Daily Archives: Wednesday, 23 September 2015

#PNWPokerCalendar Planner for September 23rd

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It was a big week for Portland/Oregon players, though not necessarily here at home. First off, this, via dealer extraordinaire Devin Sweet:

20150923_Chinook_ME

The Chinook Winds Fall Coast Classic Main Event made it well over the $100K guarantee, exceeding my expectations, for which I am grateful, because that would signal that the series as a whole was successful and that they’ll still be doing them when I get an opportunity to get down there again. Andrew Johnson was the winner (h/t tournament director Rebecca May’s Facebook post). Devin posted a photo of the final table; I can see a couple of faces (and backs of heads) that I recognize….

Rep Porter took down the Muckleshoot Summer Poker Classic Main Event on Monday.

Steve Chanthabouasy went deep in the Commerce Poker Series $500K Main Event over the weekend, starting Day 2 in 7th place of the 56 remaining (from 393 entries) but ending early in 29th. Former Portland player Jeff Dobrin made the final table of another WSOP Circuit Ring event, at the Palm Beack Kennel Club in Florida, placing 8th of 615 entries. And perennial favorite Angela Jordison has taken first place in yet another tournament, this time in a Heartland Poker Tour PLO8 side event at Grand Sierra in Reno.

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Wildhorse Fall Poker Round Up: Deal of the Day

It’s been around for years. And some of the players there have been around for a lot longer. But it’s still—so far as I can tell—the biggest poker festival in the Northwest, which, for much of the year looks kind of like a poker desert so far as large events are concerned. Yet Wildhorse keeps plugging along, running three series a year on the far side of the state.

The schedule for the latest Round Up is out, running November 5-15, and featuring eight $200 events, a $300 NLHE tournament, and a $500 Main Event, along with High Roller game they added a couple years back. And there are a couple $100 events, satellites, and a fair amount of cash action.

Pendleton isn’t Vegas and Wildhorse isn’t exactly the Venetian. The no-alcohol policy in the casino might come as a shock to players used to playing with a steady stream of beer or mixed drinks in their hands. The casino complex is eight miles from downtown Pendleton, and there aren’t accommodations nearby, so if you stay somewhere else for your trip because the hotel’s full or you want something less expensive, you’ve got a little driving to do. At least you won’t be snockered going back to your hotel. You also won’t be pestered by hordes of people passing out flyers for “girls delivered to your room” in downtown Pendleton. It’s an environment almost designed to force you to concentrate on your poker game.

The tournaments themselves are larger than what can be run in any of the Portland venues. Last fall’s opening $100 event had 566 entries, and event the smaller spring opener (the first of the three tournaments in a row Angela Jordison won in Pendleton this year) had 533. The larger $300 and $500 events at the end both had more than 350 entries, with respective prize pools of $110K and $190K. Mid-week events are smaller, in the 200-entry range, down to something over 100 for HORSE, and about 65 for the High Roller.

For those who haven’t made the trip before, Pendleton is about three hours east of Portland, depending on traffic. Rooms at the casino’s hotel run a minimum of $100/night mid-week and more on weekends; they tend to fill up during the Fall Round Up. There are a number of hotels in the $55-$75 range at the Pendleton exits and in downtown, but as mentioned, a bit of a drive. If you’re traveling with others, you need to shuttle back and forth somehow or wait for everyone to finish what they’re doing (which can make the rooms at the resort look pretty attractive).

Wildhorse and Seaport Airlines have teamed up to offer a flight/room package deal the past couple of years, and it looks like it’s still on. Round-trip airfare for two (about a 70-minute flight each direction) Tuesday-Thursday, one night at the casino, breakfast, $40 FreePlay, and a free shuttle each direction between Pendleton airport and the casino. All for $185.85 (and up). That’s about $100 cheaper than just buying the plane tickets. You have to call to make reservations; presumably you can extend the stay somehow for the right price. Seaport flies out of its own building at PDX, so there aren’t the kinds of lines you get in the main terminal. You can save yourself some driving and devise a strategy to keep Angela from rolling over you.

This Week in Portland Poker

Not a lot of pre-announced specials:

  • Portland Players Club has a $1K freeroll on Friday at noon for the low-budget Hold’em player. A $5 membership gets you 2K in chips (as well as entry to the club for the entire day). You can get a pre-game 2K add-on for $5, and unlimited live rebuys ($10 for 4K) are available when you’re at or under 4K. Saturday, things go to the other extreme, for a $2K guarantee, $100 buyin, 30K deepstack Big O Hi/Lo tournament (#devilsgame).
  • Encore Club’s Friday night $14K guarantee and Saturday night $8K guarantee (both 8pm, both $60 buyin/live rebuy, $30 addon, 15K chips) for the next several weeks have prize pool carve-outs of seats into next month’s $100K and $50K guarantees (respectively). NOTE: Encore has added an $8K guarantee tonight (Wednesday) at 8pm.

Other than that, it’s pretty much regular schedules, as players from Chinook and Muckleshoot try to run it up on the road or lick their wounds at home. Look for some last-minute announcements of specials like the $2K 11am game Final Table ran yesterday.

Only a Day Away

  • The Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza 3.5 runs until October 4th. A 3-day $1.6K buyin $400K guarantee event has starting days Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Next Tuesday is the beginning of the last large-guarantee event, a 2-day $250K guarantee with $250 buyin and five starting days.
  • HPT Thunder Valley runs through the weekend, with the main event starting tomorrow. Entry is $1.65K, and Saturday is the last starting day. Monday is the final table.
  • The Card Player Poker Tour/Bicycle Casino Big Poker Oktober has entry days into their inaugural $300K event today through Friday. Sunday is a $50K guarantee, with mostly $150 buyin events over the next week.

Check out the Pacific Northwest Tournament Calendar for more poker.