Ho-Chunk Poker Room in Wisconsin--Why Did It Close?

[aliveguy17]

Hey all,

I was just about to make a trip up to Wisconsin and had heard Ho-Chunk
Casino had opened a poker room. I called the casino and was told they
no longer had poker. The operator told me that they got rid of it
because of "something illegal".

Does anyone have any insight on this? Was there some scamming going
on at Ho-Chunk, or did they simply change the gaming statutes in
Wisconsin?

-Mark

[john stolzmann]

i heard that the laws allowing the legalization of poker may be changing
back because there was some illegal arrangement between the indian
reservations and the state government. ho chunk may have closed the room
due to the fact that they expect this law to change soon...however,
potawatami (in milwaukee) just opened a room spreading limits as high as
20/40. this sounds like a better room than ho chunk anyway (i like to
play higher than the 10/20 they usually spread--and how could you stand
the horrible quality of their cards?) and from what i've heard the games
are quite good.
i'll be living in los angeles until the end of summer, but when i move
back for school (madison) you can expect to see me playing there often if
the room is still open. hope this helped, and good luck.

john

Post by aliveguy17
Hey all,
I was just about to make a trip up to Wisconsin and had heard Ho-Chunk
Casino had opened a poker room. I called the casino and was told they
no longer had poker. The operator told me that they got rid of it
because of "something illegal".
Does anyone have any insight on this? Was there some scamming going
on at Ho-Chunk, or did they simply change the gaming statutes in
Wisconsin?
-Mark

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[Dpglow]

I'm pretty sure I heard that all poker rooms in WI closed June 30 due to a
change in the law.

Post by aliveguy17
Hey all,
I was just about to make a trip up to Wisconsin and had heard Ho-Chunk
Casino had opened a poker room. I called the casino and was told they
no longer had poker. The operator told me that they got rid of it
because of "something illegal".
Does anyone have any insight on this? Was there some scamming going
on at Ho-Chunk, or did they simply change the gaming statutes in
Wisconsin?
-Mark

_________________________________________________________________
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[DevilDoll]

Post by Dpglow
I'm pretty sure I heard that all poker rooms in WI closed June 30 due to a
change in the law.

Post by aliveguy17
Hey all,
I was just about to make a trip up to Wisconsin and had heard Ho-Chunk
Casino had opened a poker room. I called the casino and was told they
no longer had poker. The operator told me that they got rid of it
because of "something illegal".
Does anyone have any insight on this? Was there some scamming going
on at Ho-Chunk, or did they simply change the gaming statutes in
Wisconsin?
-Mark

Rumors... The poker room at Turtle Lake is still very much open. The
Gov. is trying to revoke some parts of the new compact, but it is unlikely
this will go through. The tribes have already paid the state over 260
million to get the new table games and poker.

Interestingly enough, many casinos in MN have been opening poker rooms as
well. Over the 4th of July holiday I was able to play at the poker room
at Fortune Bay Casion in Northern MN near Tower. The room was small but
clean and smoke free. The games were loose and passive, just like I like
them. When I was there the biggest game they had going was 3/6 but I was
still able to make a nice profit.

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[Bryan S. Slick]

[DevilDoll (***@hotmail.com)]
[Wed, 14 Jul 2004 12:43:33 GMT]

:The room was small but
:clean and smoke free.

You say that second part like it's a good thing.

[DevilDoll]

Post by Bryan S. Slick
[Wed, 14 Jul 2004 12:43:33 GMT]
:The room was small but
:clean and smoke free.
You say that second part like it's a good thing.

Of course its a good thing. Not only do I not have to breath the smoke,
but I gain an advantage over the smokers who are distracted while jonesing
for their fix and running off every 20 minutes to get a smoke.

Post by Bryan S. Slick
--
Bryan S. Slick, usenet at slick-family dot net
"To those who have fought for it,
freedom has a flavor the protected will never know."

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[Tlkwis]

All of the other tribs paid the extra money and have the games running.Ho-Cunk
has to pay 30 millon to keep thier poker room open and the other new games they
started a few months ago.

[Bryan S. Slick]

[DevilDoll (***@hotmail.com)]
[Wed, 14 Jul 2004 12:55:29 GMT]

:On Jul 14 2004 7:47AM, Bryan S. Slick wrote:
:
:> [DevilDoll (***@hotmail.com)]
:> [Wed, 14 Jul 2004 12:43:33 GMT]
:>
:> :The room was small but
:> :clean and smoke free.
:>
:> You say that second part like it's a good thing.
:
:Of course its a good thing. Not only do I not have to breath the smoke,
:but I gain an advantage over the smokers who are distracted while jonesing
:for their fix and running off every 20 minutes to get a smoke.

It's a good thing for *you*, then.. not necessarily everyone.

[Drizztdj]

I was also at Fortune Bay over the 4th of July weekend. Too bad I
couldn't stay and play the room looked very nice and clean.

I was going to say something about Turtle Lake because they just
remodeled the poker pit to include more tables...

* Posted via RGP ACCESS at http://www.liveactionpoker.com

* Cruise & Play w/ Chris Moneymaker at http://www.liveactionpoker.com

[DevilDoll]

Post by Drizztdj
I was also at Fortune Bay over the 4th of July weekend. Too bad I
couldn't stay and play the room looked very nice and clean.
I was going to say something about Turtle Lake because they just
remodeled the poker pit to include more tables...

