Kim Poff
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the GoFundMe site for Kim. A generous donation from Dan Pasko reached the goal on Christmas Day. Don’t let that stop you from continuing to help out.
Mutant Poker In Review: 2015
It’s been a pleasure to bring you news and info on Portland and Northwest poker tournaments and players for the past year (or, at least, the last half of it). As I mentioned a couple of weeks back, the blog’s been around for five years, but 2015 was the year I tried to do much more than write about my own games mixed with some analytical articles.
I started running daily reports on NW players in Vegas for the WSOP and other series in early June, combing reports for mentions of anyone from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia.
Then, in the first week of August, I started running these weekly round-ups, based on the tournament calendar I’d been maintaining for a couple of years already.
For months now, I’ve been struggling with a display issue on the calendar. It looked fine to me in the edit mode, but there was an issue that added padding at the beginning and end of the blocks designating events that made it difficult to read single-day events (or the ends of some multi-day events that spanned more than one week). It was some fairly complex JavaScript that computed positions of the overlays and I was never able to get it figured out, but a different WordPress theme fixed it in a second, so you’ll see things look better now. The trouble I go through for you guys….
Then, a couple months ago, I egged you folks on to affect the results of PokerUpdate’s “Most Memorable” televised poker hand. That was sort of fun.
I put up 110 posts over the year, with a 38-day streak during the WSOP, but the top three posts on the site for the year were all put up before 2014 (“Sweet Spot,” “How Good Is Good Enough?,” and “Why Not Rebuy?“).
Anyway, now that the new year’s about to begin, there are lots of tournament options opening up (tip for newbies, events are colorized by geographic region: Nevada, California, Oregon/Washington/BC, and Other—mostly Alberta, Colorado, and Arizona—and there are buttons above the calendar that can be used to hide or show various regions).
It’s been a treat. Hope we all have a good 2016.
Deal of the Day: Tulalip Poker Pow Wow
You’d think that there would be a little more promotional lead-up to a 10-day poker series, but maybe Tulalip doesn’t need to do anything more than draw in the locals. Anyway, the January Poker Calendar was posted the other day, and right there at the top is the 2016 Poker Pow Wow, running from the 22nd to the 31st of the month. Here’s the schedule (there are some satellites to the Main Event running in the week prior to the series, as well):
- Two-day NLHE with 2 entry days (1/22-23, with final on 1/24). $235 buy-in. Structure sheets don’t specify re-buys, dealer appreciation, or fees, though there is a mention of ODAF in some of the notes below the schedule.
- PLO8 with $150 buy-in (1/25)
- NLHE Seniors. $235 buy-in (1/26)
- PLO. $235 buy-in (1/27)
- Two-day NLHE Main Event with 3 entry days (1/28-30, final on 1/31) with $10K added to the prize pool. $500 buy-in.
All events at noon.
If you’re at Tulalip for the $60 Main Event satellite on the 20th, there’s a drawing for six Main Event seats.
This Week in Portland Poker
- Final Table gets the Portland poker year off to a jumpstart with their First Friday $20K at 7pm. $100 buy-in/re-entry and a $50 add-on.
- Encore Club adds to the first weekend of 2016 with a $20K on Saturday at 8pm. Also $100 buy-in/re-entry and $50 add-on. Encore is closed New Year’s Eve.
- Aces Full is closed New Year’s Event and New Year’s Day. They’ll ring in the New Year with a $1K guarantee at noon on Saturday.
- The Game is closing at 10pm New Year’s Eve (but they’ll be open New Year’s Day).
Only a Day Away
- The Venetian New Year’s Extravaganza runs through January 10.
- The WPT California Swing Kickoff that was last week’s Deal is this weekend, with the $100K on Saturday and the Rolling Thunder main Event satellite on Sunday, both for a $400 buy-in.
- WPTDeepstacks at Hustler Casino in LA starts Saturday and runs through the 11th. It’s followed immediately by the four-day Liz Flynt Poker Championship (January 12-15). Event 1 of WPT Deepstacks is a $350 buy-in with a $250K guarantee. The Main Event is $1.1K with a $300K guarantee. The Liz Flynt event is a $200K with a $275 buy-in and six entry flights over three days.
- Sunday is a $317 buy-in Super Deepstack Freezeout at Black Diamond Poker Club in Albany. 1pm start time and 60K in chips.
- Sunday the 10th is an event at a club I haven’t mentioned before. Stones Gambling Hall is a new(ish) venue in the Sacramento area, in Citrus Heights about halfway between Sacramento and Lincoln (where Thunder Valley is located). The tournament is a two-day $100K guarantee, with a $1,110 buy-in, 40 minute levels, and 60 minutes at the final table (live-streamed).
Check out the Pacific Northwest Tournament Calendar for more poker.