Dawson City, Yukon TR

Tomorrow Eric and I are heading out on our Yukon poker series trip. We are going more for fun than for a profitable tournament series, since sadly the expenses to get there will eat away at the EV of the extremely soft tournaments. What will be extremely profitable are the poker cash games that we will hit on the way there and back.

The game plan is to drive to Cold Lake, AB on Saturday and play sides to get a chip from Casino Dene that night since they don't have poker. The next day is a short (by my standards lol, only 4 hours) drive to Fort McMurray and we will grind there for the day. Then a drive to Edmonton while hitting a casino sort of on the way. We are staying in Edmonton for 2 nights, We will collect the two new chips available since my last time in Edmonton and again play some good poker games.

This is where the tough part comes, the drive to the Yukon. We will drive to Fort Nelson while stopping at two casinos to collect which will take 11-12 hours. The next day is a 12 hour drive to Whitehorse, Yukon. The following day is a shorter 7 hour drive to Dawson City, Yukon where we will stay for 5 nights while the tournaments are running. The cash games are supposed to be amazing as well. We will have time to do sightseeing and be tourists while we are there.

Then comes the fun part again, driving the opposite direction for a few days. We will drive back to Whitehorse the first day. The second day back to Fort Nelson. The third day is a 8.5 hour drive to Prince George (Wiz should remember Prince George from Spring Fling two years ago). There is a casino there and if I remember correctly a poker game. The next day is a 75 minute drive to Billy Barker casino before heading south 4.5 hours to Kamloops for the new casino there. I was there 3 years ago but they built a new casino and closed the old one. Then a 2.5 hour drive to Penticton where we are staying for the night. They also have closed their old casino and opened a new one since I last drove through there. I'm not sure if we will find a poker game there but we also might be too tired to play at that point.

We will make the drive to Vancouver (4 hours) the next day while stopping at the newly rebranded Surrey casino 30 minutes outside of Vancouver. I'm going to play the night in Vancouver after dropping Eric at the airport as he is flying to Cyprus for a series and then onto Morocco for a series.

The next day is when the mega chip collecting starts and poker will cease for 4-5 days. I will be stopping at 30 plus casinos over 2 days as most of them are within 10 minutes of each other. I will be staying in Seattle for 2 nights and will probably go see a Mariners game the second night. From there I will drive to Spokane over 2 days while collecting on the way. I plan on playing poker in Spokane. The next day is a drive to a casino in northern Montana where they have a poker game. The next day is the same at another Montana Casino. The last day of the trip is my drive back to central Canada.

I'm hoping to add around 50 chips on this trip, sadly I think I will be in Edmonton a month early for the new casino and the same for the new casino that is opening up in Vancouver. Also I will be about a month early for the new Spokane Tribe casino, bad timing lol. Oh well I will have to grab those next time that I'm in the area.

I am now going to go grab a couple of hours of sleep since I have to pick Eric up in 5 hours.

Bush pilots?
Camper planes?
Heated RVs?

Good luck.

Lol a lot simpler, a Kia Forte and hotels.

Oh, to be young again!

Yesterday we drove 840 miles from Winnipeg, MB to Bonnyville, AB. I only managed to sleep for a hour before picking Eric up. We drove the 13 hours with frequent stops including one in North Battleford, SK for dinner. We stopped at the casino there for dinner and had amazing Bannock burgers. I apparently didn't get a club card last time I was there so I got one and turned the $10 FP into $9. We then drove to Cold Lake, AB where we stopped at Casino Dene for a quick stop to collect chips. I won $15 while collecting, Eric didn't fair as well losing $35.

We then drove 20 minutes to Bonnyville for the night and encountered the rudest hotel worker. He was pissed that we woke him just after 8 pm to check In and was also pissed when I thought he was charging us too much. Then he scolded me for having changed the booking a couple weeks ago from one bed to two beds. He was pleasant. The hotel room was fine, it's a long stay place as it has a kitchen. The beds were comfy and the room was clean which is all that matters to me.