I haven't had good experience with Turtle Lake. Their brushes and floor
people were clueless and biased towards the locals. Also, their dealers
were slow slow slow.

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[Drizztdj]

I hear you about the slowness. I had to call into the poker room from
my hotel room 5 times after they gave up my seat 3 times w/o calling me.

* Posted via RGP ACCESS at http://www.liveactionpoker.com

* Cruise & Play w/ Chris Moneymaker at http://www.liveactionpoker.com

[Diane from Green Bay]

Post by Dpglow
I'm pretty sure I heard that all poker rooms in WI closed June 30 due to a
change in the law.

No, only Ho-Chunk closed. However, rumor I heard was that Keshena's
Menominee Indian room was closing soon also.

Oneida's in Green Bay are still on target for opening their room
August 2.

I met with the Table Games Manager and Assistant Gaming Manager on
Tuesday 7/13 to discuss soft opening and Grand Opening ideas.

Poker consultants are training dealers, brushes and floor staff and 45
new employees have been hired.

I have my fingers crossed that they do it right. So far they are
saying all the right things in terms of ideas and plans for the room,
inlcuding player's card with hourly cash back rebates for time played.

Diane

[Art Schlichter]

Ho Chunk was the only room I've heard of that closed. They didn't want to
pay extra $$ to comply with state court order (other casinos apparently
did). It is a squabble over $$ and is certainly political between
Democratic governor and Republicans in WI gov't. In the end, I'm thinking
that it's too much $$ to leave out and not get something figured out.

Post by aliveguy17
Hey all,
I was just about to make a trip up to Wisconsin and had heard Ho-Chunk
Casino had opened a poker room. I called the casino and was told they
no longer had poker. The operator told me that they got rid of it
because of "something illegal".
Does anyone have any insight on this? Was there some scamming going
on at Ho-Chunk, or did they simply change the gaming statutes in
Wisconsin?
-Mark

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[Scott]

http://casinocity.com/news/?ArticleId=50177&PlaceId=304&City=

http://casinocity.com/news/?ArticleId=49822&PlaceId=304&City=


WISCONSIN – As reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "The Ho-Chunk
Nation said Tuesday that it would not make its casino payment to the state
Wednesday because of a recent state Supreme Court ruling, leaving the
state at least $30 million short of what it hoped to collect from 11
tribes.

"Still unknown is whether the Forest County Potawatomi will pay $40.5
million today. The tribe has said it hopes to make the payment but has had
trouble securing a loan for it because of the court ruling.

"The split court ruled last month that Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle did not
have the authority to sign a compact with the Potawatomi that had no
expiration date and allowed the tribes to offer new games, such as poker
and craps. Doyle signed similar agreements with nine other tribes that
have now been drawn into constitutional question as well.

"More than $100 million is due today under the terms of those compacts and
one signed by Tommy G. Thompson when he was governor.

"…Rebecca Weise, attorney general for the Ho-Chunk, said the tribe would
not pay until the state and tribe reach a new deal.

"…At midnight, the Ho-Chunk Nation will stop offering poker, craps and
roulette at its three casinos, she said. The tribe will be able to avoid
layoffs by moving workers to new jobs, she said…"

Post by aliveguy17
Hey all,
I was just about to make a trip up to Wisconsin and had heard Ho-Chunk
Casino had opened a poker room. I called the casino and was told they
no longer had poker. The operator told me that they got rid of it
because of "something illegal".
Does anyone have any insight on this? Was there some scamming going
on at Ho-Chunk, or did they simply change the gaming statutes in
Wisconsin?
-Mark

_________________________________________________________________
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[Mr. Selix]

Post by aliveguy17
Hey all,
I was just about to make a trip up to Wisconsin and had heard Ho-Chunk
Casino had opened a poker room. I called the casino and was told they
no longer had poker. The operator told me that they got rid of it
because of "something illegal".
Does anyone have any insight on this? Was there some scamming going
on at Ho-Chunk, or did they simply change the gaming statutes in
Wisconsin?
-Mark

The new gaming compact they were operating under was overturned by the
State Supreme court. They voluntarily closed poker ,craps and roulette
and went back to the old compact structure. (payment to the
State).Some said the new games (besides poker) never did all that
well.No one really knows except the tribe. No scams or illegal
activity.It may open again in the future. The casino is very poorly
managed. Potawotami, on the other hand, is expanding their poker room
already. It went 24/7 yesterday-was 9am-5am. They are supposedly
adding more tables ,but good information is hard to come by right now.
I've heard 5 more tables and i've heard 30 more tables with a WPT
event also.Supposedly happening late summer early fall. Probably
something in between. -John

[Ivory_Hammer]

I played at a table a few weeks ago with the guy that was in charge of
opening the room at Ho-Chunk. While I wan't exactly in the discussion,
from what I gathered there are certain annual fees that the casinos
have to pay to operate some of the table games, including poker. It
sounded to me like the management at Ho-chunk didn't think the fees
were worth it in terms of the amount of money the room was bringing
it.
I could have completely mis-interpreted what they were talking about,
but this seems to be the general gist.