 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FEATURES
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
COLUMNS |
|
|
|
| Hot Bets
Tips from our SportsBook expert
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 
The Tournaments
From poker to slots, where to go if you're good enough to win the big bucks--and maybe even get a bit of TV exposure to boot!
By Kent Andrade
POKER
Maybe the game was born centuries ago in France as poque. Or it might have been the old German game called pokespiel. Whatever its humble roots, poker reached its Golden Age in the 21st century; tournaments with prize pots over a million dollars are now springing up worldwide.
World Series of Poker
Started as an informal all-nighter for Benny Binion and his pals in 1970 and hosted for the last three decades by Binion's Horseshoe. Not for the faint of heart, it's played annually in April and May, features $20 million in prize money and has landed a prime spot on ESPN. Seats at the big tables are won in satellite games that take place year round at casinos around the globe. You can also get a seat during the tournament; buy-ins range from $125 up to $10,000.
World Poker Tour
Now that the Travel Channel has made this into mega-success, NBC will turn its cameras onto the annual event. Plays out at the Bellagio every April, after a year of satellite events in such far-flung locales as Atlantic City, New Mexico and Inglewood, California, with a buy-in as low as 55 bucks at some of the satellite tourneys.
PartyPoker.com Million III
The world's largest limit Texas Hold 'Em tournament and one of the richest on the World Poker Tour, with a $3.5-million prize pool in 2004. Played on Holland America's luxurious ms Ryndam in March, most of the players earned their way into the event playing satellite tournaments online at partypoker.com--where preliminary tourneys cost as little as $1 to enter.
Jack Binion's World Poker Open
Held every January at the Horseshoe and Gold Strike Casinos in Tunica, Mississippi. Buy-ins start at $550, and the 2004 winner, Barry Greenstein of Rancho Palos Verdes, California, walked away with $1.3 million.
Grand Prix de Paris
The Aviation Club de France hosts Europe's most glamorous event every July. Last year, Parisian David Benyamine stormed past the competition and pocketed $450,000.
United States Poker Championship
Donald Trump gets into the poker action with one of the games' biggest events, at his Taj Mahal in Atlantic City every September. In 2002, winner John "World" Hennigan took home over $200,000; in 2003, the pot was twice that size for Toto Leonidas, master of 7-Card Stud. With a buy-in as low as $335, even the small fish can jump into the frying pan.
Australasian Championship
Held every January in the dead heat of the Southern Hemisphere's summertime, this big stop for Pacific Rim "pokie pros" at the Crown Casino had a prize pool in 2004 of nearly $500,000.
Legends of Poker
With buy-ins as low as $120--and a $150,000 guarantee for the last player standing--this annual July event at the the Bicycle Casino in the L.A. 'burb of Bell Gardens draws both the amateurs and big gamers. Calcutta-born ex-hairdresser Mel Judah walked away with the Big Salami ($580,000) in 2003 and earned a seat at the WPT Championship.
BLACKJACK
With poker tournaments hogging the spotlight and the airwaves, blackjack hasn't quite captured the hearts and minds like poker. But that's about to change--the Game Show Network and the Travel Channel both are about to come on board with 21.
World Series of Blackjack
The Game Show Network has picked up the biggest annual blackjack tournament on the East Coast, at the Mohegan Sun Hotel and Spa in Uncasville, Connecticut. This January event hands over $100,000 for first place.
The Las Vegas Hilton Million-Dollar Tournament
Held every May, it's the world's most prestigious event, with a grand prize of, of course, a million bucks. Not bad for a $1,000 entry fee.
The New Frontier Live Money Blackjack Tournament.
An up-and-comer held annually in the Vegas hotel; for a $300 entry fee, players get three days and two nights at only $25 a night, a continental breakfast at Gilley's and a shot at $70,000 in the pot.
The Oasis Resort $10,000 Spring Fling Blackjack Tournament
Home of some great off-road terrain and an excellent golf course, Mesquite wants to put itself on the map with one of the richest tournaments in the country. A pimple of a town where the deserts of Nevada border give way to the Arizona's Grand Canyon, Mesquite is off I-15 north of Vegas.
CRAPS
Bally's Casino New Orleans $10,000 Two-Day Craps Tournament.
In tournament craps, you aren't playing against the house--you're trying to out-earn your fellow players. The third Tuesday and Wednesday of every month brings the game to the heart of Cajun country--the fattest winners of Tuesday's games move on to the Wednesday finals, where $10,000 is added to the pot.
The Las Vegas Hilton $100,000 Craps Tournament
Every year, after Labor Day, the Hilton rolls out America's richest party of dice-rollers. The entry fee is $500, but you can land dinner, three-nights free room or even a spot at the finals table by laying $5 on the yo (that's "11" for the uninitiated) on a come-out roll.
BACCARAT
Macao Baccarat Tournament
Every March, the former Portuguese territory of Macao is host to a grand event, which attracts aristocrats and wannabes from all over the Pacific Rim. It's now one of mainland China's biggest gambling events. Last year's winner took home a grand prize of $650,000.
Tournoi de Chemin de Fer, Monte Carlo
In mid-February, the high-rollers dock their yachts in the marina and park their Lears in the hangars for the biggest event in international baccarat play. Playing James Bond's favorite variety of baccarat, this championship of Chemin de Fer, one European variation of the game, pays out a grand prize of nearly a million euros.
