Mirage Poker Tournament Payout

• Mirage Poker Tournament Payouts
• Mirage Poker Tournaments
• Mirage Poker Tournament

1. Explain blind structures and payout structures. Tournament Classifications & Basic Formats. There are a few ways to classify the basic formats of poker tournaments, with each classification relating to a particular aspect of a tournament. For example, a tournament can either be played in a single table format or multi-table format.
2. The number of players who “cash” in an event will vary. Poker rooms usually payout between 10% and 30% of the field in a multi-table tournament (MTT). For single table tournaments, 33% of the field will typically win money.

I throw a large poker tournament at my place a few times a year, and calculating buy ins and payouts are always a hassle. This way, I can just leave my laptop up which is already running the clock and blind structures, and now it can show the payouts and total prize pool as well. Mirage Poker Room Tournaments. If poker tournaments are your preference over cash games, then the Mirage will rank highly for you as there are many daily tournaments to choose from. They are described as perfect for the more fun and laid-back type of player, so you can infer that the standard isn’t the highest. 11am Tournament.

***As of November 2020, The Mirage poker room has closed permanently

The Mirage poker room is perfectly situated in middle of the Vegas Strip between Caesar’s Palace and Treasure Island. This ideal location allows great access to poker players staying at many of the Strip hotels. The Mirage provides a happy medium for the visiting poker player: contemporary and nice enough, but small, and perhaps without the intimidation that larger rooms may convey.

Setting and Non-Poker Amenities

The Mirage is not as grand as Caesar’s or as fancy as the Wynn or Aria. But it’s certainly more upscale than many of the Strip offerings. There are plenty of higher end restaurant options on site, but there are also chain offerings such as California Pizza Kitchen and Starbucks. There is a nice range of dining options at the property, both in terms of type of cuisine and price point.

The Mirage also offers some significant entertainment options. Ventriloquist Terry Fator has a longstanding residency at the Mirage, and the property hosts Cirque du Soleil’s well regarded Beatles themed show Love.

As in many casinos, there is a sportsbook next to the poker room.

The Mirage Poker Room Comfort

The Mirage remodeled their poker room in 2015, bringing it from 19 down to its current 12 tables. Despite the decrease in size, this apparently brightened the room. The room is not fully walled off from the casino. However, it does have the sense of being a separate space, with a front railing and being recessed back from the slot machines. Despite not being fully walled off, the room was not smoky.

The slightly vaulted interior ceiling of the Mirage poker room is framed by attractive horizontal wood beams. The back wall, has a funky design that is a bit incongruous to the rest of the room. But overall the room is visually pleasant. The tables have attractive purple felt and are clean and well-kept. The chairs are well padded and fairly comfortable. Tables are decently spaced. The chips are very clean and look new. Although the poker room’s lighting is not very bright, it illuminates enough to see hole cards and the flop easily. The room has a few medium size TVs are on the walls which are not visible from all tables. So if you want to watch some sports with your poker, this may not be the room for you.

Overall, the room feels warm, comfortable, and intimate.

Related Articles:

Poker Room Staff

The dealer quality was highly variable. The first dealer I had was a little tentative, which slowed things down quite a bit. But some dealers were quite fast and skilled. The registration staff, floors and dealers were all friendly and accommodating. While tournament we played was professionally run, the staff seemed to prioritize players enjoying themselves. Overall, the room lacked the “poker snob” quality that plagues some Las Vegas venues. Drink service staff were attentive and prompt. It was apparent that a couple of players downed several cocktails during the course of this brief tournament.

Players at the Mirage Poker Room

There was a wide range of players in the daily tournament that we took part in. There were wild young guns alongside very tight older players. A couple of players were felted within a few hands and quickly rebought (re-entry only ran through the first 3 levels). As at the Orleans, there were a lot of women playing which added to the open and welcoming feel of the game. Several players were very gregarious, attempting to engage the entire table in discussion. While players’ focus drifted at times because of the more social nature of the game, few players seemed to get irritated.

Tournament Structure

We played in a $65 re-buy tournament with an $18 rake (a sizable 27%). Even the $100 Mirage daily tournament takes $25 out of the prize pool. The Mirage’s highest weekly buy-in of $120 (offering their best structure), holds out $28 (23%). In short, the rake is pretty substantial for all Mirage poker room tournaments.

Our tournament (with a 10,000 chip starting stack and 20 minute blinds) played incredibly fast. The problem isn’t just the modest starting stack and short blind levels; the level increases in the middle stage of the tournament are very aggressive. Within two hours everyone was short stacked. Although not labelled as such, this was really a turbo tournament. The field ended up to have 35 players, so payouts were modest.

