Los Angeles Poker Classic
Portland (and PNW)-area players got off to a great start for the year at Commerce Casino, where Dan “Goofy” Beecher and Allen Oh made the final tables of the first two events. Beecher came in sixth in the $100K guarantee Event #1, and Oh got to heads-up in Event #2, a $150K guarantee, after a five-way deal and a wild agreement to play all-in-or-fold for an extra $4K. Tshering Sherpa and Angela Jordison both cashed in Event #2, with Sherpa just missing the final table (and LAPC’s reporting missing his finish). No PNW finishers in Event #3, a Limit Omaha Hi-Lo event, or the first flight of the $250K guarantee (Event #4, Turbo NLHE), but there’s still time to get into some of the action on the latter: flights run through Saturday. The series runs all through February, you can follow the action at lapcnews.com.
Aussie Millions Follow-Up
Hopefully, a lot of you took advantage of the free drawing for an Aussie Millions Main Event seat last week. According to a message from the promo company that contacted me, there weren’t a huge number of entries overall (which is probably why they were reaching out to bloggers half-way across the world), so your chances are waaaay better than the lottery. I know that if I win a seat, I’ll be selling action (or trying to) below par to round up money for the trip. Let me know if you end up going yourself!
Deal of the Day: PacWest Poker Classic
Did you somehow miss last week’s announcement of the winter series at Chinook Winds?
Nine guaranteed events over nine days, beginning on 20 February. It kicks off with a $330, $50K guarantee NLHE 6-Max tournament and ends with a $750 (including add-on) $100K NLHE Main Event. Along the way, there’sa bounty tournament, Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, Big O, and lots of satellites. The fly in the ointment is the unconventional 55+ age restriction on the Seniors event. Most everywhere else it’s 50+ but I guess the oldsters don’t want to be terrorized by the likes of the Poker Mutant.
Lincoln City is the closest location to Portland with a series of this scope. It’s still a bit of a drive for a commute from the city—especially if you’re there to the end of a long tournament day and have to come back for a Day 2—but it’s doable. The poker room itself fills up with cash games on the weekends; it can be a little slow getting started in the days during the week. Last time I was down there, they were running Seven Card Stud cash games on Fridays.
Tickets for the series are on sale through Chinook Winds’ online ticketing; you still have to go to the ticket office to pick up your tickets and buy any dealer add-on at the tournament registration desk when you get seat assignments.
This Week in Portland Poker
This weekend is the $35K at Encore Club that seems to be turning into a monthly event. 1pm, $200 entry/re-entry, and an $80 add-on at the first break.
Only a Day Away
- The LA Poker Classic at Commerce Casino runs through early March. I went into detail about the schedule in a Deal back in November.
- The Wynn Signature Weekend in Las Vegas, a 3-entry-day, $600 entry, $250K guarantee NLHE event, starts tomorrow, with Day 2 on Sunday (1/24).
- Poker Night in America at Thunder Valley begins tomorrow. The first non-satellite event is a $425 buy-in $200K guarantee NLHE tournament with four entry flights over Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and a live-streamed final table on Sunday (1/24). There are nine other events with smaller guarantees ($7.5K to $25K) before the $1650 Main Event, which is recorded for television. They’re also running satellites for a $10K buy-in to their $25/$50 televised cash game.
- Aria has updated their web site, but their poker page still doesn’t carry any information about their $25K buy-in High Roller events. This Friday and Saturday are the latest. Poker Telegraph carries info about previous events.
- The Tulalip Poker Pow Wow (see last week) starts Friday.
- The Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza gets going Monday.
- Planet Hollywood’s Phamous Weekend piggybacks on the Venetian Deepstack 28-31 January, by offering a $250K guarantee tournament ($600 entry), plus some Big O and mixed PLO8/Big O.
- The Talking Stick Staycation Weekend I mentioned last month is coming up on the 29th. Play all three tournaments and you get two nights stay for free at the resort.
Check out the Pacific Northwest Tournament Calendar for more poker.