We are about to go for breakfast and then drive to Fort McMurray to grind for the day.

Chips collected 4 (1 for my collection)
Total miles - 840
Gas - $50.96
Hotel - $28.47
Food $22.10
Gambling +24
$10FP = $9
Poker - N/A

I have converted kilometres into miles, and gas, hotel and food into USD for members benefits but I will be keeping the gambling in Canadian dollars as that is easier for me.

Quote: PokerGrinder

...The next day is when the mega chip collecting starts and poker will cease for 4-5 days. I will be stopping at 30 plus casinos over 2 days as most of them are within 10 minutes of each other. I will be staying in Seattle for 2 nights and will probably go see a Mariners game the second night....

PG, are you collecting chips in Seattle area or is the above a Vancouver reference? The newest casino in WA is unfortunately 2+ hours south of you in Ridgefield, WA...beautiful property, but no poker yet (Ilani is the name).

Great American also just opened a new card room in Des Moines, WA, but I think all their rooms may use the same chips so if you already have one from a previous visit to their other properties, that may be covered.

If you make it to Muckleshoot, they have two different chips for each "side" of the casino (non-smoking vs. smoking). The two sides of the casino appear to be just an really effective way to separate the smokers from the non-smokers, but a bizarre regulation actually has them as separate casinos and the chips from one side can't be used on the other side.

$28 for a hotel,that's pretty cheap.

Quote: Hunterhill

$28 for a hotel,that's pretty cheap.

Depends on the area and perhaps since someone named Eric was mentioned, the 28.00 only reflects PokerGrinder's half?

Separate chips for smoking and non-smoking... WOW, what a great opportunity for analysis of just how much a nonsmoking establishment can be a premium.

Quote: Paradigm

PG, are you collecting chips in Seattle area or is the above a Vancouver reference? The newest casino in WA is unfortunately 2+ hours south of you in Ridgefield, WA...beautiful property, but no poker yet (Ilani is the name).

Great American also just opened a new card room in Des Moines, WA, but I think all their rooms may use the same chips so if you already have one from a previous visit to their other properties, that may be covered.

If you make it to Muckleshoot, they have two different chips for each "side" of the casino (non-smoking vs. smoking). The two sides of the casino appear to be just an really effective way to separate the smokers from the non-smokers, but a bizarre regulation actually has them as separate casinos and the chips from one side can't be used on the other side.

I won't be making it to Ilani this time around, way too far south.

Thank you so much for the Great American find, I'm not sure how that slipped past me. They do all use chips of their own so I will add it to my list. That's interesting as far as Muckleshoot goes, I guess I'll grab one from both sides. Are they considered two different casinos/licenses?

The gas and hotel costs I have listed are only my half as Eric is paying the other half.

I believe Muckleshoot does have two seperate licenses as they are considered separate casinos...don't quote me on that. They do now have a single cage between the two "sides" and I bet you get all the correct details from the cage manager if you get a chance to talk to him/her.

Bummer on Ilani...they also use some pretty cool cards with the face cards being tribal themed royalty images.

Dawson Creek is a good place along that route to stop to eat

FIXX Urban Grill or White Spot are decent places to dine before the 5 hrs to Fort Nelson ... Walmart or the grocery store next to White Spot to load up on supplies for the drive .... Panago for a pizza to go just up the street ..... by the time you get to Nelson who knows what will be open other than the bar to eat

the casino Chances also serves food decent prices but not a big selection .... no table games there with chips

dont forget to stop in the middle of downtown Dawson Creek to get a picture at MILE MARKER 1 of the Alaskan Highway

https://www.themilepost.com/highways/alaska-highway/the


little tip... the highway between St John and Nelson is a nice ride .....watch out for wildlife crossing the road the moose will win over the KIA ..... the bigger danger will be the drunk drivers note the beer stores in St John and Nelson ...people like to grab half a case for the 4 hr drive between towns

Walmart parking lot in Dawson Creek should be loaded with motor homes of people heading home from Alaska

have a great trip

We might have to check out one of those restaurants in Dawson Creek. We are stopping at the casino in Fort St John as they do have table games.