The Mirage poker tournaments are definitely not a must-stop for the intense tournament player. The daily games are just not large enough and take too much of a bite out of the prize pool. But if you are looking for a fun, laid back poker experience, the Mirage may just fit the bill.

Cash Game Activity

There were a few cash tables active during the tournament, but several of the 12 tables were empty throughout the evening. This may be do to the fact that the day we visited the WSOP was in town. The games going were mostly low blind no limit and limit games with some Omaha mixed in. The Mirage has historically been known as a locals venue for cash poker games. Although, we can not confirm or deny that reputation by our experience there.

Mirage Poker Tournament Payouts

Overall Assessment of the Mirage Poker Room

Not every poker experience needs to be intense, focused, and serious. We’ve played our share of deep stacked tournaments where it takes 10-12 hours to make the top 3-4 spots. While we love those well-structured tournaments and the challenge of competing with generally good players, sometimes the more freewheeling short-stack game has its appeal. The intimate Mirage poker room provides a less intense alternative for the Vegas poker scene. Players at the Mirage poker room were having fun, being a little silly at times, and not incredibly focused. The Mirage seemed to understand their clientele and catered to them well.

• Comfort
• Tournament Structures
• Personnel

Summary

The intimate Mirage poker room provides a less intense alternative for the Vegas poker scene. The staff and dealers are all friendly and accommodating. While professionally managed, the staff seemed to prioritize players enjoying themselves to running a tight game. Overall, the room lacked the “poker snob” quality that plagues some Las Vegas venues.

Related Posts

Mirage Poker Tournaments

• The Orleans Casino Poker Room Review

  While most major Vegas casinos tightly hug the Strip, the Orleans Hotel and Casino is…

• The Borgata Poker Room Review

  The Borgata is widely thought of as one of the East Coast's premier poker destinations.…

• Casino de Montreal Poker Room Review

  Heather and I spent a previous New Year's vacation dodging frostbite in Montreal and retreating…

Table Of Contents

On Friday, a new mid-major poker tour officially launched (and ended?) with the inaugural Midway Poker Tour stop in the Chicagoland area. The $1,100 buy-in Main Event attracted 266 runners, and two days later a winner emerged, though the event proved to be poker’s equivalent of Fyre Festival.

The tournament, which had a charity connection with 4 KIDS Sake, Inc. at the Sheraton Suites Chicago Elk Grove (held in various ballrooms to keep under the state-mandated pandemic limit of 50 people per room) went off without a hitch during the two starting flights on Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday things went sideways.

All 31 players returning players were guaranteed a $2,300 prize. However, due to the Illinois Charitable Gaming Acts and regulations (230 ILCS30), organizers were only able to pay out $500 in cash atop the cost of the buy-in. As such, players would only receive $1,600 in cash no matter their finish, while the remainder of their “prize” would be awarded in precious metals. They could then sell those metals for cash, or so they thought.

Essentially here’s what organizers hoped to do in order to comply with the law – have a limited amount of gold on hand to award as a prize. Have someone nearby to buy-back that gold for the same amount as the tournament payout, and then reuse the gold for the next player to cash out. Rinse and repeat. It seemed to be a loophole that would allow them to hold a sizable tournament.

Some local players were aware of how the loophole worked – similar mechanisms have been used in other Illinois poker charity game – while many others from out of state were not. Those in the latter camp were unhappy with the situation and the fact the payout situation wasn't more clearly explained by tournament staff prior to the event.

What Happened?

There were several incidences that led to the downfall of the event, which was run by the tour with the charity facilitating prizes and payouts. First, Terence Shiel of the state Attorney General’s office paid a visit to ensure the prizes (the precious metals) were actually on-site and accounted for. During that visit, they informed tournament organizers that their planned payout process (exchanging the precious metals for cash) could not be done by someone on-site. Not only that, they couldn’t recycle the “prize” and needed individual prizes to represent each payout.

Scrambling ensued as the charity, the official license holder, had to find a way to obtain a large number of precious metals.

Come Sunday, the organizers seemed to have found a workaround. With $208K in precious metals acquired from Andy Mettille, co-owner of Wisconsin-based AMPM.999, players would receive their prize and be given contact information for someone willing to buy the metal off-site. It was viewed as an inconvenience, but at least players would be able to turn the precious metals into cash and the AG would be satisfied.

The problem was that a buyer either did not stick around or never existed. As such, players did not have an option to cash out.

