St. Ignace, March '08 - Cheers and Jeers

LeftNut

LeftNut

Top Member
First of all, the "Jeers" are not intended as a criticism of the St. Ignace tournament nor the casino or its managers. This is only intended as a review of our experience there, and hopefully somebody who has an "in" with them will send them a link to it and any comments that may follow. Maybe they'll see some suggestions or get some ideas on how to make the weekends run more smoothly, both for themselves and for the players.

CHEERS - To Kewadin St. Ignace for running this tournament, period! There's a serious dearth of live BJT's with open entry any more, and in our neck of the woods they simply don't exist except for the efforts of the folks behind this one. Thank You!!!!:band:

CHEERS - To a BJ pit dealer by the name of Thomas, a fellow with sparse hair and a wicked fast sense of humor. He was absolutely hilarious with a non-stop barrage of great one-liners and interaction with the players. What a riot this guy is! As I'd mentioned before, Deb and I dislike casino BJ tables with a passion, but he made it fun. He gets an ATTABOY from "Mr. Thirteen" (that's me), and should get whatever reward the casino offers to employees for giving the extra effort to insure a good time for their guests.

JEERS - To whoever was the bonehead who thought the bonus of $30 for playing 2 consecutive hours was a good idea but failed to insure that there would be enough dealers available to handle the resulting demands for seats. The bonus was a very nice appreciation gift for the BJT players (thank you), but someone didn't think it through.

JEERS - To the tournament managers who still don't think it's necessary to have a comprehensive list of the tournament rules available. When you're drawing in players from hundreds of miles away, saying "house rules apply" just doesn't cut it. At all. I cannot possibly stress strongly enough how much of an oversight this truly is.

CHEERS - What an awesome buffet! You'd never expect this from a place only one mile from Rabbit's Back Road. :laugh: Seriously, on Friday and Saturday night they had the best crab and prime rib buffet that we've ever seen outside of the Vegas Strip. I waddled out of there both nights, and I do mean waddled! Deb was so into it that she sliced her thumb on a crab leg shell (can dress her up but can't take her out, I guess).

CHEERS - For the meal credit vouchers included with the entrant's packets. You really don't have to buy a meal for the whole weekend, and don't have to bother your comp account or a host..... except for the pricing for the buffets (see next).......

JEERS - Breakfast buffet was 95 cents more than the voucher, the dinner buffet was $3.95 more. I'd like to think this was a lack of communication between the restaurant management and the tournament staff because I can't believe they'd do such a nickel and dime thing on purpose. Really, we didn't care about such a small extra charge, but it's quite cheesy to do that, ya know?

CHEERS - To the bartenders who managed to professionally handle all of the whiners complaining that all domestic beers were $1.25 instead of the previous 50 cents. Are you kidding me? If you were in your hometown and your favorite watering hole only wanted $1.25 for a beer, you'd be happy as hell, so shut the f*** up!!!

JEERS - Casino blackjack tables are too close together. I'm not a big guy, but my 3rd base chair was repeatedly whacked by the 1st base chair at the next table. Not the player's faults, there simply wasn't enough room. It was like a 5-hour flight with some bratty kid kicking the back of your chair every 10 minutes or so.

And finally - a resounding "WTF?!?!?" for their policy of not returning unused comps to the player's accounts. This merely encourages folks to spend every dime they can, Use it Or Lose It. Deb got a comp to the gas station, and I had done so, too. Had that silly policy not been in place, we probably wouldn't have gone nuts blowing the $35 extra in the station's convenience store section. Pop, chips, smokes, whatever we could think of to spend it on. We wouldn't have done that if we knew the unused comp dollars would eventually return.
 
St. Iggy critique

Well then. That should about cover it.

I've found, no matter where, 1st and 3rd at abutting tables ALWAYS interlock. It's just a rule. Unpublished, unstated, but THERE.
 
Leftnut-great post!

The dealer you spoke of is "Bellagio Tom" who does 3 times a year guest dealing spots at the VIP room at Bellagio, Vegas. He also graced the front page of the Detroit News and Free Press on Sunday August 15th 2004 in an article about Mi. casinos. No, they do not appreciate Tom and he will be retiring soon. He is truly the BEST and I will miss him as will many, many others. He loves living in upper Mi so I doubt he will make a permanent move to Vegas.

As to the bad planning about the 2 hour requirment it may be better next time, but maybe not.:rolleyes: They do the best they can....you see?

There are always disagreements between food managment and gaming as to what to allow for the food comps and true cost, I just live with it, not that big a deal.

I am glad you enjoyed the buffett!

As to the rules, again, they do the best they can....you see?

I really think overall a great tourney and I have always really liked the place, yup, sure do!

It was great meeting you and the wife and hope to see you again someday.

