One of the things about adversity is it can sometimes bring people together, and this summer’s uncertainty over the direction of poker clubs in Portland would seem to be one of those times.

I’ve anguished in the past when venues in the Northwest scheduled series against one another—by design or by accident—because the pool of NW players is relatively small, and because we only get a limited number of series in the first place. Having to choose between one or the other really sucks, especially if you end up with some other conflict.

So it’s great to see the two major clubs in town emulating the four-casino SoCal Poker Championship in LA by running the first series in town since the spring, with two events at Final Table Poker Club and two at Portland Meadows Poker Room.

The Poker Mutant is going to be occupied with a birthday and an anniversary most of the weekend, naturally, but congratulations to everyone at the clubs for coming together to make this happen.