The owners of AMPM.999 provided the following statement to PokerNews:

“Given the events at the Midway Poker Tour in the Chicagoland area, we wanted to give you our side of the story. First off, we had nothing to do with the tournament and had no knowledge that it was even going on. At 1 a.m. on Sunday morning we got a call looking for help because the tournament runners found out that they could not pay out cash and needed precious metals for the 'prize'. They said they needed $200,000 in silver. We had almost half of that on hand. On the way to the tournament, we found a dealer that agreed to provide us the rest of it, which we purchased and then sold to the tournament organizers. We had agreed on a price as what we had on hand was mostly premium silver, most of it retailing from $30-$40 per Oz. Again, we in no way were associated with the tournament. All we did was fill in an order for silver.'

By most accounts, the 4 K.I.D.S. Sake charity was responsible for obtaining and distributing the prizes, but relied on their partner, the Midway Poker Tour, to facilitate it to the players.

4 K.I.D.S. Sake is an IRS recognized 501(c)3 charity based in Bolingbrook Illinois. It was started by a 17-year-old founder, Theresa Grzenia, in 2012. The small, family-run operation works to provide support to children throughout Northern Illinois as well as the greater Chicago-land areas.

For their part, representatives from the charity, who were not well-versed in tournament poker dynamics, remained on-site throughout the tournament.

Inconsistencies Raise Suspicion

Day 2 of the tournament seemed to be going smoothly until eliminated players began to take notice that the precious metals they were awarded did not equal the same value as the payout. It seems one of the reasons this was the case that the silver was purchased at an approximate $35 retail price point. Some of the silver coins were more, but some less.

In other words, the players were given silver at a retail price with no one there to buy it back at the same price. They were unexpectedly saddled with the problem of unloading the silver, which they wouldn’t be able to do at the retail price point.

Nearly two dozen of the returning field had been eliminated before both those who fell and those still in the tournament began to grasp the payout situation. When it was confirmed no one was there to buy back the silver, pandemonium ensued.

Players Opt to Play It Out

With 10 players remaining, the tournament was paused. Players were understandably upset with seemingly no leadership. Midway Poker Tour employees were noticeably absent either off-site or behind closed doors, while the charity officials had little to no experience with the poker side of things.

Representatives from the AG office returned for a scheduled visit to ensure the precious metals were indeed on-site. In their eyes, $208K in precious metals was accounted for so all was good. The gravity of the poker debacle unfolding was either unbeknownst or not understood by them. They soon departed the venue.

As for the players, there were fears an intervention by the authorities could lead to the remaining prize pool being seized as potential evidence, leaving them empty-handed. Given the precious metal situation, namely, the difficulty of putting an accurate price on each piece, any sort of deal/chop seemed too daunting. Eventually, the players agreed they’d rather play it out, determine their finishing order, and deal with the rest after the fact.

It took several more hours for the final table to play out before Renato Spahiu came out the victor.

Final Table Results

Mirage Poker Tournament

Bekavac Issues Statement

Midway Poker Tour owner/founder Dan Bekavac, who was not present during the final day of the tournament, issued the following statement on social media:

I would like to start by first apologizing to Jason Trezak, Jeremy Smith, Eric Anderson, and Chad Holloway and to anyone else I may have missed and try to set the record straight with everyone.

I busted my ass trying to bring live poker back for the players. I spent upwards of $55k of my own money getting this set up with the charity 4 KIDS Sake.

We were informed on Saturday that we could not have a gold buyer on property to buy gold prizes, I suggested paying the $1,600 maximum “cash” payout and give a certificate to pick up gold the next day at a coin dealer. If players were from out of town have it shipped to them securely the next day.

This isn’t the option that was chosen. It was decided that silver would be purchased by a supplier at $35 per ounce or $11 overvalue per ounce. This was not my decision. Players are still being paid out. Just not as much as expected due to overpaying for precious metals.

I’ve spent a lot of money to bring this event to the players and will not receive one single penny back. I lost a ton of money trying to put this event together for everyone and had it blow up epically in our faces.

We had last-minute changes that were sprung on us that were completely out of our control. I truly wish it could have turned out better but I did not and will not receive one dollar in compensation for everything that was purchased, rent expenses, security, advertising etc.

So, if you think this was what I intended, I left this morning to try and seek a better option that didn’t pan out. Again, there was absolutely nothing I could have done differently, and would like to personally apologize to the players that were affected by the payout differences. I’ve attached the screenshot of my suggestions to correct this issue last night, as well as the card of the attorney general that would not allow the gold buyer on-site.

While the one-and-done event is over, the story may not be. PokerNews will continue to bring you updates if and when they develop.

• Tags

  Poker TournamentsPoker and the Law