Category Archives: Poker Calendar

#PNWPokerCalendar Planner for 6 April 2016

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pokermeritbadge

Spoof Poker merit badge from the Boy Scout Store

Be Prepared

When will art directors figure out that most poker players don’t have five cards in their hand or that this is a horrible 2-7 Triple Draw or Big O hand?

Just a couple of months to go before the start of the Colossus. If you’re going to Vegas that weekend (or any other weekend), my tips from last year for navigating the crowds might come in handy.

Projects

Hey, poker friends. I’m always looking for projects. Paying projects are preferable, but pique my interest enough and I might just fire up the little gray cells and take them out for a spin, just to blow some of the crap out of the cylinders (there’s a metaphor that’ll be antiquated once everyone’s driving electric cars).

This past weekend, dealer, tournament director, and bad poker boy Forrest Auel recommended me to a friend of his (the Head Coach at Scrotoms R Us, according to his Facebook profile) as someone who might know the answer to a question about deep runs in the WSOP Main Event. I didn’t know the exact info off the top of my head, but I was able to figure it out pretty quickly (if by “quickly” you mean I spent a sunny Sunday afternoon hour staring at my computer screen, like I do anything else).

That info should be showing up this week in the first PokerNews article I’ve done in a number of months.

Soon to appear here is the story of a bet on the expected value of professional players in the Main Event. I think the results will be…interesting.

And for the two or three people who liked my Game That Will Live In Infamy series, if you’d really love to see the same type of hand-by-hand analysis of a PLO8 game, you’re in luck! Because it’s already part-way finished, and it’s not nearly as long, though once again, every hand down to the final heads-up confrontation is there.

Pendleton

It’s been a year since Angela Jordison whacked the first three events at the Wildhorse Spring Poker Round-Up, an achievement nearly unparalleled in poker history. Can she do it again? Can anyone? We’ll find out this weekend with the first three events. I’m not sure if I’m going to make it out there myself yet, but keeping my fingers crossed.

Deal of the Day: You Kids Get Off Of My Poker Table!

Several of the Las Vegas summer series schedules are out now that they’ve had time to adjust themselves around the WSOP schedule. The Venetian Deepstack III has been out a couple of weeks. Planet Hollywood’s Goliath series followed that. Downtown, Golden Nugget’s Grand series released several weeks ago, and this past week, the Binion’s Poker Classic schedule came out. One type of event that’ll be on all of the schedules are the incredibly popular Seniors tournaments.

How popular are they? The 2014 WSOP Seniors tournament was the largest-ever live poker tournament with a single starting day. 4,425 entries, won by pro Dan Heimiller for $627K. Seniors tend to have more disposable time and income that family guys in their 30s and 40s (or they’re desperate and hoping to hit it big so they don’t have to live off of whatever has replaced now-expensive cat food as the meat of choice for old folks in poverty). They also seem to like the prospect of not having to play poker with a bunch of snotty-nosed brats with their hoodies and their hippity-hop music. Of course, for the past couple years, the Poker Brat’s been able to enter most Seniors events, which are typically 50+ (I’m looking at you PacWest Poker Classic. 55+ is a travesty!) And it’s not going to be all that long before Kid Poker can play them, right along with Phil Laak and Gus Hansen. Maybe that’s why the WSOP added a Super Seniors event last year for players 65+ in age; there are a lot of former kids who think playing a Seniors field’s going to be a piece of melba toast.

The WSOP’s Seniors tournament (#27 on their schedule) is a $1K buy-in (another thing we seniors like is cheap stuff, and for WSOP events, this used to be as cheap as it got) on Friday, 17 June. It’s a 3-day tournament with a single entry day, starting at 10am (if you were one of the people complaining about the earlier start times for WSOP events, just wait until you’re old) on Day 1 and 11am on Days 2 and 3. Their Super Seniors tournament (#31, also $1K) starts Sunday, 19 June.

The Grand Series at the Golden Nugget has a $250 Seniors (#31) game 18 June, with a similarly-priced Super Senior (#35, 60+) tournament 20 June. The next weekend is a $360 Seniors (#45), and a multi-day Seniors Super High Roller (#48, $10K entry, starting 26 June). The afternoon before the SHR, there’s a $1.1K Mega Satellite to the big game.

Bellagio’s Seniors Summer Championship is a $2,140 entry with three days of play beginning 17 July.

At Planet Hollywood’s Goliath series, 18 June is a one-day $100K guarantee Senior tournament with a $600 entry.

Binion’s has a $240 Seniors game 22 June.

At the Venetian, there are two entry days (14 & 15 June) for their $600, $250K guarantee Seniors tournament (#29). It returns for completion on 16 June.

So, depending on your bankroll and time constraints, the week starting Tuesday, 14 June is your week for Seniors tournaments, with events at the Venetian, the Rio, the Grand, Planet Hollywood, and Bellagios, ranging in price from $250 to $2.1K. The following week are the smaller Binion’s tournament, the slightly larger Golden Nugget game, and the Nugget’s Super High Roller if you did well the week before. Plus, there’s a whole lot of other poker tournaments going on, as well.

You do have to wonder though, if it’s true that “The Old Guy Always Has It,” who’s got it when there’s nothing but old guys?

Disclaimer: My earliest Hendon Mob cash was a multi-way chop in a Seniors tournament at Caesar’s with the 2004 WSOP Seniors bracelet winner.