I was aware of the wildlife but I guess I'll also be aware for the drunk drivers. Thanks for the tips.

Yesterday we drove 267 miles from Bonnyville, AB to Fort McMurray, AB. It was a pretty quick and smooth drive north. The highways are really nice most of the way up.

We got to Fort Mac and checked into our hotel, nice hotel for the price. We went to the casino and got stuck waiting about 2 hours for seats in the poker room which sucked. However I won $127 playing VP while we waited so that worked out well lol.

The game was as good as advertised, these were some of the worst players I've seen in a very long time. The game was small as it was only 1/2 but it played much larger since most of the table was straddling with periodic double straddles. Guys were punting money with no logic. It really was amazing. The only downside was the rake was massive compared to mostly anywhere in North America. I guess you can do what you want when you have a monopoly.

I didn't win any massive pots just chipped away here and there. I spent a lot of time taking turns with Eric isolating the fish. I think the biggest pot I won was about $300. I ended up cashing out up $708 after the game got boring later on in the night. It turned into a true 1/2 game with no straddling really and it was boring me, that coupled with complete exhaustion meant calling it a night. We grabbed some wings from this all night spot and went back to the hotel to crash.

This morning we will take the most indirect route to Edmonton via Eagle River Casino, ah the addiction of chip collecting is great 🤣

Chips collected 8 (2 for my collection)
Total miles - 1107
Gas - $43.41 it got lower because I forgot to subtract Eric's half yesterday.
Hotel - $28.47 I used points to get free rooms for the next 6-7 days.
Food $50.05
Gambling +151
$10FP = $9
Poker +708

Quote: PokerGrinder

That's interesting as far as Muckleshoot goes, I guess I'll grab one from both sides.

When do you think you'll be heading to Muckleshoot?

Quote: mrsuit31

When do you think you'll be heading to Muckleshoot?

September 19th, why?

Quote: PokerGrinder

September 19th, why?

I'll be there the 14-16th, checking on a new game. I'll be posting another thread about that game shortly :-)

I would have challenged you to a chicken nugget eating contest had we crossed paths. Oh well, next time.

When your there give 31 Classic a spin and let me and everyone know what you think!

Quote: Paradigm

I believe Muckleshoot does have two seperate licenses as they are considered separate casinos...don't quote me on that. They do now have a single cage between the two "sides" and I bet you get all the correct details from the cage manager if you get a chance to talk to him/her.

Bummer on Ilani...they also use some pretty cool cards with the face cards being tribal themed royalty images.

Muckleshoot tribe opened the non-smoking side in 2006 and there is no indication of a partnership or ownership by anyone else.

Why they use different chips I have no clue.

Quote: Paradigm

Bummer on Ilani...they also use some pretty cool cards with the face cards being tribal themed royalty images.

Wonder whether they are the same images as used on the cards in play at the Ute Mountain casino in Colorado. When I posted my souvenir chip from there in the Casino Chip of the Day thread, I included (behind spoiler buttons) images of the face cards, Ace of Spades, and Joker.

Quote: Doc

Wonder whether they are the same images as used on the cards in play at the Ute Mountain casino in Colorado. When I posted my souvenir chip from there in the Casino Chip of the Day thread, I included (behind spoiler buttons) images of the face cards, Ace of Spades, and Joker.

The casino manager at Ilani came from Mohegan sun,so it wouldn't surprise me if the cards are similar to Mohegan cards.

A friend of mine just bought a deck of those cards from a thrift shop for 59 cents. They were used at Soaring Eagle and look brand new.

Thanks for the TR PG... Always fun to read your TR's as you give all the good details. Appreciate the US conversion =P. Best of luck on the rest of the trip!

