The Chinook Winds Resort Casino in Lincoln City, Ore., held its Fall Coast Poker Classic with 24 events and $900K in guarantees Sept. 7-15.
The $250K guarantee main event drew 324 players for the $575 tourney as Salem’s Casey Ring and Portland’s Rich Bak chopped the title for $44K each. In other events, Dan Anderson (Forks, Wash.) won the $2,500 high roller for $46K; Tri Ton (Portland) notched the opening $125K guarantee for $26K; Andy Su (Portland) captured $13K for Event 2.
John Gribben (Olympia, Wash.) and Ante Up Pacific Northwest Ambassador Darrel Plant (Portland) chopped Event 3 for $10K each. Other winners: Jason Heiner (Everett, Wash., Event 7, six-max, $8K), Carl Oman (Vancouver, Wash., Event 17 big bounty, $13K), Gilbert Marquez (Los Angeles, Event 18, Big O, $6K) and Alex Kuzarov (Portland, Event 22, $7K).
Looking ahead, Chinook Winds hosts the PacWest Poker Classic series Feb. 15-24.
PORTLAND MEADOWS: Brittany Mercier and Josh Harding, two staples of the poker-dealing world, tied the knot in September and a celebration tournament Sept. 28 drew 232 entries for a $43K prize pool. Portland theater director Jerry Mouawad took first for $8K.
BEND POKER ROOM: Stuart Young of Portland won the $520 event Sept. 29 for $12,360. The two-day tourney drew 95 entries to nearly double the guarantee for $47K-plus prize pool.
WILDHORSE RESORT AND CASINO: The Fall Round Up returns Nov. 7-17 to Pendleton, Ore., with $40K added to prize pools in 12 events and super-satellites.
The schedule includes a no-limit hold’em shootout, Big O, Omaha/8 and HORSE, with $125-$600 buy-ins. The main-event prize pool has averaged about $200K over the past three years.
Wildhorse is in Eastern Oregon’s high desert country, 220 miles east of Portland and about 300 miles southeast of Seattle.
MUCKLESHOOT CASINO: The Auburn, Wash., poker room has 19 tables spreading limit and Omaha/8 games. The monthly hours bonus awards $100-$700 for 20-100 hours of live play.
TULALIP RESORT CASINO: The poker room closed Oct. 31.
— Darrel Plant, aka Poker Mutant, is a blogger at mutantpoker.com who has written for PokerNews and was a reporter for the 2016 WSOP.
Reno
ATLANTIS CASINO RESORT SPA: The poker room has multiple promotions, including getting paid for high hands and spinning the prize wheel. See AtlantisCasino.com for more information.
HARVEYS LAKE TAHOE: The WSOPC’s $1,700 main event begins Nov. 1 at 11 a.m. (Flight A) and Nov. 2 at 11 a.m. (Flight B).
SILVER LEGACY: There is a $65 deepstack Sundays at 1 p.m. Late registration and re-entry are allowed through Level 6.
PEPPERMILL: The Poker Players $10K freeroll has qualifying through Dec. 31. If you play 180 live hours during the period you can play in the event. Call the poker room for details.
GRAND SIERRA: Every Friday is a $50 tourney at 6:30 p.m. Players get 5K chips and there are $20 rebuys for 2.5K chips through Level 4 and a $40 add-on for 7.5K.
Northern California
The 22nd annual Gold Rush Series runs Nov. 15-25 at Lucky Chances Casino in Colma, Calif., offering three six-figure guarantees. The first is a three-flight $250K guarantee Nov. 15-18 with 20K stacks and 30-minute levels for $610 and a 5K add-on for $30. The second is a two-flight $100K guarantee Nov. 19-21 with 15K stacks and 30-minute levels for $355 and a 5K add-on for $25.
The $1,100 main event runs Nov. 22-25 and has a $500K guarantee with 25K stacks and 40-minute levels. There’s a 10K add-on for $40. Players can win a seat to each of these tournaments Nov. 9-14 in morning $255 super-satellites as 1 in 10 players receives a $355, $610 and a $1,100 entry.
THUNDER VALLEY: Win a share of $10K each Monday during football season with multiple splash-pot tables of $50 and $100 each hour, as well as at kickoff, halftime and end of the Monday night football game.
A new Jeep is the grand prize for the Roads Untraveled promotion, which ends Nov. 20. Weekly cash drawings run through Nov. 13 as players can win a share of $3,600 each Wednesday.
