A poker room in Michigan shuttered the $1 million guarantee by generating a $2.3 million prize pool. FireKeepers Casino Hotel attracted 2,409 entrants for the four-day poker tournament on the Mid-States Poker Tour, making it the biggest poker event in Michigan.
The Michigan State Poker Championship created a Midwest record on the Mid-States Poker Tour. Matthew Davis won the championship, pocketing over $300,000.
Another 251 top finishers were also paid. The high turnout made FireKeepers one of the leading poker rooms in Michigan.
Two Consecutive Successes
This was not the first time FireKeepers broke its guarantee prize pool. In May, the poker room held another tournament, generating a prize pool of $2.2 million. The operator’s initial guarantee was $1 million.
The event attracted 2330 entries with the Main Event No. 195 of the Mid-States Poker Tour happening between May 12 and May 15. Daniel Bekavac from Chicago took the championship, pocketing over $250,000.
This was the fourth Mid-State Poker Tour title for Daniel. Daniel also participated in the Michigan State Poker Championship, finishing in 44th place and winning over $6,700. The event generated $122,851 more than Main Event’s No.195.
The poker manager at FireKeepers confirmed that the partnership between the casino’s Team Members’ commitment to guest service and Mid-State Poker Tour led to record-breaking attendance and prize pool. Kelly Bailey said that those involved performed better each time, encouraging players to return for more. Kelly was excited about the next major tournaments.
Just before the Michigan State Poker Championship, the Vice President of Marketing at FireKeepers had hoped that they would break the prize pool. Jim Wise told Michigan Gaming Review that FireKeepers hoped to break the $2.2 million prize pool created at Main Event No.195.
It Is Uncommon to Break Guarantee Outside Las Vegas
FireKeepers has hosted 15 Mid-State Poker Tour tournaments since its debut in August 2019. There have been 203 Mid-State Poker Tour events.
FireKeepers is centrally located between Detroit and Chicago. It sits in Battle Creek, Michigan, off Interstate 94. This is one of the reasons for its success.
Mid-State Poker Tour has offered a $1 million prize pool at FireKeepers during four different events. This is rare as not many poker operators offer a guarantee of $1 million outside Las Vegas.
The only other place the Mid-State Poker Tour offered a $1 million guarantee prize pool was at The Venetian in Las Vegas. The Venetian has hosted the Mid-State Poker Tour 17 times, guaranteeing over $1 million in each tournament.
FireKeepers first hosted the Mid-State Poker Tour in 2013. The guarantee was only $100,000, bumping up the following year to $200,000 and $300,000 in 2016. This suddenly increased to $1 million in 2019.
The casino has hosted two Mid-State Poker Tour events every year since 2013. These were scheduled for May and October except for 2013, when they were held in March and August.
Unfortunately, FireKeepers did not host any poker tour events in 2020 and 2021 following the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic. The tour did not visit other states either due to COVID-19.
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