The Best Tunica Poker Tournaments

Tunica used to be the most popular location for poker outside of Las Vegas. For many years, Tunica had been sliding. Today, things are slowly yet surely heading back in the right direction. The nostalgia that people refer to is leading to them wanting to return to Tunica, especially the Horseshoe.

A few things have changed. One, the WSOP Circuit is visiting Tunica twice per year. Two, the RunGood Series is visiting twice per year. Three, Tunica poker staff has improved in a major way. These three factors all play a tremendous role for attracting more poker players. We also can’t forget about the weekly Tunica poker tournaments, which will be covered below.

Weekly Tunica Poker Tournaments

You will find all kinds of poker games in Tunica, but you want to focus on the Tunica poker tournaments more than anything else. The reasoning is simple. Jack Binion was from Mississippi and he was a big believer in gambling—opposed to strategy. This led to a strange yet interesting way of thinking in Mississippi.

Poker players here respect heart at the poker table, and heart in poker games refers to gambling. In simpler terms, they think you should call more draws and bluff more often. This is directly against the poker rules for winning. This is the ideal situation for a poker player who wants to approach the game with some actual poker strategy.

I have been to Tunica twice. The first time, I didn’t know what to expect. My opponents were calling with all kinds of crazy hands and hitting. It was a loss for the week. A few months passed and I returned, but this time I knew what kind of play to expect. I played tighter and controlled the pot more, which led to a winning week, including a straight-up win in one of their Nightly poker tournaments.

Below is the schedule for weekly poker tournaments. Focus on these instead of cash games because the buy-ins are low, the players love to gamble, and there is a bigger potential reward than in most cash games. Horseshoe Tunica.

Weekly Poker Tournaments

Saturdays
12 p.m.: $165 buy-in
$10k GTD
12k chips
30-minute levels

12 p.m. (Monthly): Freeroll for Hours Played & Tournament Winners
Required for Entry: 100 hours of play or 1st Place in a tournament.
Double Hours are earned from 12 a.m. – 12 p.m.
1st Place: $10k
2nd Place: $5k
3rd Place: $2k
4th-10th Place: $1k
11th Place: $500
Most Hours Played: $1k
Most Tournaments Played: $1k

Sunday
1 p.m. $135
Top 4 Guaranteed $1k
10k chips
20-minute levels

Monday
12 p.m. $65 buy-in
$1200 GTD
6k chips
20-minute levels

7 p.m. $75 buy-in/Monster Stack
$2k GTD
25k chips
20-minute levels

Tuesday
12 p.m. $65 buy-in
$1200 GTD
6k chips
20-minute levels

7 p.m. $75 buy-in/Deepstack
$2k GTD
12k chips
20-minute levels

Wednesday
12 p.m. $65 buy-in
$1200 GTD
10k chips
20-minute levels

7 p.m. $75 buy-in
$2k GTD
12k chips
20-minute levels

Thursday
12 p.m. $65 buy-in
$1200 GTD
6k chips
20-minute levels

7 p.m. $75 buy-in/Green Chip Bounty
$400 Bonus Bounties
12k chips
20-minute levels

Friday
12 p.m. $65 buy-in
$1200 GTD
6k chips
20-minute levels

7 p.m. $30 buy-in
$3k GTD
$20 re-buys
$40 add-on at second break for 10k chips
3k chips
20-minute levels

Tunica Poker Tournaments: RunGood

The RunGood Series stops in Tunica twice per year. These events are seen as the best Tunica poker tournaments in existence. They are more affordable than the WSOP Circuit and a lot more fun. You will find mostly Texas hold’em poker tournaments, but that’s not all that’s offered.

Your range of poker hands should widen a little for these tournaments because the buy-ins are lower and RunGood is now giving away signature championship rings, which is going to attract a lot of players with all kinds of skill levels. Most of them will be playing their cards and not applying any kind of poker strategy whatsoever. Some of them might not even be familiar with standard poker rules, which is a big advantage for you.

Below are the Tunica poker tournaments for RunGood in August. This schedule might change for another RunGood stop in Tunica, but it won’t change much. Therefore, this is a good schedule to reference if you’re considering playing in Tunica poker tournaments and want to focus on RunGood.

RunGood Schedule

Tuesday 8/13
7 p.m. $135 buy-in/Pro Bounty
Special guests will be holding envelopes. If you knock one of them out, you can win anything from a RunGood Apparel Store credit to $1k in cash.
8k chips

Wednesday 8/14
12 p.m. $185 buy-in/Deepstack – Flight A
$25k GTD
15k chips

7 p.m. $185 buy-in/Deepstack – Flight B
$25k GTD
15k chips

Thursday 8/15
12 p.m. $165 buy-in
$10k GTD
10k chips

4 p.m. $300 buy-in/PLO
10k chips

7 p.m. $145 buy-in/Main Even Mega Satellite
15 Seats GTD
8k chips

Friday 8/16
12 p.m. $145 buy-in/Main Event Mega Satellite
15 Seats GTD
8k chips

4 p.m. $145 buy-in/Shootout Satelitte
Top Two From Each Table Win Seat To Main Event
10k chips

7 p.m. $575 buy-in/Main Event – Flight A
$100k GTD
20k chips

Saturday 8/17
9 a.m. $145 buy-in/Main Event Turbo
5 Seats GTD
6k chips

12 p.m. $575 buy-in/Main Event – Flight B
$100k GTD
20k chips

4 p.m. $145 buy-in/Main Event Turbo Satellite
5 Seats GTD
6k chips

7 p.m. $575 buy-in/Main Event – Flight C
$100k GTD
20k chips

Sunday 8/18
2 p.m. $100 buy-in/Turbo
6k chips

If you want to play in the RunGood Tunica poker tournaments and you want to stay directly at the Horseshoe for convenience, call the property and refer to code: RUN2019 (change the year if it’s a different year). This will get you $45 per night on weeknights (before taxes and resort fee) and $85 per night on the weekends (before taxes and resort fee).