The final drawing on Nov. 20 awards $500 to nine players and a Jeep to the grand-prize winner.
See the ad on Pages 14-15 of our current issue for details and schedule to the WPT DeepStacks series that runs Nov. 8-25. The $1,500 main event has a $500K guarantee.
GRATON RESORT AND CASINO: Hourly $500 high hands are Saturdays (noon-8 p.m.). Sundays (noon-8 p.m.) are $650 table-share Hot Seat Drawings, while hourly high hands Mondays-Thursdays (10 a.m.-10 p.m.) pay $100 for aces full or better.
The $340 Super Saturday tournament offered the third Saturday each month has 10K stacks and 30-minute levels.
TURLOCK POKER ROOM: Cash-game players earn tickets per hour played to win monthly prizes and the grand prize of a trip to the Super Bowl.
Earn a ticket by playing 4 p.m.-2 a.m., two tickets 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and three tickets hourly 2-8 a.m. There are 10 hours of prize drawings the first Saturday of each month, with Saturday prize winners being entered into the grand-prize giveaway Dec. 7.
GARLIC CITY CASINO: There are $125 tournaments each Monday at 7 p.m. and Saturday 3 p.m. at Gilroy’s Cardroom with 10K stacks with no rebuys or add-ons.
There’s one re-entry allowed per player while registration is open. Also, $40 tournaments are Wednesdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. (2K stacks, 15-minute levels, $20 rebuys during registration).
— Dan Ross, the northern California Ante Up Ambassador, is owner of Hold’em Media Group, including Hold’em Radio Podcast Network and the Hold’em Live Updates tournament reporting team. He can be reached at dan@holdemradio.com.
Las Vegas
Eric Baldwin of Las Vegas earned $81K for winning the MSPT main event at Venetian’s Deep Stack Extravaganza in September.
Richard Schneiderman of the United Kingdom took second for $50K and Jason Gooch of Texas was third for $36K. The $1,100 event drew 377 players, creating a $367K prize pool, crushing the $250K guarantee.
The $1,600 main event of the next DSE has two starting flights, beginning Nov. 20, and a $400K guarantee. Players start with 30K chips and get 60-minute levels. Players can enter or re-enter as late as Level 13, which is 3:30 p.m. on Day 2.
The series runs through Dec. 1. The last big event is a $400 Monster Stack (Nov. 29) with a $100K guarantee. Players get 30K chips and 40-minute levels.
PLANET HOLLYWOOD: The WSOPC returns Nov. 15-26. The $1,700 main event, which has a $1M guarantee, begins Nov. 23 and has two starting flights. Players get 30K chips and 40-minute blinds until Level 16 (60 minutes).
HARRAH’S: The WSOPC returns Dec. 12-22. The $250 opener (Dec. 12) has three starting flights and a $50K guarantee. A three-starting-flight $600 event with a $100K guarantee starts Dec. 13. The $1,700 main event has two starting flights beginning Dec. 19 and a $500K guarantee.
THE ORLEANS: The off-Strip poker room revised its tournament schedule. The morning event runs daily at 11:05 a.m. It’s a $100 Super Stack. Players get 25K chips, 20-minute levels and a $5K guarantee.
The evening tournaments start at 7:05 and offer a variety of disciplines. Sundays feature a $125 HORSE tournament. Monday is a $100 Omaha/8-stud/8 mix. Pot-limit Omaha runs Tuesday for $100. The $100 eight-game mix is Wednesday. Thursday features an Omaha/8 tourney. All events have 20-minute levels 15K stacks.
The $130 Friday night event is one of the most popular regularly scheduled tournaments in town. Players get 15K chips, 30-minute levels and a $15K guarantee. A $150 bounty tournament runs Saturday evening. The bounty is $50 and the levels start at 20 minutes, increasing to 30 minutes at Level 7.
The cash games are always busy. Multiple tables of $2-$4 and $4-$8 limit always are going, the minimum buy-ins are $20 and $40, respectively.
Orleans is the place for Omaha/8. Both $4-$8 with a $40 minimum and $8-$16 with a $80 minimum run around the clock. And, of course, the $1-$3 NLHE game ($100-$500) is spread over multiple tables 24-7.
High hands and bad-beat jackpots for hold’em and Omaha are offered. Tournament players are eligible for the Tournament Player of the Month jackpot.
