Soaring Eagle Casino, Mt. Pleasant Michigan.
Well, since I am two weeks removed from being absolutely crushed in multiple ways at the Soaring Eagle Casino I thought I am now ready to give a completely unqualified review of this place that will not come from a place of anger, but rather I will be as objective as possible.
Michigan
I have learned that this is one of 24 casinos in Michigan. Clearly all of the out of work autoworkers need as many places as possible to spend their free time. Michigan has been the state hardest hit by the recession and I met several autoworkers who I decided not to tell that I work at the Toyota plant in Cambridge. Smart thinking?
The Town
It is located in Mt. Pleasant which is in Central Michigan about an hour from Saginaw. It is a very nice small town and home to Central Michigan University. The Chippewas play in the Mid America Conference for any of you who'd like to take in a little college football action if you go visit.
The Building
The casino is a beautiful structure with several restaurants and what seems to be a really nice hotel with a spa and an indoor pool. We were home based in Saginaw for shopping purposes so we didn't stay at the hotel. I'd love to tell you that we dined in one of the fancy restaurants but that is a pleasure I allow myself after winning lots of money, which if you have been paying attention, I did not.
The Gaming
I sat on two occasions at the three card poker table, which has been kind to me in the past but not so much on this day. As is the case in most US casinos smoking seems to not only be allowed but blowing the smoke in my face while I try to play is a national obsession.
How did we ever deal with smoking inside buildings in Canada? It seems so strange now that we are not exposed to it anymore.
I'd like to say I tried other table games but I didn't. My wife and watched the roulette as well as some of the other games. One thing I did like was the help yourself beverage bar for water and soft drinks.
The Poker
The Poker room was very nice, the tournament schedule is good with events being run every day, and the dealers were very good and knowledgeable. Unfortunately that is where it falls apart for this place. We registered for the 6:30 tournament early in the afternoon and it took over half an hour for them to get us registered. After acquiring our players cards upon arrival the poker room also wanted our drivers licenses along with players cards just to register for the tournament. I understand they do this for tax reasons but would it not make more sense to request my ID if I make it into the money? Then they could navigate through all of the necessary forms while the final table is being played. Instead they do this beforehand which makes for a complete mess. There were only 70 players for this event which, as I am told, is small. Usually they get 120 for this game but there had been a big one the night before so many took a night off. Imagine taking full tax information for 120 people when you will only need it for 10-12 of them. Makes no sense. Then they made a mistake with the seating, so the director just sat the 70 people wherever he felt like. It was complete chaos. Then they were 45 minutes late getting the tournament chips up to the poker room from the "finance department". This was very annoying and only provided some of the big mouths at the table to talk about how great they are. Its ok though, they were out early.
Me
As for me, I lasted about 45 minutes in the tournament. I raised with AKs, one caller, flopped an A. I bet, he called, after the turn all-in was the only move that made sense, since I was hoping he had a weaker A and I did not have a mountain of chips. He had flopped his set while holding 66 and that was it. I then moved to the 1/2 NL cash game with $100. My opponent raised to $10. I held QQ and raised to $30. She then went all-in and I called. I knew it was a bad call but I was on semi-tilt from the tourny, but was delighted to see her turn over 99. Well predictably she also flopped a set and I had had enough. It clearly was not my day.
All in all, a very nice casino, but the poker room needs to make some changes as to how they operate. It is also a stop on the Heartland Poker Tour. The event the night before gave the winner about $100 000. There were a lot of satellites for this event and it seems that it was a hot topic for many of the players. If you want to play some good tournies against large fields then check out the Soaring Eagle Casino.
Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort • Experience More.
Michigan
I have learned that this is one of 24 casinos in Michigan. Clearly all of the out of work autoworkers need as many places as possible to spend their free time. Michigan has been the state hardest hit by the recession and I met several autoworkers who I decided not to tell that I work at the Toyota plant in Cambridge. Smart thinking?
The Town
It is located in Mt. Pleasant which is in Central Michigan about an hour from Saginaw. It is a very nice small town and home to Central Michigan University. The Chippewas play in the Mid America Conference for any of you who'd like to take in a little college football action if you go visit.
The Building
The casino is a beautiful structure with several restaurants and what seems to be a really nice hotel with a spa and an indoor pool. We were home based in Saginaw for shopping purposes so we didn't stay at the hotel. I'd love to tell you that we dined in one of the fancy restaurants but that is a pleasure I allow myself after winning lots of money, which if you have been paying attention, I did not.
The Gaming
I sat on two occasions at the three card poker table, which has been kind to me in the past but not so much on this day. As is the case in most US casinos smoking seems to not only be allowed but blowing the smoke in my face while I try to play is a national obsession.
How did we ever deal with smoking inside buildings in Canada? It seems so strange now that we are not exposed to it anymore.
I'd like to say I tried other table games but I didn't. My wife and watched the roulette as well as some of the other games. One thing I did like was the help yourself beverage bar for water and soft drinks.
The Poker
The Poker room was very nice, the tournament schedule is good with events being run every day, and the dealers were very good and knowledgeable. Unfortunately that is where it falls apart for this place. We registered for the 6:30 tournament early in the afternoon and it took over half an hour for them to get us registered. After acquiring our players cards upon arrival the poker room also wanted our drivers licenses along with players cards just to register for the tournament. I understand they do this for tax reasons but would it not make more sense to request my ID if I make it into the money? Then they could navigate through all of the necessary forms while the final table is being played. Instead they do this beforehand which makes for a complete mess. There were only 70 players for this event which, as I am told, is small. Usually they get 120 for this game but there had been a big one the night before so many took a night off. Imagine taking full tax information for 120 people when you will only need it for 10-12 of them. Makes no sense. Then they made a mistake with the seating, so the director just sat the 70 people wherever he felt like. It was complete chaos. Then they were 45 minutes late getting the tournament chips up to the poker room from the "finance department". This was very annoying and only provided some of the big mouths at the table to talk about how great they are. Its ok though, they were out early.
Me
As for me, I lasted about 45 minutes in the tournament. I raised with AKs, one caller, flopped an A. I bet, he called, after the turn all-in was the only move that made sense, since I was hoping he had a weaker A and I did not have a mountain of chips. He had flopped his set while holding 66 and that was it. I then moved to the 1/2 NL cash game with $100. My opponent raised to $10. I held QQ and raised to $30. She then went all-in and I called. I knew it was a bad call but I was on semi-tilt from the tourny, but was delighted to see her turn over 99. Well predictably she also flopped a set and I had had enough. It clearly was not my day.
All in all, a very nice casino, but the poker room needs to make some changes as to how they operate. It is also a stop on the Heartland Poker Tour. The event the night before gave the winner about $100 000. There were a lot of satellites for this event and it seems that it was a hot topic for many of the players. If you want to play some good tournies against large fields then check out the Soaring Eagle Casino.
Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort • Experience More.