#PNWPokerCalendar Planner for 16 March 2016

rio2015Vegas, Baby!

It may be a little difficult to believe, but we’re only about two months away from the beginning of the World Series of Poker. Do you know where your bankroll is tonight?

The announcement of the World Series of Poker schedule a couple of weeks ago is triggering the release schedules from other venues in Las Vegas.

The Grand Poker Series at the Golden Nugget is the first out of the gate. Events will run 31 May—3 July.l This year they’re partnered with Poker Night in America, with a $1,675 televised tournament running 3—7 June (starting days 3—5 June). That’s followed by a $150 buy-in $100K guarantee on the second weekend of June that includes three flights on Friday and Saturday, with Day 2 on Sunday, 12 June.

Two Big O tournaments are featured ($240 buy-in on 16 June, $350 on 23 June) along with what looks at first glance like fewer non-NLHE games than in previous years. There’s a $10K buy-in Seniors Super High Roller in late June (with a $1.1K satellite 25 June).

The Grand’s big event is a $500K guarantee with a $570 entry fee that runs from 29 June to 3 July and includes three starting days.

The Venetian followed suit a couple of days later, with the Deepstacks Extravaganza III schedule (26 May—24 July). And that’s preceded by ten days of the Deepstack Extravaganza III Warm-up.

The Warm-up features events in the $200-$400 buy-in range, with 7pm tournaments mostly in the $10K guarantee range, and two multi-day $100K events.

The full DSE schedule has 90 events (with satellites), including a MId-States Poker Tour championship event sporting a $2M guarantee ($1.1K buy-in), a $250K guarantee Seniors tournament, and three other events with $1.5M, $2M, and $3M guarantees. The Venetian is often a fallback for players who bust out of WSOP events at the Rio, and this year’s schedule acknowledges this by putting “Registration Open Until” times on the events.

There are multiple Omaha-based tournaments on the schedule ($1.1K PLO/PLO8/Big O with $100K guarantee on 1 July, $50K guarantee Big O 5 July for $600 buy-in).

Events for both series are already included on Kenny Hallert’s summer tournament spreadsheet. Don’t forget to check out the “Non std. NLH MTT” tab in the spreadsheet, which also has a tab with rake calculations for tournament where the structure sheets are available (26% in the $135 WSOP Daily Deepstack!)

It’s never too early to prepare. I think my primer to planning your Vegas days from last year might be handy again.

Deal of the Day: A Bike or a HORSE?

Why choose when you could have both?

Next weekend (26 & 27 March) is the Main Event of the WSOP Circuit event at The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. There are two entry days to the $1,675 three-day event (both Saturday and Sunday). And as a backup (aside from playing cash at The Bike) the next event is a $75K guarantee HORSE tournament with five starting flights (one on Sunday the 27th, and two each on Monday and Tuesday). Starts on Sunday and Monday are $235, with 10% of the field coming back for Wednesday’s Day 2. Buy-in on Tuesday is $345 (getting 15K for the starting stack instead of 10K), with 15% returning. Or you can just buy directly into Day 2 for $1.8K and get 100K in chips. You get $400 at the end of a Day 1 if you qualify to return, and $2K if you qualify more than once. Not a lot of big HORSE tournaments out there. Round-trip flights from PDX to LA that get you to the Sunday start for the Main Event and back before April Fool’s are still about $150.

This Week in Portland Poker

That’s pretty much it for specials announced by press time.

Only a Day Away

  • Today at noon is the first event of the Muckleshoot Spring Poker Classic. It’s a $250 Shootout; according to the structure sheets,  they expect there to be two rounds of elimination tables (each table plays down to a single winner) before the final table. The other events are standard NLHE tournaments: $200 on Thursday (3/17), $300 on Friday, $500 on Saturday, and $750 for the two-day Main Event beginning Sunday (3/20).
  • The Bicycle Casino’s Winnin’ o’ the Green and WSOP Circuit runs through the end of the month. Friday is a $75K guarantee Monster Stack event ($235 buy-in, no re-entry, no add-on, no re-buy), then Saturday and Sunday (3/19 & 20) are starting flights for the first of the WSOPC rings.
  • The Main Event of the WPT Rolling Thunder streams the live table today (play starts at noon), check it out on twitch.tv/StonesLivePoker. There’s a $30K guarantee $300 buy-in bounty tournament at 5pm.
  • Deepstacks Poker Tour Calgary Main Event (C$1.1K buy-in, C$250K guarantee) has starting days on Friday and Saturday.
  • The Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza II runs through the 27th. Today is the last entry day for a $250 buy-in $150K. Tomorrow is the first of three entry days for a $300K guarantee with a $600 buy-in.
  • WPTDeepstacks Reno starts tomorrow at the Atlantis. This weekend features a $50K guarantee on a $400 buy-in and a $150 Omaha Hi-Lo $5K tournament.
  • The Ashland Social Club’s 2nd Annual Spring Classic is a $180 tournament on Saturday.

Check out the Pacific Northwest Tournament Calendar for more poker.