BELLAGIO: The WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic runs Dec. 5-22. The $10,400 main event is Dec. 16. There are two $1,100 seniors events (Dec. 5 and 10).
HEARTLAND POKER TOUR: The HPT returns to Vegas, this time at the M Resort. The series runs Dec. 5-16. The $1,650 main event begins Dec. 12.
THE STRAT: That’s the name for the old Stratosphere. Also, the poker room moved to the retail level. High hands pay $300 for a royal, $150 for a straight flush and $75 for quads. There’s a $50 high hand paid every even hour. The room also offers a $100 High Hand Game Starter. The highest hand during the 11 a.m.-noon hour receives $100.
EXCALIBUR: The NFL promo covers the Sunday morning game as well as the Monday and Thursday night games. High Hand of the Hour starts two hours before kickoff and runs to 3 p.m. on Sunday and 11 p.m. on Monday and Thursday. During the game, a random seat gets $50 for a field goal, $100 for touchdown and $200 for a safety.
GREEN VALLEY RANCH: The tournament schedule features a
$45 tournament daily at 10 a.m. Players get 5K chips and 20-minute levels. There’s a $5 dealer add-on for 5K chips.
The $1-$2 hold’em game always runs with a $100-$300 min-max. A $2-$5 game ($200-$500) runs, too. Limit games are popular with $2-$4, $3-$6 and $4-$8 all offered.
Among the promos is Poker Payday. Players get $100 for playing 20 hours of live poker in a week. The Quad Floppers promo awards players $500 for flopping quads on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. On Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday (10 a.m.-10 p.m.), there’s a random drawing every half-hour awarding a player $50. There’s a progressive royal jackpot that starts at $250 and increases $100 each week. The Golden Goals promo hits during Vegas Golden Knights games. Every time the home team scores, two players are selected for a $50 prize and their tables get a $50 splash pot.
— Check out Rob Solomon’s blog at robvegaspoker.blogspot.com.
Southern California
Stefano Moreale topped a field of 252 entries to win the Season 6 WPT DeepStacks San Diego Main Event at Ocean’s 11 Casino. The San Diego resident took home the biggest cash of his career, $58,480, including a $3K championship prize package.
“It’s great, when you run this good it’s easy,” he said. “I play here all the time, so I’m familiar with the faces and the dealers. The first day was like playing in a $100 tournament here for the first couple of orbits. It was like playing in my living room.”
Rounding out the top 10 were Landen Lucas ($38,985), Shaun Davis ($24,750), Grant Foster ($15,055), Ryan Howe ($11,625), Sando Yin ($9,635), Sean Edelenbos ($8,090), Brian Nordin ($6,760) and Rich Lanes ($5,550).
GARDENS CASINO: WPT DeepStacks runs Dec. 14-Jan. 4.
BICYCLE HOTEL AND CASINO: The WSOP Circuit series will return Nov. 30-Dec. 11 and features buy-ins of $250-$3,250. There are numerous guarantees. Also, the Golden State Ladies Championship is Nov. 1-2.
CHARITY EVENT: On Sept. 20, the fifth annual All-In for K9 charity event benefitted Pets Landing. Actor Tony Denison won the tourney after beating Ante Up Southern California Ambassador Kittle Aleman and her husband, Mark, when the field reached three-handed play.
Meet Celina Lin
Celina Lin is an escape-room fanatic, escaping from 150 worldwide. She also travels to many events, such as EPT Monte Carlo, Barcelona and APPT Macau. You can follow her on Twitter (@celinalin) and Instagram (celina_lin).
How did you start playing poker? It all started in 2004, by chance as I was passing through the Crown Casino poker room in Melbourne. I was flagged down by someone to try out poker as they were playing short-handed at the time. That night I had no idea what I was doing and somehow the players on the table couldn’t figure me out since I was clueless as well. But I was just playing very aggressively and won a lot.
The following three weeks I managed to win $10K and created my bankroll. It was a time where anything seemed possible and I found a game that I was passionate about and could win significant amount of money.
Best poker encounter? My best poker experience was being approached to play poker as an ambassador for PokerStars.
Future plans for poker? I have been more involved in creating content for the Chinese poker community, as an emerging poker market, many players feel that tools for learning the game are rather limited. I have been working on translating strategy articles on Poker School Online and offering onsite help to the Chinese players who are traveling outside of China for poker events. — Philip Roth