Hunterhill, Ibeatyouraces, or anyone else: Do you know what the face cards look like in the decks used at Mohegan, Ilani, or Soaring Eagle and/or whether they match the ones I posted from Ute Mountain casino?

The ones from Ute Mountain are from "The U.S. Playing Card Co." and come in a box marked "Bee", "Casino Quality", and "Diamond Back Club Special". They have the casino labels on the backs, which do indeed have a "diamond" pattern that could be subject to edge sorting, I suppose, though the deck I have appears to be trimmed very evenly around the pattern on all sides. It now has two corners chopped off, as opposed to looking "brand new."

Quote: Doc

Hunterhill, Ibeatyouraces, or anyone else: Do you know what the face cards look like in the decks used at Mohegan, Ilani, or Soaring Eagle and/or whether they match the ones I posted from Ute Mountain casino?

The ones from Ute Mountain are from "The U.S. Playing Card Co." and come in a box marked "Bee", "Casino Quality", and "Diamond Back Club Special". They have the casino labels on the backs, which do indeed have a "diamond" pattern that could be subject to edge sorting, I suppose, though the deck I have appears to be trimmed very evenly around the pattern on all sides. It now has two corners chopped off, as opposed to looking "brand new."

I can't speak for the others, but Soaring Eagle doesn't use them in play as of now. In fact, I don't ever remember them using those types in play. I think they use the "Aristocrat" type now. I'll get the deck from my friend and get some pictures soon. And yes, they have been "cancelled" by having the corners cut on opposite ends. Wear and tear wise they look brand new though.

This thread took an odd turn while I was asleep. Looking forward to a day of no driving today. Lunch then grinds. I'll post yesterday's update in a bit.

Quote: Doc

Hunterhill, Ibeatyouraces, or anyone else: Do you know what the face cards look like in the decks used at Mohegan, Ilani, or Soaring Eagle and/or whether they match the ones I posted from Ute Mountain casino?

The ones from Ute Mountain are from "The U.S. Playing Card Co." and come in a box marked "Bee", "Casino Quality", and "Diamond Back Club Special". They have the casino labels on the backs, which do indeed have a "diamond" pattern that could be subject to edge sorting, I suppose, though the deck I have appears to be trimmed very evenly around the pattern on all sides. It now has two corners chopped off, as opposed to looking "brand new."

Mohegan cards look very similar but are made by Gemaco,or at least they used to be.

Doc there is a listing on ebay for Mohegan sun cards where u can see what they look like.

So yesterday we made our very indirect drive to Edmonton. We drove to Eagle River Casino to collect chips. Originally the plan was to stop there when we leave Edmonton as it is on our route but sadly the tables don't open until 4 and that would leave us getting into Fort Nelson around 3-4 am on Wednesday.

We got to the casino and signed up for a club card, they gave us $5 cash which is weird plus a 10% off coupon for the restaurant which we used and a gas coupon for $.07 off per litre so we saved a whopping $1.41 on gas! They also had a promo that started as we got there where the first 100 people get a wallet with money in it so I stood in line for 15 minutes and got $10. I had a very mediocre salad for dinner. I like the everything but the dressing. the salad was a mix of arugula, celery, corn, tomatoes and steak. It had this really odd extremely sweet dressing that made it hard to enjoy but I ate it cause I was really hungry. I then snacked on Eric's sweet potato fries. After dinner we both lost $20 playing BJ and then headed to Edmonton.

The drive to Edmonton was a quickie. We got there and checked in. I then went to the new downtown casino (Eric has been already) and won $75 while collecting. The guest services lady without prompting told me how dead it has been there since they opened. It's attached to the new NHL arena so it's busy on game nights or if they have a concert but otherwise they are really struggling.

After leaving there I went to Yellowhead Casino to grind. I immediately got a 1/2 seat and was really far down on the 2/5 list. I went to the bathroom and by the time I got back my table had broken. I saw a couple guys I know from home so I chatted with them for a bit before calling it a night as no seats were opening up.

