Poker-FAQ

Can tickets for weekly tournaments be bought on the day of the tournament?
It may be difficult to get a seat on the tournament day, especially on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We recommend that you purchase the ticket well in advance for any tournament on any day.

How can I know whether there are tickets left?
Tournament reservation status can be viewed at http://www.lippu.fi. This requires registration to the website.

Can I purchase a tournament ticket for my friend as well?
For weekly tournaments, it is still possible to buy a ticket for another person. Tickets for the Midnight Sun tournament are personal. The ticket holder’s name must be known on purchasing the ticket as it will be printed on the ticket.

Are tournament tickets refunded?
Grand Casino Helsinkiand Lippupiste will not refund any tournament tickets.

What are the structures for weekly tournaments?
The structures are available at our Weekly tournament pages.

How long do weekly tournaments last?
It usually takes around 5–7 hours to finish the tournament, depending on the tournament and the number of players.

What does is cost to participate?
Check our page: Weekly tournaments.

My ticket says “varapaikka”. What does it mean?
Varapaikka is a pending seat used in Tuesday and Wednesday tournaments in which we book players in a queue. There are six tables in use, which gives seats to 60 first participants at the beginning of the tournament (on 7.30pm). Players with ticket numbers 61–100 must wait for seats that become vacant as the tournament progresses. Pending players start the tournament with the same number of chips, although blinds may have gone up several times as they receive their seat.

How many players can participate in the tournaments?
On Mondays and Sundays there is room for 60 players
On Tuesdays the maximum number of players is 100 (70 seats + 30 pending seats).
The Grand Casino poker room has seven tables, but on Tuesdays, we sell a maximum of 100 tournament tickets. This means that the first 70 ticket holders can start the tournament right away at 7.30pm, and those with tickets 71–100 must wait for seats that become vacant as the tournament progresses.
On Wednesdays and Thursdays there are seats for 54 players
On weekends there are 63 seats for the Omaha tournament and 70 seats for Texas.

What are the prizes in tournaments?

One procent will be transfered to the rankingfinal prizepot of the year.

How can I participate in cash games?
To sign up for cash games, contact the poker room supervisor who will put you on a queue. If you wish you can have a beeper that sounds an alarm when your seat becomes vacant.

What time do the cash games open and which games are available?
On weekends (Fri–Sat) you can sign up for cash games from 6pm onwards, and tables open at 7.15pm. On Sundays, some cash game tables open at 7.15pm. On all other days there are tournaments from 7.30pm onwards. As tables become vacant from the tournaments, these are opened as cash game tables. If possible, we will open one cash table right at the beginning of the tournament. In recent times there have been 3–6 cash tables open daily in our poker room. No Limit Texas (buy-in 50 € – 200 €) is at the moment our most popular cash game. There are no Texas (buy-in 50 €-200 €) cash games during weekend tournaments.

How can the Bad Beat Jackpot be won?
A Bad Beat Jackpot is collected in poker cash games. Current Jackpot amount is shown on a screen in the poker room. The Jackpot is won with a hand fulfilling certain criteria, varying from game to game, when there are at least six players on the table.

JACKPOT WINNING CRITERIA BY GAME:

Texas Hold’em
A player must lose with a Full house with three Aces and a pair of Jacks or a better hand. The losing player must use both of his hole cards.

Omaha
A player must lose with a Four of a kind or a better hand.

Sökö (Scandinavian stud)
A player must lose with a Flush with King high or a better hand.

Seven Card Stud
A player must lose with a Full house with three Aces or a better hand.

Jackpot distribution
The losing hand fulfilling the Jackpot criteria is paid 40 % of the current Jackpot amount. The winning hand fulfilling the Jackpot criteria is paid 20 % of the current Jackpot amount. 20 % is distributed among the rest of the players who participated in the round. The remaining 20 % is the base for the new Jackpot, which Grand Casino Helsinki guarantees is a minimum of 1000 €.

The hands enabling the Jackpot to be won will be verified by a representative of Grand Casino Helsinki. The best possible hand will be formed for each player. If more than two players have hands that enable the Jackpot to be won, two best hands will be considered the hands that won the Jackpot.

What is the Rake (house share) in cash games?
In cash games the casino collects a 5% share of each pot played, maximum 10 €/pot. In addition, if the flop or second face-up card is dealt, one euro is collected from the pot for the Bad Beat Jackpot. However, this only happens if six or more players participate in the game.
If the flop or second face-up card is not dealt, the charge is not collected.

Dress code
Grand Casino does not have an official dress code. Our wish is, however, that customers will show their appreciation of other customers by dressing suitably. Naturally, casino guests do not wear an outdoor coat, sports clothing or tennis shoes.

General
Persons under 18 are not permitted at the casino. Day ticket costs 2 €, annual pass 10 €. Both prices include cloakroom service. We need to check your identity when you first visit the casino, so you should have a valid ID with a photograph with you. We ask our non-Finnish guests to bring either an identity card with a photograph (Schengen countries), or passport.

All casino games accept cash; the currency is euro. Credit cards are accepted in the restaurants. You may withdraw cash at our cash desks with a debit card or use the cash dispenser located inside the casino.

Grand Casino Helsinki is part of RAY, Finland’s Slot Machine Association. The casino’s profits are allocated to support health and welfare work, according to RAY’s founding principle. This is unique for a casino on a global scale.