Only eleven-and-a-half weeks until the start of the November Nine (November 8th). Nearly a month before the ESPN coverage of the Main Event starts up (September 14). What to do in the meantime?
LA-bor Day: Deal of the Day
If you happen to be in the Los Angeles area the week before Labor Day (September 7th), you’ll be at the confluence of two major tournament series running at the Bicycle and Commerce casinos. There were still some inexpensive flights when we checked the other day, but you might want to shag down there in the car if you can for mobility.
At the Bike, the WPT Legends of Poker is wrapping up, with the $3.7K Main Event starting days on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (August 29th-31st), $400 mega satellites running that Friday (the 27th) through Monday, and the ability to buy into Day 2 directly at 25BB. Following the Main Event starts, there’s a $1.1K turbo. Plus, of course, all the cash games you can handle.
Wednesday, September 2nd, the Commerce Poker Series starts up. The two casinos are less than four miles apart, with a car you can hop between them easily, back to your hotel, off to the beach, whatever. The CPS starts off with a $200K guarantee ($350 buyin) with six starting flights that wraps up Sunday the 6th of September. Sunday also brings a $100K guarantee $350 buyin with $100 bounties (one-day event) and a couple of mega satellites for the $1.65K Main Event (which doesn’t begin until September 18th).
On Labor Day itself (September 7th) head home, take a day off, or play Day 1A of a $200K guarantee ($570 buyin) with three starting days with Day 2 on Thursday.
This Week in Portland Poker
Mostly just regularly-scheduled items, but here’s what’s out of the ordinary.
- Saturday at noon is a tag-team NLHE tournament ($50 entry for the team) at Claudis’s Sports Pub on Hawthorne Blvd., sponsored by Oregon Poker Club. The two players on the team switch out each level. One out of six teams that enter get paid. The number of entries are limited. I played one of these at the WSOP a few years back; it was the bracelet-winner on the team who punted off our stack.
- This Saturday at 1pm (August 22nd) at Encore Club is a $35K guarantee ($200 with re-entry, $80 addon).
- If you’d prefer to get more cards for your money, Portland Players Club has its $2K guarantee Big O tournament ($100 buyin with live rebuys, $40 addon) at 5pm Saturday evening.
Only a Day Away
- Tonight and tomorrow are the first two series satellites for next month’s Muckleshoot Poker Classic (see last week’s Deal for more).
- The last event at the Central Oregon Poker Championships in the Bend Poker Room is this Sunday.
- The Colorado Poker Championship, at Golden Gates Casino in Black Hawk, outside Denver (DEN), wraps up this weekend with a $1.1K Main Event.
- A late arrival to the calendar is the Edmonton Poker Classic, at Casino Edmonton, in Edmonton, Alberta (YEG). There’s oil (money) in them thar provinces, and the EPO has a C$1.1K (US$840) with three starting days on September 4th, 5th, and 6th final on the 7th), with three preliminary events. Less than four hours total flight time from Portland and about $400 RT.
- WPTDeepstacks at the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa starts tomorrow and runs through the end of the month.
- The HPT hits Colorado’s Golden Gates on September 4th, which overlaps another HPT series at Grand Sierra Resort in Reno on the 11th.
- The Bay 101 Open starts on September 8th.
- And the Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza 3.5 runs from September 10th to October 4th.
Check out the Pacific Northwest Tournament Calendar for more poker…in the future.