I'll be visiting Calgary during the September long weekend and will only have time to get to one casino while I'm there. Which would you recommend I check out? I will be mostly playing Hold Em
I've played at the Elbow River Inn & Casino, and thought it was great. I think they had six tables... here's what I remember: 4/8 with a kill, 15/30 with a kill, a *big* PL game (think it was dealer's choice between Omaha High and Hold'em), and maybe a smaller stakes game, but I'm not sure. No smoking in the poker room, but smoking in the rest of the casino. The slots close first, then the table games, but the poker room stays open very late, if not all night.
I'd highly recommend Elbow River for some Calgary poker action, but then again, I don't live there, so others may be able to offer a more informed opinion.
Elbow's got a bunch of tables depending on how many people are there. Usually there's at least one $15/$30 hold'em and two $4/$8 hold'em tables open. All the $4/$8 hold'em tables are played with kill but I'm not too sure about the higher limit games.
There's also a big no limit freeze out tournament happening on the holiday Monday. $55 buy-in. You might want to call ahead and book a spot, though, because there was a wait list of like.. 45 people for the last one.
Oh.. and to answer your question.. Elbow's probably the best for hold'em games. Cash Casino plays a lot of $4/$8 dealer's choice and usually only has two live games going at one time. Elbow, on the other hand, usually has all 6 going during the weekends.
All previous info was correct for the most part. I think Elbow is now 24-hour poker room.
Cash Casino is more known for offering tournaments...I think they have small buy-in tourneys every day at noon (or 1pm?). Buy in is $10 + $2 and rebuys are available for a couple of levels, but I don't think there is an add-on. I played in one in December (near xmas - so turnout might have been higher than usual) but there were about 56 players. They paid out top 5 .... and of course I finished 6th..but that is besides the point. There were lots of rebuys going on, I think top place won $500 or so.
I think the buyin on the weekend (Saturday) might be $25 instead of $10 and I think it attracts more players but I've never played in it so I can't say for sure.
The tourney I played lasted about 3 - 4 hours (it was LIMIT).
The room at cash casino is not as nice as Elbow. As mentioned previously, the Elbow Room (npi) is separate from the smoking portion of the casino and it is a comfortable place to play.
So to sum up: if you want a limited cash outlay and a lot of play, and have 3-4 hours to kill, the Cash Casino tourneys are good. If you want a ring game, the Elbow is the place to be.
As far as I know, the other Calgary Casinos have NO poker - this means Frank Sissons Silver Dollar, Casino Calgary, and Stampede Casino - avoid them or phone first to see if they are now spreading games.
Sunday-Friday at 1:00pm are the $10+$2 limit hold'em tournaments ($10 rebuys, no add-ons).
Saturday at 1:00pm is the $25+$5 no limit hold'em tournament ($25 rebuys, $25 add-on).
Every holiday Monday, they have a $50+$5 no limit freeze out tournament.
Anytime a player wins two pots in a row, the kill is 'on'. Take a 4/8 game... for the next hand (after, let's say, 'Devin' has won two pots in a row), the limits double to 8/16. The small blind is $4, the big blind is $8, and 'Devin' has to post $8, as well. If Devin wins that hand as well, the kill is still on, but it doesn't double again. So it goes until someone else wins a hand, then all's back to normal, until someone wins two in a row again.
At least, that's what I remember. If I made any mistakes there, someone please let me know... I'd never heard of 'kill' games before Calgary, either. Essentially, it's a way to add a bit of a 'thrill' every once in a while, by making the occasional hand double the stakes.
That is one way to do a kill game, but there are different ways to do it.
The general idea of a kill game is
(a) When certain conditions are met, the next hand is a kill hand.
(b) The kill hand is played at higher stakes than the regular hands.
Is that vague enough for you?
Here's how they do it at Akwesasne, the 3-6 (kill to 5-10) for example.
If a single 3-6 pot is big*, the next hand is a kill hand. The winner of the big pot posts $5 for the kill hand regardless of his/her position. The small blind and big blind (if they have not already posted $5) still post the *usual* blinds of $1 and $3. The kill hand is played as a 5-10 hand, the pre-flop action begins with the UTG player, "$5 to call" (or "$0 to call", if UTG posted the kill blind). Note: with no pre-flop raise, the $3 big blind will still face the action "$2 to call". The hand dealt immediately after a kill hand is always a non-kill hand.
ScottyZ
*greater than or equal to (number of players dealt in) times (big bet amount) as computed before the house drop is taken
The way it works in Calgary is the way all_aces described it. The only thing I'd need to add to that is that the pots have to be greater than $20 to be eligible.
All poker rooms in Alberta can be 24 hours if they wish. But there is some restrictions. The chips cannot be played on the other table games (craps is ok thou???). And there is a seperate cash cage for the room.