This Week in Portland Poker

I got nuthin’. No announced specials for the next week, as of Tuesday night. Doubtless, there will be special event announced the day or or day before they take place over the next week. There is a $35K guarantee coming up at Encore a week from Saturday. The following day is a Special Player Day Event at The Game, but they don’t have a time for it on their schedule yet. A week from Friday (at 7pm) The Game is giving away another WSOP package, to the Millionaire Maker. See the #PNWPokerCalendar for links to the schedules.

Only a Day Away

  • The Liz Flynt Spring Poker Classic continues at the Hustler Casino in Los Angeles.Event #10 this weekend is a $100K guarantee with a $335 buy-in. It’s a two-day event with both starting flights on Saturday, at 12:30pm and 5pm.
  • Deepstacks Poker Tour wraps up at Casino Yellowhead in Edmonton on Monday. The C$1.1K Main Event has starting flights at noon Thursday—Saturday, with the final table on Monday.
  • The Wildhorse Spring Poker Round-Up begins tomorrow, with an evening satellite to the Main Event at 7pm Thursday, 7 April. Event #1 is a $120 (including dealer bonus) NLHE tournament at noon on Friday, 8 April. The Main Event is the weekend of 16 & 17 April.
  • Mid-States Poker Tour’s Golden Gates also gets under way tomorrow, Blackhawk, Colorado. Event #1 is a $360 entry $100K guarantee with starting days 7—9 April and a Main Event ($200K guarantee, $1.1K entry) with three starting days the next weekend.
  • Full House Poker’s $10K Heads-Up Championship is this weekend in Eugene.
  • The WPTDeepstacks Thunder Valley series starts Saturday, with a one-day $100K ($400 entry) as its opener, capped off with a $250K guarantee, $1.1K entry event starting Tax Day.
  • If you’re going north, Muckleshoot has a $220 Monthly Special at noon on Sunday.
  • Calgary’s Deerfoot Inn has a 5-event Spring Super Stack series scheduled for 13—17 April, including a C$150K guarantee, C$1.1K event.
  • Talking Stick outside Phoenix has another Getaway Poker Classic, where you get two night’s free room if you register for all three of their tournaments (one $200 and two $300) from 15—17 April.
  • High Mountain Poker Palace in Eugene has a quarterly $230 buy-in scheduled for 16 April at noon.

Check out the #PNWPokerCalendar for more poker.

#PNWPokerCalendar Planner for 30 March 2016

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Bounty Winner

That medallion next to my card cap in the blog header is for winning a non-series bounty tournament at the Venetian. One of the final events of the Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza II this last weekend was a $15K NLHE Bounty tournament, and it was won by Dwayne Heido of Tualatin. Congrats, Dwayne! You can find other DSE winners here.

Deal of the Day: Stay At Home

The Deal each week is all about finding value. Usually, that means trying to extract the most for your poker-playing dollar by getting somewhere cheap where there’s a possibility of a big payoff.

I have a friend who kind of snickers art the idea of driving to Seattle for a single tournament or flying to Las Vegas for a few days to catch a few tournaments, but my contention is that if there’s some potential payoff that you can’t get at home (bigger prize pools, longer levels), then it can be worth it.

That pretty much goes out the window this month. With the number of large events going on in Portland alone (see last week’s April Is the Pokerest Month), unless you’re in Las Vegas, LA, or—God help you—Edmonton for some other reason, there’s not much of a reason to leave town for poker value. Just the announced events (Final Table $20K and $100K, $200K of events during the Encore Poker Series and a $35K) are worth hanging around for—I’ve gotten a couple of inquiries from people coming from out-of-town to play—and it’s a certainty that there are going to be the type of last-minute announcements that I don’t get in time for the calendar that just drive me crazy!!!!! Stop putting every special event on Wednesday and Saturday, guys!

Calm down. OK.

Poker calendars across the West (and around the country) are exploding with events in the lead-up to the summer WSOP (which starts in 62 days). But until May, you can do it all here in Portland. Not that that’ll stop me from posting another out-of-town deal next week.

This Week in Portland Poker

Only a Day Away

  • The Liz Flynt Spring Poker Classic starts tomorrow at the Hustler Casino in Los Angeles. It kicks off with a $200K guarantee with six starting flilghts over three days, and a $250 buy-in. It runs through the entire month.
  • Deepstacks Poker Tour is at Casino Yellowhead in Edmonton starting Friday. No direct flights from Portland (most involve stopovers in Vancouver or Calgary) but five to six hours is about what you can expect for travel time. It finishes on 11 April.
  • The Wildhorse Spring Poker Round-Up kicks off a week from tomorrow, with an evening satellite to the Main Event at 7pm Thursday, 7 April. Event #1 is a $120 (including dealer bonus) NLHE tournament at noon on Friday, 8 April. The Main Event is the weekend of 16 & 17 April.
  • Mid-States Poker Tour’s Golden Gates stop starts the same day in Blackhawk, Colorado (satellites to the first event actually get going on 4 April). Event #1 is a $360 entry $100K guarantee with starting days 7—9 April and a Main Event ($200K guarantee, $1.1K entry) with three starting days the next weekend.
  • Full House Poker’s $10K Heads-Up Championship is the weekend of 9 & 10 April in Eugene.
  • The WPTDeepstacks Thunder Valley series runs 9—17 April, with a one-day $100K ($400 entry) as its opener, capped off with a $250K guarantee, $1.1K entry event starting Tax Day.
  • Calgary’s Deerfoot Inn has a 5-event Spring Super Stack series scheduled for 13—17 April, including a C$150K guarantee, C$1.1K event.

