Mike Shariati had to get past popular pro Freddy Deeb to win the World Poker Tour’s Legends of Poker Main Event at the Bicycle Casino.He earned $675,942, including a $15,400 WPT championship seat. Deeb took home $383K.This is the second victory for Shariati this year, winning the Mega Millions for $275K in March.
Some other highlights: Wendy Weissman won Event 10 (pot-limit stud/8-Omaha/8) for $3,505.… Event 15 (PLO/8) started with 58 entries, 50 rebuys and 78 add-ons creating a prize pool of $18,600 as Peter Augustine won the title, $5K and a $550 seat to the HORSE tournament. … The Friends with Bike on Facebook Event had a $25K guarantee, drawing 431 entries for a $36,084 prize pool.Meir Itaev took first place for $9,754. … Boris Goldstein won the Mega Millions for $263,195 as the event had 5K-plus entries. Goldstein entered for $160 plus a $100 add-on.… Aditya Prasetyo captured Event 24 (bounty, $50K guarantee) for $14,905 plus 10 bounties of $500 each. Nipun Java finished second ($8,845 plus nine bounties).Java had three other cashes in this series, including fifth in the Mega for $57,595.
PECHANGA RESORT CASINO: For Temecula, Calif., resident Alan Reyes, staying up until the early morning hours paid off in the form of a new Mercedes.His name was pulled from thousands of entries at a 2 a.m. drawing.Reyes is a former U.S. military member. “When I heard my name called, I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I’ll keep the car and give it to my wife. She’ll drive me around,” he said with a smile.
TOURNAMENT SERIES: The Bicycle Casino’s Big Poker Oktober runs until Oct. 14. Call the poker room for details. … The Liz Flynt Fall Classic runs Oct. 13-Nov. 5 at the Hustler Casino in the Los Angeles area. … The River Card Quest for the Cup at Pala Casino is Oct. 31 and has a $240 buy-in.
Northern California
TURLOCK POKER ROOM: The room’s Championship Series runs Oct. 1-11 with nine events, including the $550 main event. The series kicks off with a bounty event Oct. 1 ($180, 4 p.m.) followed by a three-day event Oct. 2-4 ($230, 1 p.m.). Event 3 is a $125 mega-satellite Oct. 4 (4 p.m.). Oct. 5 is a NLHE Raise It event ($75, 4 p.m.) and Oct. 6 is a bounty event ($100, 4 p.m.). There will be two events Oct. 7: Omaha/8 ($125, 2 p.m.) and 50-50 NLHE ($115, 6 p.m.). The main event has a $75K guarantee with three starting days (Oct. 8-10) at noon. The final day of the main event is Oct. 11, the same day as the last event of the series, another bounty tourney ($115, 6 p.m.).
NAPA VALLEY CASINO: The American Canyon room is a great choice for any player around Wine Country. It has some strong daily promotions and jackpots. The main jackpot is the $50K Monster Bad Beat, which has a qualifier of quad eights. The $3K Easy Bad Beat has a qualifier of aces full of 10s (the Omaha qualifier is quad 10s). Napa Valley also pays players for hitting a royal flush in hold’em and Omaha. Make sure to visit early as players earn extra $10 from 9-11 a.m. to play in limit hold’em and Omaha games.
GRATON RESORT AND CASINO: In Rohnert Park, there are multiple promotions, including a Jumbo Hold’em Jackpot where all qualifying guests in the room win when the jackpot is hit. There are high-hand promotions in hold’em and Omaha. The Mini Bad-Beat runs daily and has a qualifier of aces full being beaten by quads. The first 20 players who play Monday through Friday from 8-10 a.m. will receive $100 for their $80 buy-in.
Graton also has some fine weekly tournaments, including a $60 event on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 a.m. Players receive 5K chips with an opportunity to receive 2.5K more with an optional $10 staff appreciation fee. There’s a $140 bounty event every Sunday at 10 a.m. Players get 8K chips but get 2K more with an optional $10 staff appreciation fee.
Las Vegas
The football season is upon us and that means great football promos in the Las Vegas poker rooms. Here’s a look at what’s available:
MANDALAY BAY: High hand of the quarter for morning and evening games on Sunday, plus Monday and Thursday night games earn $100, but that rolls over if a qualifying hand isn’t hit. The minimum hand is jacks full.