Most of the big casinos all run 24 hours now. This was to help eliminate the private clubs, it worked.
anyway, i live in calgary, a good idea if your gonna be in town on the labour day holiday, go to cash casino on monday, they have a 50$+5 freeze out tournament every public holiday. but better to call ahead and get on the list, as about 30 people missed out after it filled up last holiday.. it runs with 100 people, and 10 places paid. 5000$ prize pool.. its a pretty decent gig for calgary.
also, on saturdays they have a no limit $25+5, 25$ rebuys and 25$ add on after the first hour and half. its half decent too.. blinds go pretty quick but first place is generally always around $2000 with places paid per # of tables that started. usally 70-90 players every sat. kick off is 1pm for every tournament at cash.
also, the elbow runs a 24/7 poker room. so does abs (calgary casino) and i'm not sure if cash is 24/7. i generally play at the elbow.
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Comments
I'd highly recommend Elbow River for some Calgary poker action, but then again, I don't live there, so others may be able to offer a more informed opinion.
Regards,
all_aces
There's also a big no limit freeze out tournament happening on the holiday Monday. $55 buy-in. You might want to call ahead and book a spot, though, because there was a wait list of like.. 45 people for the last one.
Cash Casino is more known for offering tournaments...I think they have small buy-in tourneys every day at noon (or 1pm?). Buy in is $10 + $2 and rebuys are available for a couple of levels, but I don't think there is an add-on. I played in one in December (near xmas - so turnout might have been higher than usual) but there were about 56 players. They paid out top 5 .... and of course I finished 6th..but that is besides the point. There were lots of rebuys going on, I think top place won $500 or so.
I think the buyin on the weekend (Saturday) might be $25 instead of $10 and I think it attracts more players but I've never played in it so I can't say for sure.
The tourney I played lasted about 3 - 4 hours (it was LIMIT).
The room at cash casino is not as nice as Elbow. As mentioned previously, the Elbow Room (npi) is separate from the smoking portion of the casino and it is a comfortable place to play.
So to sum up: if you want a limited cash outlay and a lot of play, and have 3-4 hours to kill, the Cash Casino tourneys are good. If you want a ring game, the Elbow is the place to be.
As far as I know, the other Calgary Casinos have NO poker - this means Frank Sissons Silver Dollar, Casino Calgary, and Stampede Casino - avoid them or phone first to see if they are now spreading games.
Sunday-Friday at 1:00pm are the $10+$2 limit hold'em tournaments ($10 rebuys, no add-ons).
Saturday at 1:00pm is the $25+$5 no limit hold'em tournament ($25 rebuys, $25 add-on).
Every holiday Monday, they have a $50+$5 no limit freeze out tournament.
Thanks
Anytime a player wins two pots in a row, the kill is 'on'. Take a 4/8 game... for the next hand (after, let's say, 'Devin' has won two pots in a row), the limits double to 8/16. The small blind is $4, the big blind is $8, and 'Devin' has to post $8, as well. If Devin wins that hand as well, the kill is still on, but it doesn't double again. So it goes until someone else wins a hand, then all's back to normal, until someone wins two in a row again.
At least, that's what I remember. If I made any mistakes there, someone please let me know... I'd never heard of 'kill' games before Calgary, either. Essentially, it's a way to add a bit of a 'thrill' every once in a while, by making the occasional hand double the stakes.
Regards,
all_aces
The general idea of a kill game is
(a) When certain conditions are met, the next hand is a kill hand.
(b) The kill hand is played at higher stakes than the regular hands.
Is that vague enough for you?
Here's how they do it at Akwesasne, the 3-6 (kill to 5-10) for example.
If a single 3-6 pot is big*, the next hand is a kill hand. The winner of the big pot posts $5 for the kill hand regardless of his/her position. The small blind and big blind (if they have not already posted $5) still post the *usual* blinds of $1 and $3. The kill hand is played as a 5-10 hand, the pre-flop action begins with the UTG player, "$5 to call" (or "$0 to call", if UTG posted the kill blind). Note: with no pre-flop raise, the $3 big blind will still face the action "$2 to call". The hand dealt immediately after a kill hand is always a non-kill hand.
ScottyZ
*greater than or equal to (number of players dealt in) times (big bet amount) as computed before the house drop is taken
Most of the big casinos all run 24 hours now. This was to help eliminate the private clubs, it worked.
anyway, i live in calgary, a good idea if your gonna be in town on the labour day holiday, go to cash casino on monday, they have a 50$+5 freeze out tournament every public holiday. but better to call ahead and get on the list, as about 30 people missed out after it filled up last holiday.. it runs with 100 people, and 10 places paid. 5000$ prize pool.. its a pretty decent gig for calgary.
also, on saturdays they have a no limit $25+5, 25$ rebuys and 25$ add on after the first hour and half. its half decent too.. blinds go pretty quick but first place is generally always around $2000 with places paid per # of tables that started. usally 70-90 players every sat. kick off is 1pm for every tournament at cash.
also, the elbow runs a 24/7 poker room. so does abs (calgary casino) and i'm not sure if cash is 24/7. i generally play at the elbow.
hope this helps. maybe it was answered already
cheers