Turning Stone Resort Casino has gone all-in on Let It Ride.

Not only is our gaming floor one of the only places to play the poker-derivative table game, but we also are one of the only casinos in the entire northeast to host regular Let It Ride tournaments, including our Let It Ride Championship every July.

The next tournament—the monthly feeder we call our “mini” tournament—will be held September 21. Guests qualify for this any time they play the bonus and receive four 10s or better. According to Tournament Coordinator Chris Gebhardt, we host about 375 players for each of the minis, and final table winners get $5,000 apiece and invitations to participate in the championship event.

That contest is huge, as 340 of Turning Stone’s best players compete for a prize of $150,000. This year’s year-end final was held in July; it was our 53rd since we started doing this in the 1980s.

Chris said Turning Stone has doled out $13 million at this event over the years.

“This is a really big deal—not only for us, but also just in general,” Chris said recently. “Let It Ride isn’t a common game anymore, and there aren’t many places that host Let It Ride tournaments, much less give out price pools as large as the one we have.”

While the mini tournaments provide excitement from month to month, the Championship is the one that gets regular players’ hearts thumping. That tournament usually lasts three days, with players receiving catered breakfast and dinner daily. Turning Stone even offers a Wild Card drawing, through which we select one guest from the pool of players who have busted out to go straight to the final table.

Chris, who usually picks the Wild Card winner, says this adds excitement to an already exciting event.

“The way we do it, you’re never really out, even when you think you’re out,” he said. “That level of chance makes it all really exciting. It’s another layer of luck. It’s another way to make the entire experience memorable.”