Check out the Pacific Northwest Tournament Calendar for more poker.

#PNWPokerCalendar Planner for 23 March 2016

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Thinking Portland Poker

Portland player Zachary Kerns made a donation to a favorite charity of Thinking Poker podcast host Andrew Brokos, and won a drawing for an on-podcast hand analysis, which was posted in Monday’s episode. The hand is from Day 2 of the Main Event at the recent PacWest Poker Challenge and it starts about two-and-a-half minutes into the podcast.

IMG_0810April Is the Pokerest Month

The run-up to the summer season is always chock-full of action, and from just what’s been announced already, April is going to be intense for Portland and Oregon poker aficionados.

The month will start off, as usual, with a Final Table First Friday $20K, that falls fortuitously on April Fool’s, the first day of the month.

Albany’s Black Diamond Poker Club on Sunday the 3rd, there’s a $310 Freeze Out.

The Wildhorse Spring Poker Round-Up runs from 7—17 April in Pendleton, with a $1.1K High Roller on Thursday, 14 April and the $520 Main Event on Saturday 16 April.

IMG_0811Full House Poker in Eugene has their Heads-Up Championship ($200 for one entry, $350 for 2 entries, and $500 for three entries) the weekend of 9—10 April.

Eugene’s High Mountain Poker Palace has a quaterly (sic) $230 tournament Saturday 16 April. and a $120 monthly game the next day.

Encore Club’s now-monthly $35K is scheduled for Saturday 16 April. It’s closely followed by the Encore Poker Series VIII, four events with $20K, $30K, $50K and $100K guarantees on 21—24 April.

The very next weekend is another $100K guarantee, at Final Table’s Portland Poker Classic on 30 April at 11am, the last day of the month.

86d

If all that poker seems like too much for you, Encore’s taken a page from the online world (and some land-based casinos):

Introducing self-ban option. It’s pretty simple. If you feel like your poker playing hobby has gotten a bit out of hand and a bit out of control then ask us to put you on our “unwelcome guests list” temporarily or permanently and we will happily oblige (message us here on FB). We are very glad that we do provide truly social, low stakes game with no house odds or rake involved where skill, strategy and knowledge are very important if you want to be a winning player in the long run but we do acknowledge the fact that, sometimes, even in that kind of environment, this hobby can be too enticing to the detriment of other things that are important in your life.

If only we could suggest people for banning, life would be perfect.

Deal of the Day: Battle of the Bay

If you’re a fan of the Big Shot tournaments at The Game or the $20K-to-first-place event recently held at Final Table, and you want to fill in the gap between the $100K events in Portland at the end of April, you might look at the Lucky Chances Battle of the Bay, running 23 April—2 May in Colma, California.

Colma is about halfway between the city of San Francisco and San Francisco International Airport. It’s virtually uninhabited—though it’s about two square miles in size—because it’s been San Francisco’s necropolis for the past hundred and twenty years: meaning that almost all of the city’s graveyards are in Colma.

If that doesn’t creep you out, then read on.

This next Battle of the Bay has a survivor event ($375 entry, payouts are evenly divided), and four events with guarantees to first place: $40K, $20K, $25K, and $100K. Lucky Chances is the home casino of the afore-mentioned Andrew Brokos, and if you’re a regular listener of the show, you may remember that he won the big tournament in a series there last November. The casino appears to have a spotty record of reporting results to Hendon Mob, but the winner of the Main Event in last spring’s series received $80K, with the next three places paying a little over $50K each in a deal.

Summer Schedules

The #PNWPokerCalendar has links to several summer series already, including the WSOP, the Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza (and Warm-Up), the Grand Poker Series at the Golden Nugget, and just out yesterday, the Planet Hollywood Goliath. Check out events for May on the calendar.

This Week in Portland Poker

Only a Day Away

  • The Bicycle Casino’s Winnin’ o’ the Green and WSOP Circuit runs through next Thursday. This weekend is the $1,675 Main Event of the WSOPC, with entry on both days.
  • The Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza II ends Sunday. The final big event starts today with entries Thursday and Friday and Day 2 on Saturday. It’s a $150K bounty tournament with a $250 buy-in. Saturday is a one-day $15K guarantee bounty game with a $300 entry, and Sunday is a $200 entry for a $10K bounty tournament.
  • Sunday is the a $150 buy-in tournament at Muckleshoot Casino.
  • The Last Sunday of the Month tournament at Tulalip is this weekend. $25K guaranteed, $290 buy-in.
  • WPTDeepsthttp://www.mutantpoker.com/wp-admin/plugins.phpacks Reno has its Main Event ($1.1K entry, $200K guarantee) with entry on Friday and Saturday.
  • The Liz Flynt Spring Poker Classic starts 31 March at the Hustler Casino in Los Angeles. It kicks off with a $200K guarantee with six starting flilghts over three days, and a $250 buy-in.
  • Deepstacks Poker Tour is at Casino Yellowhead in Edmonton starting 1 April, Its schedule and buy-insa are similar to the Reno series, but the money’s Canadian dollars! No direct flights from Portland (most involve stopovers in Vancouver or Calgary) but five to six hours is about what you can expect.

Check out the Pacific Northwest Tournament Calendar for more poker.

