The New Year means new resolutions and fresh opportunities to build your bankroll. There are many ways to do that around Northern California as the year kicks off strong with a major tournament series and some great events to help restock the shelves of your local food banks.
Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln is partnering with the World Poker Tour and starting the year off with three tournaments as part of its WPT Kickoff.
The first is a $150 no-limit hold’em event with a $25K guarantee on New Year’s Day at 11 a.m. The second event is a $150 bounty with a $10K guarantee on Jan. 2 at 11 a.m.
Finally, Thunder Valley and the WPT will hold a one-day $100K guarantee Jan. 3 at 11 a.m. This tournament will have a $400 buy-in with host and legendary WPT executive tour director Matt Savage.
There also will be two satellite events Jan. 2 (5 p.m. and 8 p.m.) with a $90 buy-in and the top 20 percent winning a seat into the $100K guarantee.
Thunder Valley hosts another Heartland Poker Tour series Jan. 15-26. This 10-event series kicks off with a $200K guarantee Jan. 15-18 and includes a live-streaming final table. Other events include bounty, six-handed, Omaha/8, Escalator, pot-limit Omaha, HORSE, Open Face Chinese Pineapple and Survivor.
The series is highlighted by the $1,650 main event, which has three starting days (Jan. 22-24) with Day 2 on Jan. 25. The nationally televised final table will be played at Thunder Valley’s Red Lantern on Jan. 26.
The most recent HPT main event at Thunder Valley had a prize pool of $700K-plus with winner Joseph Christman of Pacifica, Calif., taking home $165K.
One final note on Thunder Valley: If you’re looking for the recap of the successful Ante Up Poker Tour NorCal Classic, please read our coverage on Page 37 of our January issue.
RESTOCK THE SHELVES: Jan. 19 is a day to give back to your community by participating in one of our Restock the Shelves events around Northern California.
There are six poker rooms hosting one of these charitable events. The 101 Casino (Petaluma), Bankers Casino (Salinas), Livermore Casino, Jackson Rancheria. Lucky Chances in Colma and Red Hawk Casino (Placerville) will participate so it will be easy for you to go no matter where you live in NorCal. The main objective of these tournaments is to collect as many non-perishable canned goods for the local community, which is a great way to continue the holiday cheer while helping the less fortunate.
— Email Garrett at roth@anteupmagazine.com.
