, you can leave at any time if you are happy with your lot. Alternatively, you can keep playing and betting if you want to try and reach a certain amount. Texas Hold Em games have a beginning, middle, and end and typically last around an hour depending on the number of people at the table.

Table Of Contents

Greg Raymer put on a classic clinic at the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Ameristar East Chicago $1,650 Main Event final table, taking down his record fifth HPT Main Event title, along with $171,411 in prize money, and a $3,500 Championship Package for the HPT Season XVI Championship at the end of the season.

'It feels great,' Raymer, the 2012 HPT Player of the Year, told HPT Tournament Director Jeremy Smith about conquering the 520-entry field, which brings him up to third on the HPT's all-time career earnings list, behind only Craig Casino and Reginald 'Shawn' Roberts. 'Every one's more special than the last.'

'Evan did not let me run him over at all. I'll definitely say luck was on my side in the heads-up play.'

Raymer overcame a 2:1 disadvantage to start-of-the-day chip leader Evan Bethyo in a wild heads-up match, which included Raymer finding a double on the very first hand with his rivered queens-up besting Bethyo's jacks-up to even the stacks.

'When I catch the queen on the river to make a better two pair, that's just luck. There's a lot of luck in poker, and there's a lot more luck in heads-up poker, because if you fold every time you don't have top pair or better, you're gonna get run over and you'll have no shot. Evan did not let me run him over at all. I'll definitely say luck was on my side in the heads-up play, for sure.'

The man many know as 'FossilMan' gets to add two trophies to his case back home in Raleigh, North Carolina; the HPT's and his fossil card protector. 'I started using a fossil as a card protector a long time ago and got the nickname 'FossilMan.' Since '08, it occurred to me that I might as well take that fossil and give it to the person that knocks me out. So every single tournament is a new fossil. This one goes in the trophy case, with all those other HPT titles, with the (WSOP) Main Event title, and every little other tournament that I've won in the last fifteen years.'

Final Table Results

Final Table Action

Big Slick did not do the trick for the first two players bounced from the final table. Benjamin Craig came into the day with eleven big blinds and a dream to spin up the short stack, and while he made a valiant effort and survived a few shoves, he eventually succumbed in ninth when he lost a classic race with his ace-king to Bethyo's pocket queens. Dale Hackney followed him out the door in eighth, as his ace-king found top two pair on the flop, but David 'The Maven' Gutfreund turned a set of eights, and Hackney found no river ace or king to save his tournament life.

Matt Schurter and Bohdan Slyvinski spent the next few levels grinding out a short stack, but both players would jam weak aces and run into ace-jack to bust in seventh and sixth respectively. Another hour would tick by before the flood gates opened up, and five players reduced to two in under twenty minutes.

First, Tim Barany three-bet shoved king-jack over a raise from Raymer, who held pocket eights. Bethyo woke up with aces and just called while Raymer elected to let his eights go. Bethyo ended up winning the hand with his aces, but Raymer would've flopped a set and likely scored a double knockout in the process. A few hands later, Bethyo three-bet shoved over a raise from Mark Yofon, who held the rockets this time, while Bethyo needed help with his pocket fours. Help came immediately when a four spiked on the flop, and Yofon couldn't find an ace to end his day in fourth.

A few hands later, Gutfreund got his last fifteen big blinds in preflop in a blind-versus-blind affair with Raymer, but Raymer's Big Slick sent 'The Maven' out the door in third.

Action-Packed Heads-Up Duel

Bethyo started heads-up play with the chip lead, but lost it on the very first hand when his flopped jacks-up were rivered by Raymer's queens-up. The very next hand, Raymer turned a wheel when Bethyo held top pair with ace-jack, and for a moment, it seemed like there was a very real possibilty that Raymer could win the tournament in just two hands of heads-up action. Bethyo preserved his stack with a fold after Raymer shoved the river, and the duo proceeded to play on.

What proceeded was the deck providing both players with opportunity after opportunity for action, as the two deep-stacked players found themselves in plenty of interesting spots during the ninety-minute affair. Bethyo hit bottom set in a spot where Raymer flopped top pair, and Bethyo got three streets of value from Raymer to take back the chip lead. The lead didn't last long, however, and Raymer turned on the gas, catching a few bluffs from Bethyo and hitting a few flops well to turn the tide heavily back in his favor.

Bethyo managed to get a double when he hit trips against Raymer's top pair, but Raymer ground Bethyo down to around twenty big blinds before the final hand of the tournament took place. In a limped pot preflop, Bethyo flopped middle pair with queen-deuce on an ace-three-queen flop, and bet. Raymer, who held eight-three, made the call with bottom pair. Raymer struck gold with an eight on the turn, and Bethyo called off his last few blinds after Raymer check-raised him all in. A nine on the river sealed a career-best finish for Bethyo, and allowed Raymer to break the $8 million mark in career tournament earnings.

Raymer's plan for the earnings is one that will surely delight the group of investors that stake him throughout the year, something he has done for many years.

'I have a deal with people who invest in my bankroll for the entire year, and we tripled our bankroll in the first event. It all has to stay in the bankroll, it means I can play some bigger events if it fits the schedule. I only gave 'em a small profit last year, so I'm looking forward to this being the start of a huge run!'

This concludes our coverage of the HPT Ameristar East Chicago Main Event. The Heartland Poker Tour continues next week with 'HPT on the High Seas' with CardPlayer Cruises.

Ameristar Poker Tournaments

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  Greg RaymerEvan Bethyo