#PNWPokerCalendar Planner for 16 March 2016

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rio2015Vegas, Baby!

It may be a little difficult to believe, but we’re only about two months away from the beginning of the World Series of Poker. Do you know where your bankroll is tonight?

The announcement of the World Series of Poker schedule a couple of weeks ago is triggering the release schedules from other venues in Las Vegas.

The Grand Poker Series at the Golden Nugget is the first out of the gate. Events will run 31 May—3 July.l This year they’re partnered with Poker Night in America, with a $1,675 televised tournament running 3—7 June (starting days 3—5 June). That’s followed by a $150 buy-in $100K guarantee on the second weekend of June that includes three flights on Friday and Saturday, with Day 2 on Sunday, 12 June.

Two Big O tournaments are featured ($240 buy-in on 16 June, $350 on 23 June) along with what looks at first glance like fewer non-NLHE games than in previous years. There’s a $10K buy-in Seniors Super High Roller in late June (with a $1.1K satellite 25 June).

The Grand’s big event is a $500K guarantee with a $570 entry fee that runs from 29 June to 3 July and includes three starting days.

The Venetian followed suit a couple of days later, with the Deepstacks Extravaganza III schedule (26 May—24 July). And that’s preceded by ten days of the Deepstack Extravaganza III Warm-up.

The Warm-up features events in the $200-$400 buy-in range, with 7pm tournaments mostly in the $10K guarantee range, and two multi-day $100K events.

The full DSE schedule has 90 events (with satellites), including a MId-States Poker Tour championship event sporting a $2M guarantee ($1.1K buy-in), a $250K guarantee Seniors tournament, and three other events with $1.5M, $2M, and $3M guarantees. The Venetian is often a fallback for players who bust out of WSOP events at the Rio, and this year’s schedule acknowledges this by putting “Registration Open Until” times on the events.

There are multiple Omaha-based tournaments on the schedule ($1.1K PLO/PLO8/Big O with $100K guarantee on 1 July, $50K guarantee Big O 5 July for $600 buy-in).

Events for both series are already included on Kenny Hallert’s summer tournament spreadsheet. Don’t forget to check out the “Non std. NLH MTT” tab in the spreadsheet, which also has a tab with rake calculations for tournament where the structure sheets are available (26% in the $135 WSOP Daily Deepstack!)

It’s never too early to prepare. I think my primer to planning your Vegas days from last year might be handy again.

Deal of the Day: A Bike or a HORSE?

Why choose when you could have both?

Next weekend (26 & 27 March) is the Main Event of the WSOP Circuit event at The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. There are two entry days to the $1,675 three-day event (both Saturday and Sunday). And as a backup (aside from playing cash at The Bike) the next event is a $75K guarantee HORSE tournament with five starting flights (one on Sunday the 27th, and two each on Monday and Tuesday). Starts on Sunday and Monday are $235, with 10% of the field coming back for Wednesday’s Day 2. Buy-in on Tuesday is $345 (getting 15K for the starting stack instead of 10K), with 15% returning. Or you can just buy directly into Day 2 for $1.8K and get 100K in chips. You get $400 at the end of a Day 1 if you qualify to return, and $2K if you qualify more than once. Not a lot of big HORSE tournaments out there. Round-trip flights from PDX to LA that get you to the Sunday start for the Main Event and back before April Fool’s are still about $150.

This Week in Portland Poker

That’s pretty much it for specials announced by press time.

Only a Day Away

  • Today at noon is the first event of the Muckleshoot Spring Poker Classic. It’s a $250 Shootout; according to the structure sheets,  they expect there to be two rounds of elimination tables (each table plays down to a single winner) before the final table. The other events are standard NLHE tournaments: $200 on Thursday (3/17), $300 on Friday, $500 on Saturday, and $750 for the two-day Main Event beginning Sunday (3/20).
  • The Bicycle Casino’s Winnin’ o’ the Green and WSOP Circuit runs through the end of the month. Friday is a $75K guarantee Monster Stack event ($235 buy-in, no re-entry, no add-on, no re-buy), then Saturday and Sunday (3/19 & 20) are starting flights for the first of the WSOPC rings.
  • The Main Event of the WPT Rolling Thunder streams the live table today (play starts at noon), check it out on twitch.tv/StonesLivePoker. There’s a $30K guarantee $300 buy-in bounty tournament at 5pm.
  • Deepstacks Poker Tour Calgary Main Event (C$1.1K buy-in, C$250K guarantee) has starting days on Friday and Saturday.
  • The Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza II runs through the 27th. Today is the last entry day for a $250 buy-in $150K. Tomorrow is the first of three entry days for a $300K guarantee with a $600 buy-in.
  • WPTDeepstacks Reno starts tomorrow at the Atlantis. This weekend features a $50K guarantee on a $400 buy-in and a $150 Omaha Hi-Lo $5K tournament.
  • The Ashland Social Club’s 2nd Annual Spring Classic is a $180 tournament on Saturday.

Check out the Pacific Northwest Tournament Calendar for more poker.

#PNWPokerCalendar Planner for 9 March 2016

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Tournament Big O Is Back!

It never really went away—afternoon games at Final Table have been busy when everyone wasn’t out-of-town playing bigger Big O—but The Players Club Facebook page has an announcement for Friday night at 6pm at their new venue inside A&L, on the northwest corner of NE 60th & Glisan, the opposite corner from their old spot. $40 buy-in and re-buy, with a $20 add-on at break.

