Encore Poker Series
They promised $200K in guarantees, but the four events of the Encore Poker Series VII broke just over $300K total, with the first event doubling the guaranteed prize pool. The smallest of the events (in terms of entries) was the $50K on Saturday, which was competing with not only Halloween but also sporadic flooding in Portland, and it still beat the guarantee by more than 30%. A good time was had by all, especially the Poker Mutant.
Red Zone, The Final Chapter
Oregon’s Justin “Red” Phillips was a 2:1 favorite over the Poker Brat in Poker Update’s “Most Memorable Televised Poker Hand of All Time” contest, with a couple hundred votes cast as of yesterday night. I just checked, voting’s over, and Red’s the winner! It’s largely due to you folks, and I feel almost like I sucked out on Phil Hellmuth myself.
WSOP November Nine
Just a reminder that Sunday is the start of the World Series of Poker November Nine broadcast.
The WSOP ME weekend schedule: pic.twitter.com/Xa4NQL4SUU
— Kevin Mathers (@Kevmath) October 25, 2015
Wildhorse Resort Casino Fall Poker Round Up: Deal of the Day
Yeah, it was the Deal a month-and-a-half ago, and I usually try to pick something a little further in the future than tomorrow, but the thing about Wildhorse is that it’s the biggest series close enough to Portland that you can leave after breakfast and get there in time for the noon tournament. Everyone in town knows about it, so I’m just going to provide some numbers for everything but the satellites, based on what was reported to Hendon Mob for last year’s Fall Round Up.
The Median Cash/ROI column shows what you get if you make it through half of the players who get paid. For example, if 25 players get paid and you cash for 13th, there are 12 players who make more and 12 who make less (the median for 24 cashing players is the average of payouts for 12th and 13th). As you can see, the profit for the median cash varies widely, with the best bets for your money being the final $100 event, where the money added to the prize pool has an outsized effect.
Day | Event | Entries | Prize Pool | First Place (may represent results of a chop) | Median Cash/ROI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Friday | $100+$10 NLHE ($3K added) | 566 | $57,902 | $11,645 | N/A |
Saturday | $200+$15 NLHE ($3K added) | 489 | $97,866 | $20,922 | $600/167% |
Sunday | $200+$15 NLHE Shootout ($3K added) | 231 | $47,814 | $9,726 | $750/233% |
Monday | $200+$15 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo ($3K added) | 210 | $43,740 | $10,261 | $856/280% |
Tuesday | $200+$15 HORSE ($3K added) | 139 | $29,966 | $7,226 | $829/268% |
$100+$10 NLHE Turbo ($1K added) | 167 | $17,199 | $4,092 | $361/201% | |
Wednesday | $200+$15 NLHE Seniors ($3K added) | 227 | $47,038 | $10,453 | $623/$177% |
$1400+$100 NLHE High Roller | 64 | $86,912 | $18,251 | $7,821/421% | |
Thursday | $200+$15 NLHE ($3K added) | 281 | $58,678 | $13,441 | $725/222% |
Friday | $300+$15 NLHE ($5K added) | 364 | $110,924 | $24,264 | $814/150% |
Saturday | $500+$20 NLHE ($10K added) | 370 | $189,450 | $41,762 | $1351/155% |
Sunday | $100+$10 NLHE ($1K added) | 97 | $10,700 | $2,247 | $963/702% |
This year’s schedule is essentially the same, with the big difference being that the High Roller has been moved to Thursday. Two years ago when it was first offered, it conflicted with HORSE, which is a game that the kind of people who can afford a $1.5K buyin in a tournament are also drawn to. Last fall and this spring, it was up against the Seniors event—again where some of the deep money resides. Hopefully, this change will let the game grow a bit. Personally, I think it’s right in the sweet spot.
In addition to the regular tournament, there are super satellites for the Main Event tomorrow (11/5) and the evening of the Seniors tournament (Wednesday), super satellites for the High Roller in the evening this Sunday and Monday (11/8 & 9), single-table satellites for everything running in the mornings, and lots of cash games.
The regular rooms at the Wildhorse complex are mostly sold out for the week, but you can still find rooms in Pendleton itself without having to rent a tower suite, and the Wildhorse shuttle bus operates once an hour, on call (800-654-9453 x2), until 3am if you’re traveling in a group and not everyone has keys to the car.
This Week in Portland Poker
- It’s the first week of the month, and that means the First Friday $20K guarantee at Final Table is on. Still one of the best values of a $100 buyin tournament you can find. I was discussing with a friend on Monday whether it would be going, what with people heading out to Pendleton, but Angela posted a notice for the game to the NW Poker Facebook group as we were talking about it.
- Friday night, Portland Players Club has a $1.5K guarantee Big O tournament at 7:15pm. $40 buyin/rebuy and $20 addon.
Only a Day Away
- The Wildhorse Fall Poker Round Up starts tomorrow, see above.
- LA’s Hustler Casino Liz Flynt Fall Poker Classic puts a happy ending on their series today and tomorrow. CardPlayer‘s tournament calendar lists another $250K guarantee event there at the end of November, but there’s no mention of it on the casino’s web site.
- The Venetian Deepstacks Extravaganza IV runs until Thanksgiving. This weekend’s big event is a $1.1K buyin $200K guarantee. Next week is another $200K guarantee, but with a $600 buyin.
- Lots of Oregon folks are down at Harveys Lake Tahoe for the World Series of Poker Circuit event. The $1,675 Main Event begins Friday. Tom Ottman of Battleground, WA got close to a ring in Event #4 on Monday.
- The Mid-States Poker Tour stop at Golden Gates, west of Denver starts tomorrow. The Main Event has a $1.1K buyin and $200K guarantee.
- I almost missed the LA Poker Open at Commerce Casino in LA! Starts Friday and runs through Sunday the 22nd. The Main Event is a $500K guarantee with a $1,650 buyin, but there are a dozen or so other events including HORSE, PLO, and PLO8.
- Aria in Las Vegas has a couple more of those $25K High Rollers on November 6th and 7th to take advantage of the folks in town railing the WSOP Main Event.
- Friday the 6th is the opening of the World Tavern Poker Open at Planet Hollywood (which I wrote about last month); it ends just before the World Series of Poker Circuit hits the same venue.
- The WSOPC lands on Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas next week, planting its flag with a $580 opening event that has six starting flights over three days and a $500K guarantee.
- A little closer, WPTDeepstacks is visiting Redding, California’s Win-River Casino between the 13th and 23rd, featuring a $150K guarantee Main Event with a $1.1K buyin.
Check out the Pacific Northwest Tournament Calendar for more poker.