Another important point here is that the Main Event will be reported on PokerNews. If you’re looking for fame in Texas Hold’em poker, this could be your chance.

WSOP Circuit

This is a whole different ball game. There will be more tables set up, more waitresses, more massage therapists, more reporters, and a much bigger buzz in the room.

This isn’t to take anything away from RunGood. In fact, most poker players would prefer to play RunGood Tunica poker tournaments than Circuit Tunica poker tournaments. That’s because the buy-ins are lower, the fields are softer, and since it’s a much smaller environment, a lot of the people who play, deal, massage, wait, etc. all go out for dinner and/or drinks afterward.

Therefore, if you’re looking to make friends or for more of a family-type environment, you should choose RunGood. If you’re look for the bright lights, big names, serious competition, and massive payouts, you should choose the WSOP Circuit.

Poker Tips For WSOP Circuit

Prior to getting to the schedule, there are a few poker strategy tips I’d like to cover. One, tighten up! When you’re playing in $400 and $1700 events opposed to $185 events, the competition is going to be much stronger and you need to play fewer poker hands.

Don’t be afraid to tighten up. Poker pros will respect this much more than a lunatic who raises every pot or a donkey who calls on every street. It’s also good to play tight because they will see you as a NIT. You can use this to your advantage later in the tournament. They will never expect a 3-bet pre-flop with 97-off. If you happen to hit that flop, you’re going to get PAID!

Sometimes, they will all fold and never know what you were doing. Use this poker strategy sparingly, and fold immediately if you miss and see resistance. Keep your losses small and your wins big. That’s what this game is all about. When you eventually do hit with a hand that’s completely unexpected, don’t be surprised if you double-up, or maybe even triple-up. You just need to be against the right players at the right time.

Buy-In Late?

Another important tip here is to not buy-in one hour late. Circuit pros love to buy-in one hour late. If you do the same, you could very well end up at a new table. If that happens, then you’re likely to be sitting at a table with all pros. Now you’re in big trouble because the skill level is so high that whoever hits cards wins.

In these types of situations, poker strategy doesn’t play as much of a role. On the Circuit, I would recommend buying in around Level 7. This takes away the poker pros’ opportunities to outplay you because now it’s more about pre-flop action and big pots that can lead to all-ins.

This is where you have the advantage over a poker pro because most of them, if they’re smart, don’t want to risk all their chips all-in vs. an opponent that they view as weaker and can outplay street-by-street on a later hand. Since that’s the way they view it, take away their strength and force them to do what they don’t like doing.

WSOP Circuit Schedule

The WSOP Circuit Tunica poker tournaments schedule below is not by date. It’s a standard schedule that the WSOP Circuit usually uses and doesn’t alter much. Just like with the RunGood Tunica poker tournaments schedule, you can refer to this schedule as a basic idea of what to expect.

Event #1: $400 buy-in/Double Stack
$75k GTD
30k chips

Event #2: $400 buy-in/Re-Entry
$200k GTD
15k chips

Event #3: $400 buy-in
$25k GTD
15k chips

Event #4: $600 buy-in
$100k GTD
20k chips

Event #5: $400 buy-in/6-Max
$50k GTD
15k chips

Event #6: $400 buy-in/PLO
$25k GTD
15k chips

Event #7: $400 buy-in
$25k GTD
15k chips

Event #8: $400 buy-in/Monster Stack
$100k GTD
30k chips

Event #9: $400 buy-in
$50k GTD
15k chips

Event #10: $1,700 buy-in/Main Event
$500k GTD
30k chips

Event #11: $250 buy-in/Double Stack
$25k GTD
20k chips

Event #12: $400 buy-in
$25k GTD
15k chips

Event #13: $400 buy-in/Double Stack
$50k GTD
30k chips

The other “appealing” aspect about the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOP-C) is that you can earn points and win rings. If you’re the top 50 in points on the Circuit for the year, then you earn a $10,000 buy-in to the Global Poker Championship in August, which has a $1 million prize pool. This doesn’t mean 1st place pays $1 million. It means the prize pool is $1 million. First place will pay around $250,000.

Chasing Points

Be careful with chasing points to get into this event. I made that mistake for a while and then realized I needed to slow down. Most poker pros who chase points on the Circuit end up spending more than $10,000, which would have been the buy-in for the Global Poker Championship anyway.

More Circuit pros have had to quit the game due to chasing points than for any other reason. Don’t fall into that trap. Play in the tournaments that suit you best. If the points accumulate at the same time, great, but don’t pay attention to the leaderboard. I’m saving you thousands of dollars, if not tens of thousands of dollars.

The Circuit is a dangerous place to play because the buy-ins are high. Those buy-ins can add up quickly during a downswing. I would recommend only playing the Circuit when it’s in your area. Otherwise, stick to smaller buy-in tournaments that are drivable for you.

Don’t live near Mississippi but would like to play in Tunica poker tournaments, then I would highly recommend RunGood over the Circuit. If you win, great. If you lose, that’s a bummer but you still had fun. On the Circuit, if you lose, you don’t have fun.

Final Thoughts

Tunica has many poker tournaments to offer, but your best bet is going to be RunGood because of the fun atmosphere and lower buy-ins. Those low buy-ins tournaments still offer some pretty good payouts. Whatever you choose to do, if you’re a poker player, you need to check out Tunica poker tournaments. This place is back on the rise.

♠ pokerjournal.org