Creeping Panther
 
Whoa! Hold on there. It's beginning to sound like folks thought my dissertation was a whining slam at the St. Ignace casino, and nothing could be further from the intent!!! :eek:

The intent of my post was to spark some conversation here about that venue (and others if the subject came up), and perhaps to provide some feedback for the tournament management as to what some folks thought about their admirable efforts.

We like the place, too - quite a lot. Sure wish it was closer!
 
Stimulation is Good!

;)

I know you like the place and always have a great time there and I enjoyed your post, found it very entertaining and thoughtful. :)

However....I would have second thoughts (:D ) about *inviting* casino managment to read these threads, although I am sure some do. Some things here are really not meant for consumption....dig? :(

Stay :cool: and keep up the fine posts.

Creeping Panther
 
LeftNut said:
JEERS - To the tournament managers who still don't think it's necessary to have a comprehensive list of the tournament rules available. When you're drawing in players from hundreds of miles away, saying "house rules apply" just doesn't cut it. At all. I cannot possibly stress strongly enough how much of an oversight this truly is.
Click to expand...

Before my first match, I asked two dealers if the double-down cards were dealt face-up or face-down. I got two different answers. This has been a problem in the past. There is nothing printed in black and white, that would really simplify things.

One of the frustrations for us was the casino giving their handicapped rooms to non-handicapped customers. I have no problem taking care of the rated players, but when you stick a handicapped player off-site and the shuttle bus isn't handicap accessible, then you have a problem. We made it work, it would just be nice to have a room on-site for our handicapped friends.

After the tourney was over we "hit" the house. I think it's the first time that we have ever closed the casino. I never knew they stopped dealing on Monday's at 2am! Is that a Michigan "thing?"

All-in-all, it's the best tournament in the Upper Midwest. I don't think you will find a better tournament package anywhere.
 
Schultzy

Good points!

They close the tables at 2am Sunday through Thursday, at least during the winter.

As to the Handicapped rooms I suggest that a letter to DeAnn be composed by Schultzy and Peggy (RN) concerning the Handicapped situation in regards to Joseph and I would give the authority to sign my name to it as would, I am sure, all here who frequent the Ignace Tourneys. I believe if DeAnn were to see ALL of our concerns they would assign Joseph and Alf a handicapped room *on site*.

I suggest we move on this ASAP.:cool:

Creeping Panther
 
Kudos to Schultzy

I need to say this.

At the last Ignace tourney Schultzy shuttled Joseph back and forth to the old casino hotel where there was a handicapped room but one which you had to go up and down stairs to get to!! He carried Joseph and his wheel chair, up and down. Yeah.

The fact that Schultzy did this willingly with no complaints and indeed with joy tells me all I need to know about Schultzy....that action would certainly, on this Easter, make Christ himself smile:) ( A place in Heaven for Schultzy for sure and for certain).

Schultzy, I will always have your back, and Joseph's Too.

So what think you all on the letter and signatures........

Creeping Panther
 
I wasn't aware of the problems with Joseph and the handicap accesible room situation, or I'd have been right there trying to help as well. We were also placed in that offsite motel, and would have been willing and ready to help.

Big kudos to Shultzy for his selfless actions! :cheers:

If you do take CP's excellent suggestion about writing to DeAnn about it, please feel free to use my name (and Deb's, too) as petition signers.
 
I'm Guilty!

I too, didn't realize there was a problem with Joseph not having a handicapped room, until reading the posts here.
Typically, my 90 year old dad has accompanied me up there and when they first opened new casino hotel I requested a first floor room because his eyesight is very bad and can't see elevator button numbers. He doesn't need handicapped room and I didn't request one but that's what they gave us at that time (might have been all that was left on ground floor?)
Because of this, I'm guessing we have been in the system as needing that accomodation. As it turned out, my dad stayed home this time because he had the same "flu bug" as me.
When checking in, I told the lady that I didn't need handicapped room and would give it up for another. Don't remember how she worded it but she didn't take me up on the offer.
The next time up there I will make it clear to them that all we need is ground floor.
To Schultzy, let me say that it's very commendable the way you helped your friend out. I knew you were a good person.

Billy C
 
Thanks for all of the kind words, but what I did isn't that big of a deal. I just want to point out that in the grand scheme of things this is a MINOR issue with the tournament. We were able to make things work just fine, it was just a little challenging at times with everyone in my group playing at different times. I have gotten some emails and PM's offering Joseph a room in the future. We both appreciate everyone's generosity, but I believe the issue is the width of the entry way in the non-handicapped rooms. We were told they are not wide enough to accommodate his wheelchair. My venting was simply that they should keep handicapped rooms for the handicapped. Whatever happens in June, we will make it work.
 
Thanks Schultzy, for being one of the good guys. I don't know you but I do respect you for giving your time and efforts on behalf of others.
 
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