Pendleton After Dark
Or day. My admittedly-limited experience of Pendleton (town motto: “Working every day to be the premier city of Eastern Oregon”) leads me to the conclusion that it’s the kind of place where something called the Pendleton Leather Show (opening the first weekend of November) is not a fetish trade show but something that opens at 9am and features “saddle trees, stirrups, fancy conchos, stamping tools, saddlery tools, bootmaking supplies, glue, conditioners, dyes and much more.”
However, we are now less than a month from the start of the biggest poker tournament series in the Pacific Northwest, the Fall Poker Round Up at Wildhorse Resort & Casino, a few miles east of Pendleton proper.
Running a week-and-a-half, and with a total of $40K added to the prize pools, there are 12 events ranging from $125 (including dealer add-on) turbos and a High Roller with an $1,100 buyin, along with two satellites each into the High Roller and the $550 buyin Main Event.
Bucking a trend toward freezeout formats, Wildhorse has begun allowing re-entry over the past couple of years, along with expanding their entry period beyond the first level (any number of players delayed on the freeway for more than a half hour or just used to late entry found themselves at a loss when they got to the casino after close of registration) Not a problem now!
The schedule for this year is practically identical to previous years, with the sad exception of the Tuesday HORSE tournament. It’s been replaced by a Big O tournament which may pull in more than the 122 entries HORSE brought in each of the past two falls, but it’s a downer to see one of the few mixed-game tournaments in the Northwest dissipate.
Rooms on the weekends at Wildhorse are already scarce, though so far there seems to be plenty of stock in town—great if you don’t mind the commute, though it can get a bit wearying at the end of a long poker day. I’ve never managed to cash at Wildhorse, but I’m planning to be out there for the whole run this time around and turn that around. A few years ago, I won a Main Event seat at Portland Players Club and was all excited until I woke up in the morning to a call that my wife had a heart attack at her sister’s house that morning; last year I didn’t make it out because a tree branch fell on my convertible roof the day after the election. So it’s time to get this monkey off my back.
2016 Wildhorse Fall Poker Round Up By the Numbers
Event | Entries | First Prize | Prize Pool |
---|---|---|---|
#1 $175 No Limit Hold'em - Fri | 612 | $18,247 | $91,800 |
#2 $230 No Limit Hold'em - Sat | 522 | $20,102 | $104,400 |
#3 $230 No Limit Hold'em Shootout - Sun | 240 | $9,940 | $48,600 |
#4 $230 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo - Mon | 228 | $10,425 | $46,320 |
#5 $230 HORSE - Tue | 122 | $6,285 | $26,677 |
#6 $125 No Limit Hold'em Turbo - Tue | 161 | $4,995 | $ 16,465 |
#7 $230 No LImit Hold'em Seniors - Wed | 324 | $13,845 | $64,800 |
#8 $1,100 No Limit Hold'em High Roller - Thu | 88 | $21,000 | $88,000 |
#9 $230 No Limit Hold'em - Thu | 318 | $13,696 | $63,600 |
#10 $340 No Limit Hold'em - Fri | 474 | $29,443 | $142,200 |
#11 $550 No Limit Hold'em Main Event - Sat | 431 | $45,402 | $214,725 |
#12 $175 No Limit Hold'em Turbo - Sat | 119 | $4,651 | $17,957 |
More Portland Meadows News
Poker journalist Jen Newell is the latest to spread the word on the attempt by the Oregon Lottery to shut down the Portland Meadows with a piece at poker room, Legal US Poker News. While there’s not much new there for anyone who’s been following the saga, it does have a bit more depth and history than most. And I certainly can’t fault her use of a photo that’s actually from Portland Meadows (not to mention tweets from myself and Brian Sarchi).
Dollars4Dustin
The poker fundraiser for Medford’s Dustin Ferriera is Sunday at 2pm at Southern Oregon Poker Club. Dustin co-founded a wheelchair basketball team but was hit by a truck in a crosswalk earlier this year and the fundraiser is helping to raise money for a new wheelchair and a van.
Heathman Late Night
According to a post by Erica Sheff on the NW Poker Facebook group, there was some sort of 2am game at the Heathman Hotel Saturday night, but no info on whether it’s going to be a regular thing.
Rialto Steps It Up
The game at the Rialto has moved from 0.5/1 to 1/1 with a $300 max buyin, again according to a NW Poker post (from Sean Dalton). If 0.50/1 is still your thing, Room 52 on the east side will accommodate; according to those in the know, the chairs are quite comfortable.
8-Man (or Woman) HU
Another thread on NW Poker was getting an 8-person NLHE Heads-Up tournament together this weekend at The Game. Likely all the seats are snapped up by now, but message Daniel Ross to verify.