Just woke up, going to go find some food and then head to the newly rebranded St Albert Casino about 20 minutes away before going to grind for the day. Tomorrow we start heading north.

Chips collected 16 (4 for my collection)
Total miles - 1578
Gas - $62.79
Hotel - $28.47
Food $68.15
Gambling +221
$15FP = $14
Poker +708

Quote: Doc

Wonder whether they are the same images as used on the cards in play at the Ute Mountain casino in Colorado. When I posted my souvenir chip from there in the Casino Chip of the Day thread, I included (behind spoiler buttons) images of the face cards, Ace of Spades, and Joker.

Here is a sample of what Ilani's cards look like: Ilani Card Image

Sorry for hijacking the thread PG with the card image stuff...looking forward to TR updates.

Quote: PokerGrinder

Yesterday we drove 840 miles from Winnipeg, MB to Bonnyville, AB. I only managed to sleep for a hour before picking Eric up. We drove the 13 hours with frequent stops including one in North Battleford, SK for dinner. We stopped at the casino there for dinner and had amazing Bannock burgers. I apparently didn't get a club card last time I was there so I got one and turned the $10 FP into $9. We then drove to Cold Lake, AB where we stopped at Casino Dene for a quick stop to collect chips. I won $15 while collecting, Eric didn't fair as well losing $35.

We then drove 20 minutes to Bonnyville for the night and encountered the rudest hotel worker. He was pissed that we woke him just after 8 pm to check In and was also pissed when I thought he was charging us too much. Then he scolded me for having changed the booking a couple weeks ago from one bed to two beds. He was pleasant. The hotel room was fine, it's a long stay place as it has a kitchen. The beds were comfy and the room was clean which is all that matters to me.

Just for fun, I will post maps as I find your foray into the Great White North to be a fascinating one.

Day 1:

Quote: boymimbo

Just for fun, I will post maps as I find your foray into the Great White North to be a fascinating one.

Day 1:

Go for it! That's a cool add to the thread, I would but it's too hard from my iPhone.

Quote: PokerGrinder

Yesterday we drove 267 miles from Bonnyville, AB to Fort McMurray, AB. It was a pretty quick and smooth drive north. The highways are really nice most of the way up.

We got to Fort Mac and checked into our hotel, nice hotel for the price. We went to the casino and got stuck waiting about 2 hours for seats in the poker room which sucked. However I won $127 playing VP while we waited so that worked out well lol.

Day 2:

Quote: PokerGrinder

So yesterday we made our very indirect drive to Edmonton. We drove to Eagle River Casino to collect chips. Originally the plan was to stop there when we leave Edmonton as it is on our route but sadly the tables don't open until 4 and that would leave us getting into Fort Nelson around 3-4 am on Wednesday.

The drive to Edmonton was a quickie. We got there and checked in. I then went to the new downtown casino (Eric has been already) and won $75 while collecting. The guest services lady without prompting told me how dead it has been there since they opened. It's attached to the new NHL arena so it's busy on game nights or if they have a concert but otherwise they are really struggling.

After leaving there I went to Yellowhead Casino to grind. I immediately got a 1/2 seat and was really far down on the 2/5 list. I went to the bathroom and by the time I got back my table had broken. I saw a couple guys I know from home so I chatted with them for a bit before calling it a night as no seats were opening up.

Day 3: I am surprised you are not going to more casinos in the area. There is River Cree, Palace, Century, and Casino Edmonton to explore, or have you already been there, done that.

I've been to Edmonton a bunch of times. I lived in Calgary a few years ago and I spend a lot of time in Alberta for poker.

Ha, when I read PG's intro I thought "Man, I wish I could see a map with all of the stopping points on the way. It'd be cool to look at the journey from a snapshot like that... See points A, B, C, D, etc and recall the stories from each.

