I copped first place ($25,000) at Mohawk Raceway.
They ran the Megatournament (my name for it, not theirs) at
4 locations in Southern Ontario. Entry was free, but by
invitation only to their Winner's Circle members who
(presumably) had a history of video poker play.
Total prize money was $196,000, broken into the 3-week
qualifying period ($42,000 - $1,000 to each daily winner at
each location), and $154,000 to the finalists.
About 2% of the entrants made the finals at each location.
Prize money at each location was;
1st - $25,000
2nd - $5,000
3rd - $1,000
the rest - $100
The purpose of the event (as stated by one of the slot
managers) was to promote the introduction of Joker Poker at
the casinos.
The basic format at 3 of the 4 locations was 5 minutes
(unlimited credits) of..... are you ready for this?
ta-da Full-pay Jokers Wild (100.6%).
Now this particular game has never been available in
Ontario (and still isn't - their current version is
extremely short-pay). About the ONLY folk who would have
played it are people like myself who visit Vegas.
Since (1) I already knew the game, and (2) can play it
quickly, it gave me a great headstart on the field.
With some hard work and preparation, I was able to overcome
the luck/fluke factor.
I qualified at 2 locations. This caused some consternation,
and a couple of conference calls amongst the various
managers. They kinda bent their own rules to keep me from
playing in 2 finals (the 2 were held on different nights -
that's why I qualified at those particular locations).
Without asking me, they arbitrarily decided I was going to
play on the Monday night at Flamborough Downs. Their own
rules said I had a choice of locations. Since I had a
specialist's appointment on the Monday afternoon, I raised
a little hell and demanded they read their own rules. They
eventually gave in and allow me to play at Mohawk on the
Thursday.
At Mohawk, I beat out 48 other finalists, 4 of whom hit the
straight flush.
Best I hit was quads (twice), but I managed to get in 120
hands in 5 minutes to rack up 770 credits.
Second place finisher had 715 (she played after me, and I
watched her get dealt a straight flush for 250 credits on
her FIRST hand - I thought I was cooked).
All in all it was a terrific event - well conceived,
faithful in format to similar events I've played in Nevada,
and well-run.
It's a shame the marketing types didn't appreciate (did
they even know?) that this was the largest Video Poker
tournament ever held, anywhere.
Brian
···
--- vpFREE <vpFREE@Cox.net> wrote:
Brian Lavoie wrote on vpFREE:
>>> CANADIANS don't pay tax. Thus no paperwork required.
I can state this first-hand as I (being a Canadian) had a
significant win in Ontario's mega video poker tournament
last November. <<<Any details that you care to share?
vpFREE Administrator
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