Bally's Casino New Orleans Mini Baccarat Tournament
The richest American baccarat tourney is a monthly affair at the South's most decadent gaming paradise. The last Thursday of every month, the cards are served up hotter than Louisiana sausage--and entry is free since you're gambling with your own dough. The cash prize is a juicy 10 grand.
SLOTS
Players get a lump of cash--usually $200--and then the officials click their stopwatches. After two hours or so, the slot-monkey with the most coinage moves on to the next round until a champion is crowned. Many casinos run such tournaments on a weekly or even daily basis, but there are a few bigger, annual events:
Harrah's Millionaire Maker National Championship of Slots
Make room for the walkers, canes and bitter smell of Aquanet hairspray--the old folks are large and in charge at Harrah's in Reno every October. They arrive after winning one of 33 qualifying tourneys, brave men and women with jingling cups of change looking to cash in at the biggest of its kind in the world.
The Westward Ho Slot Tournament
This nondescript, low-roller casino occupies a prime piece of real estate on Vegas' Strip and features one of the fattest payoffs in all of slot tourney play: a guaranteed pot of $150.
$30,000 Love Is in the Air Slot Tournament at the Las Vegas Hilton
It'll pay nicely to boogie on down to the Hilton in February where, as part of a $199 room package, you can take a shot at one of the fattest prizes on the circuit. Winner takes home $5,000, and everyone gets a shot at a seven-day cruise on the Mexican Riviera. Oh, and it's named after one groovy disco tune.
Heart of Hearts Slot Tournament
The Imperial Palace is a Grand Dame of the Vegas Strip, and it's annual February tournament features a grand prize of $20,000.
Player's Party II Slot Tournament
Every February, the Silver Club in Reno offers a prize pot of $12,500.
$35,000 Quarterback Slot Tournament
The Atlantis Casino in Reno offers up a fat prize pot and a first prize of $7,000 every January.
|
|  |
|
 |
| |
All times eastern
Celebrity Poker Showdown
BRAVO 2/23 1:00 AM
Celebrity Poker Showdown
BRAVO 2/23 5:00 AM
World Poker Tour
TRAVEL 2/23 9:00 PM
World Poker Tour
TRAVEL 2/24 12:00 AM
1998 World Series of Poker
ESPNC 2/24 1:00 AM
American Poker Championship
FOX SPORTS 2/24 3:00 PM
Championship Poker At The Plaza
FOX SPORTS 2/24 8:00 PM
World Poker Tour
TRAVEL 2/24 9:00 PM
Celebrity Poker Showdown
BRAVO 2/24 10:00 PM
World Poker Tour
TRAVEL 2/25 12:00 AM
American Poker Championship
FOX SPORTS 2/25 8:00 PM
Poker Royale 2
GSN 2/25 9:00 PM
Poker Royale 2
GSN 2/26 12:00 AM
U.S.P.C.
ESPN2 5/2 12:00 AM
Poker Superstars
Invitational Tournament
FOX SPORTS 5/2 2:30 AM
Poker Superstars
Invitational Tournament
FOX SPORTS 5/2 4:00 PM
2004 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/3 1:00 AM
2004 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/3 2:00 AM
Celebrity Poker Showdown
BRAVO 5/3 2:00 AM
2004 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/3 12:00 PM
2004 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/3 1:00 PM
2004 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/3 2:00 PM
2004 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/3 5:00 PM
2004 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/3 6:00 PM
Championship Poker At The Plaza
FOX SPORTS 5/3 8:00 PM
Poker Royale
GSN 5/3 9:00 PM
2004 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/4 1:00 AM
2004 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/4 2:00 AM
Celebrity Poker Showdown
BRAVO 5/4 2:00 AM
2004 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/4 12:00 PM
2004 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/4 1:00 PM
2004 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/4 5:00 PM
2004 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/4 6:00 PM
2003 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/4 8:00 PM
Poker Superstars
Invitational Tournament
FOX SPORTS 5/4 8:00 PM
2003 World Series of Poker
ESPN2 5/4 9:00 PM
World Poker Tour
TRAVEL 5/4 9:00 PM
World Poker Tour
TRAVEL 5/5 12:00 AM
Celebrity Poker Showdown
BRAVO 5/5 2:00 AM
|
|
|
 |
| |
American Gaming Summit
Eggheads, numbers-crunchers and gaming techs alike soak up the latest in news and development in Vegas every February. The emphasis is on the business, including global trends, taxation and marketing. A serious discussion of the issues.
|
|
|
Southern Gaming Summit
At the largest gaming convention outside Vegas, the mint-julep flows and vendors, game developers and the casino industry flash their wares every May. This is where the industry from up and down the mighty Mississippi meet-and-greet--you'll find the hottest, most cutting-edge in slots and video poker.
|
|
Caribbean Gaming and Hospitality Conference
The biggest gathering of the internet gaming industry, every June, featuring seminars on technology, marketing, administration, investments and regulation. The 2004 version will take place at the Caribe Hilton in Puerto Rico.
|
|
G2E: Global Gaming Expo
The latest in video and arcade games-including slots and video poker--make their debut every October. Aisle after aisle of buzzing, ringing, candy-colored machinery. For the last few years the hot trend has been machines emblazoned with entertainment franchises such as Elvis, Wheel of Fortune, The Beverly Hillbillies and I Dream Jeanie.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