Hand-By-Hand 6-Max Nears Conclusion

Yesterday’s installment of my hand-by-hand equity analysis of a short-handed tournament is on the final table. Five players are battling it out for glory, and I’m there to the end against a guy with a VPIP of almost 60%. You can start from the beginning here.

The 2 Poker Guys

I played a while with Grant Denison of Portland Poker University the other day, and it reminded me that I’d never mentioned the podcast he and Jonathan Levy produce (currently under the rubric of The Breakdown), along with the associated video series. Likely, if you’re reading this you’re already aware of their shows, but if not, and you want deep yet sarcastic analysis of a single hand where big money hangs in the balance (instead of extensive details of hundreds of hands where just dozens of dollars are on the line), then check it out.

Deal of the Day: Wynn Me the Money

This is literally a last-minute deal.

Most everyone’s aware that one of the cheapest destinations for flights is Las Vegas, which is the only thing that makes this deal possible. This weekend is the $500K guarantee Main Event for the Wynn Classic. It’s a $1.6K buy-in, with starting days on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and a final table on Tuesday. The Wynn is across the street from the Venetian, kittycorner from Treasure Island.

As I write this, you can get a 6am flight from PDX to LAS on Sunday, with a return at 8pm Tuesday plus two nights at Treasure Island for $315. So for something like $2K plus a little, you could take your shot at a tournament with a top prize that should be something over $100K, literally walk across the street from the venue. If you’re not as much of a nit as I am, for another $250, you can stay at the Wynn or Encore. So if you aren’t the kind of person who bubbled three tournaments in three days and have a couple thousand extra and an open schedule next week, get your tickets now.

This Week in Portland Poker

  • As mentioned above, Portland Players Club has a Big O tournament at 6pm on Friday eventing.
  • The big event this week is at Final Table. $200 buy-in, with a re-buy, and $100 add-on at 1pm Saturday with $20K guaranteed to first place (similar to the Big Shot tournaments at The Game).
  • Encore Club has announced another $35K guarantee tournament for 19 March at 1pm

Only a Day Away

  • Tonight at 7pm is a $125 satellite for the Muckleshoot Spring Poker Classic. In the past, these early satellites have been for multiple events, since the actual events are $200, $250, $300, $500, and $750. Monday and Tuesday at 7pm are $225 satellites, which may be for the entire series. The first event is a $250 Shootout (an actual shootout, not a Portland shootout) next Wednesday at noon. The other events are standard NLHE tournaments: $200 on Thursday (3/17), $300 on Friday, $500 on Saturday, and $750 for the two-day Main Event beginning Sunday (3/20).
  • The Card Player Poker Tour/Wynn Classic runs through Monday. Tomorrow is a $200 buy-in satellite for the $500K Main event. See the Deal above. The last tournament is a $300 buy-in $25K guarantee on Monday.
  • The Bicycle Casino’s Winnin’ o’ the Green and WSOP Circuit is on through the end of the month. Entry flights for Mega Million XIV continue through Monday, with Day 2 at 4pm Tuesday. Next Wednesday are HORSE and Pot Limit Stud Hi-Lo/Omaha Hi-Lo, which should be entertaining. A week from Friday is a $75K guarantee Monster Stack event ($235 buy-in, no re-entry, no add-on, no re-buy), then Saturday and Sunday (3/19 & 20) are starting flights for the first of the WSOPC rings.
  • Stones Gambling Hall has its $300K Championship Series through 14 March. Tomorrow is the Bankroll Builder with a $235 buy-in and $2K payouts for 1 in 10 players. The $200K Main Event ($550 buy-in) has entry days Thursday through Saturday.
  • Today is the start of WPT Rolling Thunder at Thunder Valley. Tomorrow is a two-day $100K (1.1K buy-in), Friday is a $550 HORSE tournament, and entry flights to the Main Event ($3.5K) are Saturday and Sunday.
  • Deepstacks Poker Tour arrives at Grey Eagle Casino in Calgary tomorrow. The first event is a C$100K guarantee with a C$550 buy-in. The Main Event has a guarantee of C$250K for a C$1.1K (US$820) buy-in.
  • The 14th is the start of Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza II (14—27 March), featuring two $150K events and a $300K.
  • WPTDeepstacks Reno starts 17 March at the Atlantis and features a $200K guarantee Main Event.
  • The Ashland Social Club’s 2nd Annual Spring Classic is a $180 tournament on March 19th at noon, if you’re in the southern part of Oregon.

Check out the Pacific Northwest Tournament Calendar for more poker.

#PNWPokerCalendar Planner for 24 February 2016

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WSOP Summer Schedule

The big news this week is, of course, yesterday’s announcement of the full schedule for the 47th Annual World Series of Poker, which heralds the imminent release of the rest of the schedules from the Venetian, Planet Hollywood (the smaller Ceasar’s-run series), Golden Nugget, etc.

There are 69 bracelet events this year, including the Main Event and already-announced Colossus, Millionaire Maker, and Seniors events. Looking down the list are some new entries, including #53 Mixed PLO/Omaha Hi-Lo/Big O,  #54 Crazy Eights (an eight-handed $888 buy-in with three entry flights and $888,888 guarantee), #61 Tag Team NLHE (news of which linked a couple of weeks ago), and Big O is in the mix for both the Dealer’s Choice/Six-Handed events (#5, $1.5K buy-in and #11, $10K buy-in).