Several years ago, I wanted to learn a bit about Canada and got a book that was called something like an Americans Guide to Canadian History, as told by a real Canadian.
Got home and there wasn't a single map in it. Read great stories about the westward expansion, and the railroad magnates but had no idea if Edmonton was north of Minnesota or Montana. Is it East or West of Winnipeg
While I can tell you a lot about Banff and Lake Louise, I wont bet I can put them within 200 miles of where they belong on a blank map.

By the way, are there two Highway 2s? The map has them in very different locations.

Quote: billryan

By the way, are there two Highway 2s? The map has them in very different locations.

I actually have no idea, that's really odd...

Quote: billryan

By the way, are there two Highway 2s? The map has them in very different locations.

2 connects Calgary and Edmonton and heads northwest from there. I only see one continuous highway 2. I have a speeding ticket on this freeway that is about 9 years old; I haven't paid it.

Wiki on 2

I figured out the compact thing with Muckleshoot by the way.

Muckleshoot's deal was that they could only have 1,500 slots in a casino. When another (Colville) tribe got a compact they were allowed up to 4,800 machines with a maximum of 2,000 in one site. Muckleshoot's compact stated that if another compact got signed with a bigger agreement, then Muckleshoot was allowed to renegotiate that compact and have (1) more than one site and (2) up its slots and tables to match Colville.

Because Muckleshoot is only allowed 2,000 slots in one facility, they were able to open "another facility" which has to to be separate from its original with the same maximum limit (2,000) as Colville's. That allowed Muckleshoot to operate 2 facilities on the same site and keep its chips and slots separate.

Muckleshoot effectively wasn't allowed to operate more than 2,000 slots on one facility and they got around it by opening another facility on the same location.

Interesting stuff: Washinton State Tribal compacts.

Well that wasn't fun, barring me winning one of the tourneys up north this trip will be a losing one. Just finished dusting off a touch under 4 grand in a juicy 5/10 game. I think I played well other than one spot which in hindsight was played pretty terribly. Oh well there's always another game, sadly probably not that big of one on this trip.

Off to Fort Nelson in the morning.

Quote: PokerGrinder

I actually have no idea, that's really odd...

Our US 2 is broken up into two parts. Washington to Michigan then New York to Maine.

He started out in Manitoba...next. Saskatchewan and is now in Alberta.... different highway 2s in each province

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta_Highway_2

I hope he reads my PM before heading out tomorrow I forgot to tell him where the TAXMAN likes to hide in WhiteCourt .... photo radar capital of ALberta

Canada has only one semi-national highway which is the Transcanada, route 1, which goes all the way from the Manitoba Border to the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal. It continues in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.

Highways are also designated "TransCanada" in Ontario - Route 17 but parts of route 11 as well, in Quebec it's route 20. In the other provinces it's a combination.

All other highways are provincially / county / municipality designated.

I fear they ran into SASQUATCH on their way north


http://www.fortnelsonchamber.com/list/member/sasquatch-crossing-1025

Quote: coilman

I fear they ran into SASQUATCH on their way north


http://www.fortnelsonchamber.com/list/member/sasquatch-crossing-1025

In Fort Nelson, very tired, going to bed. I will try and update in the morning.

PG, is this trip for fun or money? Is this your routine or just a special trip please?

Quote: speedycrap

PG, is this trip for fun or money? Is this your routine or just a special trip please?

I mean I'd like to make money on the trip but no it's for fun. Once in a lifetime type trip.

What do you mean by routine?

Btw for anyone keeping track we are currently eating a hamburger gravy poutine in Watson Lake, Yukon. I will try and update tonight depending on how late we get in.

Ah, Poutine.

If you ever get to Portland, check out the poutine available at Potato Champion, a cart on SE Hawthorne.

Belgian style fries to die for.

We got into Whitehorse about two and a half hours ago. We went for a walk and now I'm off to bed. Shorter drive tomorrow so updates are likely. Sorry for getting behind. Long days are tiring,