STRATOSPHERE: Football squares run for three games on Sunday and a flush or better gets a square. Each quarter’s square gets $100. Unclaimed prizes for each quarter are rolled over to the next week with a maximum roll over amount of $500.
TREASURE ISLAND: For every 10 hours of live play in a week, players get an entry into the Pro Football Pick’em contest. Players pick winners in the week’s slate of games and the top three players with the most correct picks get $500, $300 and $200. The player with the most picks at season’s end gets an additional $2K, runner-up gets $1K and third through 12th place gets $500 each.
SANTA FE STATION: Football squares for morning and night games on Sunday, plus Monday and Thursday night games are worth $50 and will roll over if unclaimed. Aces full gets one square, straight flush gets two squares and a royal gets three squares.
PALACE STATION: Football squares for the Sunday morning game and the Sunday, Monday and Thursday night game earn $50 for the first three quarters and the final score is $100. Money rolls over if the winner is not present. Players get squares for 10s full or better. An interesting twist is that players also get a square for winning a showdown with 7-2 off suit.
CLUB FORTUNE: Any full house beginning on Mondays earns a football square to the Sunday night game. The prizes are $50 for the first quarter, $75 for the second, $100 for the third and $200 for the final score.
LUXOR: Players get raffle tickets at the start of each Sunday, Monday and Thursday night game and get another ticket at the beginning of each subsequent quarter.
Players can earn a ticket for each half-hour of live play before game time. Tickets are drawn at the end of every quarter and are worth $25. Tickets are drawn after each score: $50 for a field goal, $100 for a TD and $400 for a safety. Players who win the drawings earn multipliers for the high hand of the hour Tuesday and Wednesday mornings (9-1 p.m.).
SUNCOAST: Three Sunday games as well as the Monday and Thursday night games have football squares. All quarters are worth $50 and roll over if unclaimed.
Players earn squares for getting an ace-high flush or better in a cash game or for cashing in a daily tournament. Double squares are awarded from 11 p.m. to 9 a.m. and for playing $4-$8 limit or any NLHE game.
RED ROCK: Cash drawings are for Sunday morning and evening games, plus Monday and Thursday night games. After every touchdown, a random player is awarded $100 ($150 for the Monday night game) and two tables are selected for $50 splash pots. Field goals are worth $50 and $25.
ORLEANS: Sunday morning and evening games have random-seat drawings and splash pots ($50 for a field goal, $100 for a TD, $200 for a safety or a TD by the defense or special teams). Same amounts are splashed at the table of the winning player. Monday and Thursday games pay $300 for the highest hands of each quarter (ace-high flush or better). Up to three hands split the $300.
SAM’S TOWN: Monday’s game has squares, $75 for each quarter with a $25 bonus for players active in a cash game at the time. Qualifying hands start out at kings full or better and decrease daily.
GREEN VALLEY: For Sunday afternoon and evening games, players who flop quads or straight flushes win prizes between $250 and $1K.
FLAMINGO: Three Sunday games will have random drawings, $50 for a field goal, $100 for a TD and two $100 winners for a safety.
SOUTH POINT: There are football squares for Sunday, Monday and Thursday night games as aces full qualify. The first three quarters are worth $50 and the final score wins $100. The Sunday game of the week will have cash drawings, $50 for a field goal, $100 for a TD and $200 for a safety.
PLANET HOLLYWOOD: For three games Sunday as well as Monday and Thursday night games, look for splash pots for tables randomly selected for each field goal ($25) and TD ($50). Safeties and special teams scores will earn every table a $25 splash pot. All splash pot values double in overtime.
OTHER NEWS: The Linq reopened its poker room, which had closed in January. The new location of the four-table room is at the front of the property, practically on the Strip.
Carrie Jacobs, long-time supervisor of the old room, is manager. The main cash game is a $1-$1 NLHE with a $50-$300 min-max. It also offers a $1-$3 game with a $100 min and no cap. On busier nights, a $1-$1 PLO game spreads ($50-$300). High-hand bonuses are offered. Four $45 tournaments are offered daily (11 a.m., 3 p.m., 8 and 11). Players start with 5K chips and levels are 15 minutes.