Daniel also posted this great picture from The Game of what he called a “crazy” game…
Omaha and PLO
Palace Casino (or is it Chips?) in Lakewood (just south of Tacoma) has announced they’re going to be running 6/12 Omaha starting at noon Sunday through Wednesday, with Big O (1/3, 5 bringin, pot limit) after 6pm on Tuesdays and PLO after 6 on Wednesday.
WSOP Satellites
Folks are already planning for next year’s WSOP Main Event, and satellites to the big game are running in a variety of places outside the state.
Every Sunday at the Wild Goose Casino in Ellensburg, Washington, you can play a $45 tournament where $20 goes into the prize pool and $20 goes into a satellite pool ($5 to the house). The winner of each weekly event gets to play in the final next May, with the top prize there getting a Main Event Seat and $1K in travel expenses.
Off the other direction at Lemoore, California’s Tachi Palace, this weekend is the first of eight monthly satellites with a $225 (no re-entry) buyin and a Main Event seat with $2K in travel costs guaranteed to first place. First Saturday of every month through May.
#DailyPokerTips
For the love of all that is holy, follow @ArtySmokesPS.
https://twitter.com/artysmokesps/status/914573682453962757
https://twitter.com/artysmokesps/status/911547697751928832
Pacific Northwest Poker Leaderboard
Lots of action from the Chinook Winds Fall Coast Classic as the numbers got assimilated into the rankings this weekend.
Fist, congratulations to Paul Whitner of Goldendale, whose first cash (2nd place in the Main Event) on Hendon Mob moved him into the top 500 on the Washington All Time Money List. Brian Bowman of Portland has only three reported cashes, but two of them are from final tables at Chinook Winds Main Events. Randall Pefferle of Bend (Main Event, 5th) and Brent Schott (Gervais, Main Event, 8th) were others who made their first cash in a big way.
Toma Barber showed up on the radar ($3K minimum) for the first time because his pre-2016 recorded cashes are under a separate account for Arizona. Always a good idea to keep an eye on your cashes (for instance, I’m pretty sure Joe Bradenburg from Portland is actually Joe Brandenburg). Both of them have more recorded earnings than I do. Happy belated birthday, Joe!
The big winner was, of course, Binh “Jimmy” Nguyen, whose win in the Main Event moved him from 33rd in the Oregon All Time ranks to 29th. Dave Tragethon‘s 3rd place finish moved him all the way from 833rd to 249th, the biggest move in absolute numbers as well as percentage improvement. Glenn Larson was another big mover, though not as a result of anything at Chinook Winds; he took 7th place in the WSOP Circuit Main Event at Thunder Valley, which was good for a move from 700th to 322nd on the Washington money list. Back at Chinook, Eunhee Kim Chan jumped 128 places to 284th with two final tables (winning the Rattlesnake Boss Bounty and 4th in the 6-Max). Brad Press was in a deal made at the next-to-last tournament final table and took home enough to move up to 176th from 198th on the Oregon money list.
Pot That Beach
Eugene’s Beach Poker Club Check out their Facebook postis celebrating their first anniversary on Friday with a party at 7pm. Oh, and there’s poker. for info on how to get extra chips.
This Week In Portland Poker
It’s the first week of the month and that should mean a $20K guarantee First Friday at Final Table.
Only a Day Away
- The Wynn Fall Classic $500K GTD is this weekend with a $1,600 buyin.
- At Deepstacks Poker Tour Battle of Alberta in Calgary, there’s a NLHE PLO mix game (C$330 buyin) Thursday at 2pm. Their C$2K buyin C$500K GTD Main Event starts Friday.
- The Stones $250K Fall Classic is running at Stones Gambling Hall and its $150K GTD Main Event (450 buyin) has entry days Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
- The Bicycle Casino/Card Player Poker Tour V Big Poker Oktober started this week, and this weekend features a $245 buyin $400K GTD with six flights from Thursday through Saturday (11am and 4pm each day). There’s a $10K Limit O8/Big O game on Monday at 1pm.
- The RealGrinders poker group at the Venetian has Big O on Friday, O8 on Saturday, and a $300 NLHE Main Event on Sunday.
- Heartland Poker Tour Kansas City, is at the Ameristar Thursday.
- Four $365 entry flights over three days to a $500K GTD tournament open the WSOPC Chicago at Horseshoe Hammond starting next Thursday.
- A week from Monday is the start of Run It Up Reno, at the Peppermill. They’ve got HORSE!
- The always-buys Thunder Valley Resort and Casino hosts the Ante Up NorCal Classic from 16—22 October. There’s a $150K GTD Main Event, $10K GTD O8, and a couple of other goodies on the menu.
- There’s another Venetian Weekend Extravaganza from 16—22 October, with the big event a $340 buyin $100K GTD.
Remember to keep an eye on the #PNWPokerCal Twitter hashtag and the PNW Poker Calendar for upcoming events!