PacWest Poker Classic

There was some beautiful weather down at the beach for the opening weekend. Chill and windy, but sunny. But if you’re there, you probably won’t see much of it because you’ll be inside the windowless conference center. So here’s a picture. This is on the path down to the beach next to the casino; it’s literally a couple hundred feet to the right of where this picture was taken. Take your convertible down. I did.

IMG_2655

Everyone seems to be taking a week off from winning (except for me). Maybe they’re resting up for Chinook Winds! Just a little bit of news before the good stuff, then….

10th Annual Northwest Deaf Poker Tournament

Portland Players Club re-booted in A&L Bar, on the corner opposite its old location at NE 60th & Glisan, with the latest installment of the NWDPT. Attendance, as always, was good for three tournaments ranging from $50—100 buy-in, there were a couple of casks of Read My Lips Rye IPA from Grateful Deaf Brewing, available, and reports from the attendees were positive.

$100K Coming

Final Table has announced the 3rd Annual Portland Poker Classic for April 30th, a $100K guarantee. Also on the docket is a $20K guarantee-to-first-place game, on March 12th. More details to come, presumably. And, of course, a week from Friday is the First Friday $20K guarantee.

Hand-By-Hand 6-Max

In case you didn’t see it (and if you care), I’m running a series with equity evaluations and analysis of every single card dealt down to heads-up in an online 6-Max tournament from December. Twenty hands, five days a week, until the bitter end.

HAND 68 100/200 45K 4 J
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
87 SB 48 5.4K 17 – – – – – –
50 BB J9 21.4K 32 37 28 – 15 – 100
74 UTG QA 23.9K 44 63 72 – 85 – 0
45 CO Q8 5.6K 8 – – – – – –

In Memoriam

Last weekend was the memorial service for Curt Lockard, a regular in Portland poker circles and former dealer at Final Table (among many other things), who passed away a couple of weeks ago. Lots of people knew him, he was always a friendly face at the table when I ran into him, and there are lots of people sorry to see him go.

More Memory

While we’re at it, today would have been my mother’s 75th birthday. Despite her never saying anything about it, I don’t think she was particularly fond of my playing poker (the way I play, who would be?), but she liked it when I was writing, so I’m dedicating the Planner for today to her.

HPIM2531

Deal of the Day: Wildhorse Spring Poker Round Up

Mid-April (4/7—17) is the time to drive (or fly) out to Pendleton again for a series of events. Pendleton has a staple set of events, with the only real tinkering being with the High Roller that they added a couple of years ago. This year’s schedule is similar, with opening events on Friday and Saturday (the 8th and 9th), the first of which should get more than 400 entries in a $120 buy-in (including entry and dealer bonus). Limit Omaha Hi-Lo on Monday, HORSE on Tuesday, Seniors on Wednesday. The High Roller ($1.1K) has finally been moved off the days with HORSE and Seniors (where there is some overlap between the player pools) to Thursday, which might make it too close to the Main (starting Saturday the 16th) for some, but if you go that long in the High Roller, you’ll probably be able to live with it.

This Week in Portland Poker

  • 2pm today at The Game, there’s a $40 buy-in, $20 add-on tournament. The winner there gets the travel package and an entry into this year’s Colossus tournament. Same thing Sunday at 2pm, with a freeroll for the package at 7pm Sunday. Saturday is another of the $10K Big Shot tournaments ($10K guaranteed to first place). A 70-player cap is in place for that event.
  • Encore Club is running two special events this week. Tonight at 8pm is an $8K guarantee ($50 buy-in, no re-buy, $25K add-on). Saturday night at at is a $25K guarantee ($100 buy-in/re-entry, $50 add-on). Friday night’s guarantee is $11K instead of $13K, because of the big game on Saturday. So if you’re not down at Chinook Winds….

Only a Day Away

  • The PacWest Poker Classic at Chinook Winds continues through Sunday. Today is Omaha Hi-Lo with a bounty tournament tonight. Tomorrow at noon will be the ever-popular Big O tournament: $150 buy-in with re-entry through 3 levels. Friday is a $175 no re-entry NLHE tournament, and Saturday is the entry day for the Main Event ($550 + $200 add-on).
  • Tonight at 7pm is the second satellite for the Muckleshoot Spring Poker Classic. Tonight’s satellite is $125. There are satellites on the next two Wednesdays. Sunday at noon is their end-of-month $150K buy-in, $100 add-on Deepstack. If you buy them both at the same time, you get extra chips.
  • Sunday at Tulalip is a $20K guarantee with a $230 buy-in (including fee and dealer add-on).
  • The LA Poker Classic at Commerce Casino continues through 3 March. The rest of this week is dedicated to satellites for the $10K buy-in WPT Main Event, which starts Saturday with just a single entry day.
  • At the Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza through Saturday are starts for a $250K guarantee with just a $250 entry. It’s the last big event of the series before it ends on March 2nd.
  • The Card Player Poker Tour/Wynn Classic starts today in Las Vegas. Three signature events with $100K, $200K, and $500K guarantees, plus 10 more mostly $25K guarantees.
  • The World Series of Poker Circuit at Bally’s tomorrow, with a $365 buy-in $250K guarantee. 29 February is what I believe is the first $580 Big O WSOPC ring event (other stops have featured $365 Big O tournaments).
  • Friday is the Great Canadian Freeze Out in Calgary. Seven events from C$110 to C$550 over a week-and-a-half.
  • Next Thursday is the beginning of the Bicycle Casino’s Winnin’ o’ the Green and WSOP Circuit series that runs the whole month of March. Circuit events begin on the 19th, before that is Mega Millions XIV with 18 starting flights over 11 days and buy-ins ranging from $160 to $880 to get to Day 2 on 15 March.