The World Series of Poker Circuit returns to Planet Hollywood on Nov. 12-23. The $1,675 main event offers a $1.5M guarantee and starts Nov. 20. Two charity events are part of series. The Jennifer Harman celebrity event for the Nevada SPCA is Nov. 14. The next day, Patrick Schwarzenegger hosts the All-In for Best Buddies event. A $250 dealer’s choice non-ring two-day tournament starts Nov. 17. A two-day, $3,250 buy-in high roller is Nov. 22.
The Wynn Fall Classic runs Oct. 15-25. All the events are NLHE, including a $600 seniors event that opens the series and offers a $50K guarantee. The $1,600 championship begins Oct. 23 and has a $300K guarantee.
— Check out Rob Solomon’s blog at robvegaspoker.blogspot.com.
Reno
ELDORADO HOTEL AND CASINO: The Poker Challenge and Tournament of Champions on Oct. 21-25 with a minimum of $40K guaranteed.
The series features eight events, plus satellites to the Tournament of Champions. Buy-ins are $65 for satellites (Oct. 21, 6 p.m. and Oct. 24, 10 a.m.). Most events are $125 but the TOC, which starts Oct. 24, has a $1K buy-in.
There will be $5K added to Events 1 and 3, which both sport $240 buy-ins. See the ad at the left for the schedule and more details, including a special $2K bounty on Gregg Carano.
HARVEYS LAKE TAHOE: The World Series of Poker Circuit makes its annual visit Oct. 29-Nov. 9 with the $1,675 main event Nov. 6.
GRAND SIERRA: After several attempts to win a Heartland Poker Tour event, Duke Lee finally broke through on Sept. 21.
The pro player from San Francisco beat a tough field, including November Niner Neil Blumenfield, to claim $59,494 and an HPT bracelet.
Fellow pro Robert Mitchell of Salt Lake City was runner-up. On the final hand, Mitchell put the remainder of his chips into the middle with top pair and was quickly called by Lee’s straight. Mitchell walked away with $36,994. Local Reno man Marty Gorenc was third ($22,460).
Pacific Northwest
Muckleshoot Casino had its Summer Classic on Sept. 17-21 and this series had $55K added to the prize pool.
Congratulations to the winners, who were as follows: Corey Hauser, Edward Gibson and Samuel Caporal chopped Event 1 for $6K each; Glenn Miller, Tshering Sherpa and Jonathan Vesikuru chopped Event 2 for $10K each; Allen Thorpe took Event 3 for $17K and Gennadiy Dvosis won Event 4 for $20K.
The main event drew 230 players seeking the first-place payday of $48K, but the event wasn’t over at press time. Look for results next issue.
Muckleshoot is 31 miles southeast of Seattle in Auburn, Wash., and is the largest poker room in the region with 32 tables.
It routinely spreads $4-$8 limit and Omaha/8 games, no-limit hold’em games with $3-$5 blinds (subject to the state-mandated $500 limit per bet, of course) and occasionally gets a $15-$30 Omaha/8 slugfest.
UPCOMING PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS: Wizards Casino in Burien, 12 miles south of Seattle, has an added-money tournament at noon daily. It’s a $35 buy-in with $500 added ($40 buy-in on Sundays) and these events are popular with locals.
Of course, if the poker room keeps adding $500 daily, that works out to more than $180K per year, which is more than many area tournament series add to their tourneys.
Wizards is a 15-table cardroom with four tables featuring $2-$20 spread limit cash games.
In addition to added-money tournaments, promotions include Double Monte Carlo Mondays, high hands Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights and a monthly $4K freeroll for players with more than 40 hours of cash play.
Meet Josh Hayes
Josh Hayes has been a dealer in Las Vegas since 2004. He has been dealing at the MGM Grand’s poker room since 2005.
How did you get into poker? I started out dealing blackjack and roulette at Jokers Wild Casino in Henderson, a small locals casino. They opened a poker room within my first year working there. When I saw that it was much better pay and less stress than working in the pit, I signed up for poker school the next day and transferred within two months.
Why play at MGM? We have more rooms (5,005 plus three condo towers) than any other property on the Strip. Between that and the Grand Garden Arena events, there’s always a large influx of tourists to play against. Our $1-$2 no-limit action is generally among the best on the Strip.
What do you do when you’re not dealing poker? I host and produce four fantasy sports podcasts and write daily fantasy sports articles forrotowire.com. If I’m not doing that, I’m likely chasing my 1-year-old daughter around. — Rob Solomon
