Portlander Wins World Poker Tour Five Diamond Main Event

I thought my little interview would be the most Portland thing in poker last week, then Sunday, Devin Sweet posted in NW Poker about James Romero’s first-place finish in one of the WPT’s premiere events at the Bellagio, for $1.938 million, a record prize for a WPT $10,400 buyin event.

The second paragraph of the story leads off: “The Portland, OR resident was active early and often at the final table, opening the betting action more than any other player on the final day of this six-day $10,400 buy-in tournament.”

Romero also wins a seat in the $15,000 WPT Tournament of Champions, a big-ass Hublot watch, and some Monster headphones.

I have to say that I was completely flabbergasted when I saw Devin’s post. I can’t say that I’ve ever met James, and I’m not even sure if he plays here in town. He certainly isn’t playing large tournaments outside of Portland, his two previous Hendon Mob cashes came to less less than half my total, if that can be believed. In a WPT article published before the beginning of the final table:

Coming out of nowhere to reach the prestigious WPT Five Diamond Main Event final table, Romero told the WPT he has plays a little bit of online poker and that he doesn’t play much live poker.

“Mostly just a little bit of online play and running really well in a 10K,” Romero added.

https://twitter.com/pokermutant/status/808102781487697924

According to his coaching profile at Drag The Bar from early in the decade, Romero (aka boardrider68) was raised in Orange County, CA, played lots of games as a kid, and was at the time studying finance and economics at the University of Oregon.He mentions he played Sit-n-Gos on PokerStars (and had a 46% ROI), and over a couple of years he produced several dozen videos at stakes between $4.40 and $20.

The boardrider68 handle is only tracked on PokerStars for three years at Official Poker Rankings, but racked up a decent $75K in winnings at stakes smaller than $20 for the most part (and rankings in the top 1.2% all three years), with nearly 1,900 PokerStars tournaments in 2010, then just 701 in 2011 before things were cut short by Black Friday.

Romero’s Facebook page lists him as living in Costa Rica (and there’s a brief endorsement from him at Poker Refugees—a company that sprang up to help players re-locate outside the US after Black Friday—but presumably he moved at least part-time to Portland after graduating from UofO.

I’m hoping that 10K he did well in was here in town; it’d be nice to think the seed money for the big win came from some locals. Congrats to the champ! The rest of Portland gets a whack at a WPT $10K buyin in February at the Commerce Casino’s LAPC!

Rialto Saved By Bell

According to a report in Willamette Week, the Rialto pool room is transitioning to new management who are rescuing it from a planned Christmas closure and say their plans are to keep it “the same but better,” which would be good news for poker players who like some downtown action.

High Roller Radio

Just in case you missed it. Last week’s interview with High Roller Radio. Seems a little mundane now….

Snow Days

Last weekend was kind of icy and Final Table announced there would be no guarantee on the Friday night game because of weather. Snow’s due to move in again this afternoon, so it might be another slow week for special events. Oh, and Christmas is coming. The Deal of the Week and This Week In Portland Poker sections will be back after Christmas, unless I get something special across the transom before then.

Only a Day Away

• The World Series of Poker Circuit at The Bicycle Casino runs through Tuesday. This week is nothing but entry days to the $500K that has its Day 2 (and final day) on Tuesday. Two flights each day, at noon and 5:30pm with $240 buyins.
• The Venetian New Year’s Extravaganza begins next Thursday and runs through 8 January. The first five days feature one-day events with guarantees between $5K and $25K, then there are three entry days to a $125K tournament with a $250 buyin. A $400 buyin $100K event starts New Year’s Day, followed by a $250 buyin $150K guarantee that concludes on 8 January.

Remember to keep an eye on the #PNWPokerCal Twitter hashtag and the PNW Poker Calendar for upcoming events!