Check out the Pacific Northwest Tournament Calendar for more poker.

#PNWPokerCalendar Planner for 17 February 2016

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Everyone seems to be taking a week off from winning (except for me). Maybe they’re resting up for Chinook Winds! Just a little bit of news before the good stuff, then….

Return of Portland Players Club

I have nothing to add to this, except for good job, Chadd!

ppcDeal of the Day: Muckleshoot Spring Poker Classic

Running from 16—21 March, the Classic has five tournaments this year. The events in the series (all starts at noon) are:

  • 16 March (Wednesday): $4K Added NLHE, $250 buy-in.
  • 17 March (Thursday): $4K Added NLHE, $200 buy-in.
  • 18 March (Friday): $5K Added NLHE, $300 buy-in.
  • 19 March (Saturday): $10K Added NLHE, $500 buy-in.
  • 20 March (Sunday): $20K Added NLHE, $750 buy-in. Final Table Monday at 5pm.

There will, of course be plenty of cash game action—while there aren’t any Omaha tournaments, the cash room regularly spreads O8, PLO, and PLO8. If you haven’t been thre, Muckleshoot’s about a three-hour drive from Portland—you don’t have to go through Seattle, but you do have to get through the Olympia-Tacoma corridor on I5, so plan accordingly.

There are a number of satellites running for events at the casino. Call them or check out their web page for more info. The first satellite runs tonight at 7pm.

This Week in Portland Poker

  • Final Table has announced double guarantees on Thursday for their 11am and 7pm tournaments. That’s a $2K guarantee (after the double) for $20 buy-in/re-buy/add-on and $3K ($40 buy-in/re-entry, $20 add-on).
  • Friday and Saturday is the 10th Annual Northwest Deaf Poker Tournament at Portland Players Club’s new location in the A&L Sports Pub, on the opposite corner of the intersection of NE 60th & Glisan from the old location.
  • Encore Club hosts this month’s $35K at 1pm on Saturday. $200 buy-in and re-entry; $80 add-on. 35-minute blind levels.
  • This week at The Game, the road to the WSOP starts to roll out. They’re planning to send a number of players to Vegas this summer, and if you’d like to go along, you can play a freeroll Sunday at noon. Sunday’s winner gets airfare, two nights lodging in Vegas, and a Lake Mead boat ride. Next Wednesday at 2pm, there’s a $40 buy-in, $20 add-on tournament. The winner there gets the travel package and an entry into this year’s Colossus tournament. Next Saturday is another of the $10K Big Shot tournaments ($10K guaranteed to first place). A 70-player cap is in place for that event.

Only a Day Away

  • Tonight at 7pm is the first satellite for the Muckleshoot Spring Poker Classic. Tonight’s satellite is $125. The info page and schedule aren’t clear about what the satellite is to, but for past series, winning one got you into multiple events during the series. There are satellites on the next three Wednesdays. Their Big Bounty game ($165 buy-in including $50 bounty) is Sunday at noon.
  • The LA Poker Classic at Commerce Casino continues through 3 March. News on the schedule, play updates, and prizes are reported on their blog. Tomorrow starts the $500K guarantee Playboy NLHE event ($1,650 entry), with starting days through Saturday. A $225 $100K guarantee starts Saturday, and there’s $350 No Limit HORSE on Sunday. Tuesday is another $100K guaranteem with a $1.1K entry, and a $1,650 PLO8 tournament.
  • The Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza runs through 2 March. Their blog is here. Thursday through Saturday are starting days for the $750K guarantee ($1.6K entry). Next Tuesday through Saturday are starts for a $250K guarantee with just a $250 entry.
  • Today is the first of four starting days for the $1,650 Main Event at HPT Golden Gates, west of Denver.
  • The Thunder Valley $100K Catapult starts Thursday. Five starting flights with $155 buy-in for a $100K guarantee, wrapping up on Sunday, 21 February. 8% of each flight returns for Day 2, players in the top 12% make at least $250. And if you’re free by 4pm Sunday, you can play a $340 Open Face Chinese Pineapple tournament!
  • The Talking Stick Winter Poker Classic is a 3-day $400 buy-in event (I think). Maybe give them a call before you fly to Phoenix.
  • The PacWest Poker Classic at Chinook Winds starts Saturday. It’s bookended by a $330 buy-in $50K guarantee NLHE 6-Max, and a $550 buy-in/$200 add-on Main Event with a $100K guarantee, Action starts 20 February.
  • Next Wednesday is the start of the Card Player Poker Tour/Wynn Classic. just across the street from the Venetian Deepstack. Three signature events with $100K, $200K, and $500K guarantees, plus 10 more mostly $25K guarantees.
  • The World Series of Poker Circuit at Bally’s begins next Thursday, with a $365 buy-in $250K guarantee. 29 February is what I believe is the first $580 Big O WSOPC ring event (other stops have featured $365 Big O tournaments).
  • Friday, 26 February is the Great Canadian Freeze Out in Calgary. Seven events from C$110 to C$550 over a week-and-a-half.

