#PNWPokerCalendar Planner for December 2

What else can I possibly say about this?

And—according to a tip—Davis Aalvik, the fourth-place finisher in the $1.5M guarantee WSOP Circuit event at Planet Hollywood, hails from the Portland area and still has family here. He took home more than $119K.

Deal of the Day: Deepstacks Poker Tour Main Event, Calgary

It’s a little late for this one, but I didn’t see it until after last week’s post. The Deepstacks Poker Tour, which ran a few events at Chinook Winds, is still operating at a number of larger venues in both the US and Canada (and one in Malta last year). The Calgary event started last week, but the Main Event is this weekend.

The deal is a Main Event package that includes the entry fee and five nights at the series venue, the Grey Eagle Resort and Casino in southwest Calgary. “Calgary?” you say. Isn’t that a long ways off? No. It’s actually closer to Portland than Las Vegas. A direct flight from PDX to YYC is 95 minutes.

Specifics: The package is for December 3-8, so if you’ve had a nice win the past month or so and didn’t blow it all on paying your property taxes (see: How to Separate Your Poker Bankroll from Your Liferoll) then you might want to pony up the C$3,094 for the package. That’s about US$2,315 at Tuesday’s  exchange rate, just under 4:3.

Buy-in for the event is C$2,500 (US$1,870). So you’re getting five nights at the casino for about US$90/night.

The cheap flights are gone, but you can get an Air Canada Express direct flight to Calgary on Thursday evening for just over US$600. Flights coming back take a little longer, as they don’t go direct.

The event guarantee is C$500K (US$373.9K), so for about $3K you get entry into a big event, five nights lodging, and a round-trip flight.

Everyone I’ve talked to about Calgary poker says the tournament and cash games have lots of Alberta oil workers and businessmen.

The first event of the series, a C$550 entry tournament with a guarantee of C$100K pulled in 529 entries.

This Week in Portland Poker

  • Saturday at noon is a $5K guarantee at Aces Full. $50 buy-in, with two live rebuys and a $20 add-on. They’re still offering a $10 food voucher for playing in their daily shootouts, beginning at 3pm.
  • Friday night at 7pm is the First Friday $20K at Final Table. $100 buy-in, one re-entry, and a $50 add-on. Bring your Christmas shopping money! An email on Tuesday announced changes to their schedule, with a 9pm $10 buy-in All-In-Or-Fold tournament Monday-Thursday at 9pm (starting next Monday) that has $100 added to the prize pool. Next Wednesday (12/9) will be a double guarantee ($2K) at 11am and a triple guarantee ($4.5K) at 7pm.
  • Thursday night is a $9K guarantee at Encore Club, $60 entry, no re-buy, $30 add-on. They’ve posted notices for a $1K Ladies Freeroll on the 17th, and another $35K guarantee event on the 26th. As usual, there’s a $13K on Friday night at 8pm ($60 buy-in, one live re-buy, and a $40 add-on).
  • The Game has announced another $10K guaranteed-for-first event for the 19th. And today is Player Day, with no door fee if you get there between 11am and noon. Plus you get a free buffet lunch!

Only a Day Away

Check out the Pacific Northwest Tournament Calendar for more poker.