Wednesdays

Wednesdays have recently become oh so much more desirable. A new location has opened in downtown Milwaukee for Tavern Tourneys. The Irish Rec Room is well suited for their style of poker league tournaments. Not too crowded, spacious, good music upon request and so many great chances to earn bonus chips.

Yes bonus chips. For ten dollars, giving one 2,000 in bonus chips if spent before the start of the tournament (1,000 chips after the start) one can get a 12 inch pizza and a pitcher.

Then there is the climbing wall. Make it to the top, $3 for a single try $5 for two tries, and win 3,000 in chips. Get 1,000 just for trying. And in reality it does not look too difficult to get to the top. The difficult part, and most entertaining for the spectators, is the coming down. A gentleman of questionable appearance, but good repute, nearly smashed his knuckles on his way down.

And for that very special few one of the most attractive aspects of this premier poker venue is that I will not be able to make it there much myself. It doesn’t fit my schedule well. The rest rooms are large elegant and clean. Starts at 7:00 pm and you can get into the game until the first person is out for good; usually after 9:30. A large game will go beyond midnight but often that is about when they end if not earlier.

Tournament league style play seems to be on the rise. While any single tournament does not stand out as exploding in size, all the leagues seem to be expanding. Wisconsin Poker Tour just came into the picture a few years ago.

If you live downtown and have not played much poker before, Tavern Tourneys, per design behind a great business plan, will give you more table time to gain experience than Badger Poker. Both have downtown locations. Ultimately location may be the greatest factor in choosing where to play.

My twelve days of poker still needs to be planned out. It will most likely come in February as January is tight financially as we must pay the taxmen their quarterly demands. It will be another evaluation of my poker skills and the potential of being truly profitable. While throughout a year I almost break even or better, what will happen on a twelve day run? How will  a return to the casino tables after two years turn out? (they have low stakes no-limit games now) I only played at the casino about four times over the course of a year, but overall casino play makes up for almost all my losses over  the last three plus years.

It will be interesting to get at least two outings at all the different tournament groups so I can write an evaluation. I’ll prepare a set budget, 300 of my best dollars well sired, and see how it all turns out. Stay tuned. We have a new dog. Too much of a handful for my brother with his two toddlers and he has some issues after his first year of being mostly alone in a kennel. He’s come a long way.