Check out the Pacific Northwest Tournament Calendar for more poker.

#PNWPokerCalendar Planner for 10 February 2016

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Vegas Summer Schedule

According to reports from a conference call last week where the WSOP discussed plans for the year, the full schedule for the 2016 World Series of Poker should be out next week (last year it was released on 3 February). Once that’s out, the other Vegas summer series will begin to drop, as they all attempt to capitalize on the types of players who are in town for specific events (you’ll see the Seniors tournaments clustered around a single week, PLO and other specialty games at other venues to soak up WSOP bust-outs, etc.

One inspiration for my calendar has been the Las Vegas summer compilation put together by Kenny ‘@SpaceyFCB‘ Hallaert (who was at the Colossus final table last year) for the past several years. Kenny puts every event at the Rio, Venetian, Planet Hollywood, Aria, Wynn, Golden Nugget and more on a single spreadsheet (now on Dropbox), laid out day-by-day, with times, buy-ins, a breakout list of non-NLHE events, daily tournament info, rake, and more. Because this year’s schedules haven’t been posted, the current sheet is a bit spare, but if you want to see what the beast will look like by May, dial in last year’s compilation.

BTW, if you are making plans for summer in Vegas (good for you!), there’s never a better time than now to review my notes from last year’s Colossus weekend!

LAPC $570 Big O

Event #27 at the LAPC was Big O (five-card Omaha Hi-Lo, if you haven’t played it), which has been a staple of a cadre of Oregon players for several years, particularly at Portland Players Club, where some of their biggest buy-ins and guarantees were for “The Devil’s Game” as I call it (a 2014 $300 buy-in event with a $5K guarantee ended up with a prize pool of nearly $16K).

Two Oregon players made the final table of the 101-entry event. The winner was Stephen Johnson of Eugene (he chopped with CA pro Chris De Maci but won the trophy and first place honors). Former PPC dealer Bryce Burt (who was dealing at Final Table before heading down to LA) took fourth.

There’s a $570 Big O event coming up at Bally’s at the end of the month, for a WSOP Circuit ring. I’d expect to see some more Oregon players there.

 Deal of the Day: WPT Northern California

First, get your hands on wads of cash, you’re playing in the WPT!

Actually, the swing of the WPT through Northern California (after finishing up the $10K at LAPC) has three events catering to gradually smaller bankrolls. The big events at each stop are:

The series overlap each other a bit, so if you drove to San Jose by 6 March when the Shooting Star has its first event, if you don’t make Day 2 of the Main Event, you can get to Thunder Valley in two-and-a-half hours for the $50K guarantee Rolling Thunder Opener, play through to the end of the series there on the 16th, then drive another two hours to Reno for the rest of the month.

This Week in Portland Poker

  • Final Table Big O is taking off with Monday-Friday 1pm $500 guarantee tournaments ($20 buy-in and re-buy/$20 add-on), and 3pm $1K games with $40 buy-in and $30 add-on.
  • The Game is starting up a 2pm Saturday Big O tournament with a $40 buy-in and $1K guarantee. Daily membership is waived for player in that game. Their February schedule includes three WSOP Colossus entry/flight/stay package tournaments and another of their $10K Big Shot winner-takes-most games, all during the week of the PacWest Poker Classic.
  • Encore Club has announced a $35K guarantee on 20 February, the opening weekend of the PacWest Poker Classic.
  • Next Friday and Saturday is the 10th Annual Northwest Deaf Poker Tournament.

Only a Day Away

  • The LA Poker Classic at Commerce Casino continues through 3 March. News on the schedule, play updates, and prizes are reported on their blog.
  • The Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza runs through 2 March. Their blog is here.
  • The Main Event at Calgary’s Deerfoot Casino Winter Super Stack begins Friday, the series wraps up next Tuesday.
  • Aria has two $25K High Roller events Friday and Saturday. See Poker Telegraph for info on past events.
  • Friday is opening day at HPT Golden Gates, west of Denver.
  • The Thunder Valley $100K Catapult starts a week from Thursday (18 February). Five starting flights with $155 buy-in for a $100K guarantee, wrapping up on Sunday, 21 February. 8% of each flight returns for Day 2, players in the top 12% make at least $250. And if you’re free by 4pm Sunday, you can play a $340 Open Face Chinese Pineapple tournament!
  • The Talking Stick Winter Poker Classic is a 3-day $400 buy-in event (I think). Maybe give them a call before you fly to Phoenix on the 20th.
  • The PacWest Poker Classic at Chinook Winds is less than two weeks away! It’s bookended by a $330 buy-in $50K guarantee NLHE 6-Max, and a $550 buy-in/$200 add-on Main Event with a $100K guarantee, Action starts 20 February.
  • Two weeks from today is the start of the Card Player Poker Tour/Wynn Classic. just across the street from the Venetian Deepstack. Three signature events with $100K, $200K, and $500K guarantees, plus 10 more mostly $25K guarantees.
  • The very next day (25 February) Bally’s hosts the World Series of Poker Circuit, starting with a $365 buy-in $250K guarantee. 29 February is what I believe is the first $580 Big O WSOPC ring event (other stops have featured $365 Big O tournaments).
  • Friday, 26 February is the Great Canadian Freeze Out in Calgary. Seven events from C$110 to C$550 over a week-and-a-half.

Check out the Pacific Northwest Tournament Calendar for more poker.