Calgary Poker
Hey all,
Moving to Calgary this summer and have noticed that there are LOTS of casinos/poker rooms in the vicinity. I'm so happy to have casino poker in the vicinity it will be sweet. Anyone with any experiences in any of the local rooms? It would be great to hear about them.
Moving to Calgary this summer and have noticed that there are LOTS of casinos/poker rooms in the vicinity. I'm so happy to have casino poker in the vicinity it will be sweet. Anyone with any experiences in any of the local rooms? It would be great to hear about them.
Comments
This year they hosted the canadian open poker championship and it turned out great.
Lived in Calgary 2 years ago.....
2 rooms are downtown, Elbow & Stampede
Elbow (17 Ave & Mcleod Tr) always carried the 'big game' in town when I lived there. But at the time, it was mostly a limit poker room......4-8, 15-30. I've heard it now has the NL 1-2 & 2-5 regularly as well...but don't
quote me on that.
Stampede just opened a new casino (12 Ave & 4 St East).....haven't been to the new poker room. It used to always be a soft 1-2 NL game, but didn't have too many games running. The new one may be a different story.
Cash Casino is also close to downtown ($10-$15 cab). $1-2 & $2-5 NL there all hours......kind of a dungeon to play in though.
3 other casinos, but not close to downtown.
Hope that helps.
I might be in the neighbourhood in Oct...forum night?
(+ as a side note: I've already met both of you.. so I could help you avoid the awkward intro that leaves you two looking like you hooked up on some gay-dating site
I'd leave them to hook up blind, so it does look like they found each other on some internet dating site
Been out here a month and I finally got to play some poker this week.
What I've seen/heard as far as weeknight games go (confirmed with phone calls over the past few nights):
Stampede -- 1/2 nl is about it for weeknights, really nice room but pretty dead -- did have a 10 25 PLO on Tues night. Only comp is a single free drink voucher. Weekends generally have 2/5 and 5/5 NLH/DC games as do most rooms from what I hear. They have a bad beat and quad, str flush, royal jackpots.
Grey Eagle -- has become my regular game when I just have time for a 3 hour session -- 1/2nl is incredibly soft, 4 8 limit -- I had heard they had 2 5 n on weeknights, but not the case when I went there. Bad beat jackpot (I hit a table share for $680...brag at watching a hand and getting paid for it). Ugly as hell casino and poker room , the only time I've played on felt that hurt my eyes (edit, they replaced all the felt, so not a problem anymore, is now a burgundy/red colour) -- some kind of bright orange/red. From the looks of the place I figured it was built/designed in the 70s, but it's less than a year old. More action on weekends but 2 5nl is as high as they go. Occasional free round of drinks, worst service on the planet (over 2 hours for food; edit -- depends on the waitress, if you have the asian server then beware of longgg wait times), free food at 3am, free sandwiches now and then.
Cash Casino -- 1/2nl, 1/2 DC sometimes 2 5 nl. Good action, not a nice casino or location. Free meal if you're there an hour.
Deerfoot -- 1/2nl, maybe 4 8 limit not sure. Not sure about comps.
Elbow River -- the main limit room 4 8 and 15 30 all nights and 30 60 at times (LHE). Maybe a 1 2nl on weeknights. Free rounds of drinks.
ABS (Casino Calgary) (drug money casino, caution at playing high limit there from what I've heard -- home invasions, etc) -- 1/2nl, 4 8 limit, 2 5 nl DC. Not sure about comps.
Weekends -- from what I've heard everywhere that regulary has 1 2 nl has good action 2 5 nl 5 5 nl on weekends. Confirmed that Grey Eagle has 2/5 nl 1 to 2 tables on weekends. Games vary, sometimes the 1 2 is a more profitable game depending on the number of regulars sitting at 2/5..table selection is key. Can't find nl much bigger anywhere in calgary as the action players tend to play PLO. 5 10 DC at ABS, 10 25 DC/PLO at Stampede, 30 60 LHE at Elbow.
Small tournaments daily at most casinos ($33-$55) with $150+ weekend tournies at most. Grey Eagle has a monthly $330 with 65-70 players on Wednesday at 2pm. Stampede is having sats into some big event -- not sure, I don't play tournies but it's on their website.
Websites:
Official Casino ABS Web Site
Welcome to Cash Casino
Deerfoot Inn & Casino
Elbow River Casino - Functions - Private and Corporate Events
Grey Eagle | 24-hour Poker Room
Stampede Casino - Stampede Poker Room
Mmmm life is good.
If anyone will be in Calgary feel free to PM me if you want to go play poker.
Hey Jah -- Elbow and Stampede are right downtown and just about right next to each other (see post above for details) and all the other rooms are within 15min of downtown, most being closer.
All casinos have an hour call-in.
thanks for the details and the link; sounds like lots of choice but not much interest during the week. I will likely arrive on Friday and be there until Tuesday so I should have lots of time on the weekend to check out the downtown casinos. Maybe I will see you at the tables?
looks like I will be arriving on Nov. 28th and leaving around Dec. 2nd. I'm thinking of sticking around another day to play the $300 tournament at Grey Eagle on Dec 3rd. Are all casinos accessible by public transit? I will likely stick to Stampede over the weekend.
2. Where does Wilson usually play these days?
3. How does the winter weather affect action at the B&M poker tables?
Obviously I only played a few hrs but my observations were that the players here were pretty weak overall compared to my experiences playing in Windsor.
Best hand of the week...
SB & BB are in seat 2 & 3. Seat 4 raises to $20, Seat 5 folds, Seat 6 goes all in for $80, Seat 7 goes all-in for $157, I fold, seat 9 goes all in for around $400. Everybody folds.
3 way pot...
Seat 6 shows AA, Seat 7 shows KK, Seat 9 shows AA.
Seat 4 informs us that he had JJ
Flop is rags, turn rag, river J.
Seat 6 & 9 split the pot.
Both nights I played the players were very friendly and talkative. I really enjoyed playing there and walked out with a profot of $430 over 7 hrs in total.
I be happy with $7/hr; don't think I will stick around for the Weds tournament as it will mean two extra nights of hotel; I may come in early on the Friday instead and maybe try the weekend tournament or satellite for the $3k tournament; hopefully the vouchers can be transferred.
I spoke with the Stampede poker room, looks like the Nov 27 to Nov 29th qualifying days take the top 10% from each day and they move on to the final day (Nov 30th). All the players in the final day start fresh with the same amount of chips. This allows other players to buy in for $3,000 instead of playing in the qualifying days. Sounds like an interesting format. I think this is similar in format to some of the previous Brantford tournaments?
They had that style tourney at the Deerfoot during the Stampede this year. Just treat the $300 tourney as a sattelite....as you won't be in the money come the final day.......only top 10 % from that day.
good thing is, if you make it to the second day, there are likely only 30-40 players to get through. I'm not sure how many players they expect or whether any players will buy in directly for $3k?
Cash Casino is running their tri-yearly tourney this week......similar idea (700 + 70)....top 10% each day make the final day, but you carry your stack over, and are in the money if you make the final day.....I like that format a little better.
Were you able to get the tourney format GTA?