#PNWPokerCal Planner for 23 November 2016

Thanksgiving

There have been a few goodies left on the doorstep of Portland poker this week, and here at Mutant Poker we just want to say thanks for all of it, even if we are having to admit defeat in our attempt to get to the final EPT Prague next month. Just not gonna happen.

Portland Poker Holiday Championship Series

As we’ve already announced, the Final Table Poker Club and Portland Meadows Poker Room are running a 4-event series the first four days of December, with $80,000 guaranteed between the four tournaments, and a trophy for the player with the most points through the series. Decompress from the T-Day family arguments over politics with some poker.

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Pac West Poker 

As if that wasn’t enough of a present for all of you good little girls and boys, the great folks at Chinook Winds Casino have already released a preliminary schedule for February’s Pac West Poker Classic, with a week-long schedule of events starting with a $330 $50K guarantee NLHE 6-Max on 18-20 February and culminating in a $550+$200 $100K guarantee NLHE Main Event, with no re-entry. Show your appreciation for the gang down there by playing in the new poker room over the holidays.

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The Decision

The Oregon Supreme Court recently published its affirmation of an Court of Appeals judgment on a case covering Portland poker. A lawsuit brought by MT & M Gaming Inc., the owners of Last Frontier Casino in La Center,

judgmentThe case made its way up from Multnomah County Court to the Court of Appeals, which found that since MT & M wasn’t covered by Oregon law (as it operated in Washington state and under Washington gaming laws), it couldn’t invoke Oregon laws in its attempt to claim Portland was allowing poker rooms to steal its former customers. The Supreme Court’s interpretation was somewhat different, but it had the same effect, and it’s worth a read to see the arguments that the City’s attorneys put up in defense of the status quo, whether that’s because they’re protecting the city’s poker clubs or just because they don’t like getting pushed around by some guys from La Center. It makes for some interesting reading.

Deal of the Week: Venetian New Year’s Extravaganza

The  next months is a little slow for series as everyone hunkers down for the holiday season, but if you’ve got some time coming up around the new year, the Venetian in Las Vegas has been running a series that spans Christmas and New Year’s for several years now (though, seriously, with every month having a mid-month “Weekend Extravaganza” and four month-long Extravaganzas each year, it’s getting hard to find time when there’s just a regular schedule running for more than a couple of weeks).

None of the events in the New Year’s Extravaganza have buyins of more than $400 (most are in the $200 range). There aren’t any enormous guarantees—the largest is near the end of the series for $150K on a $250 buyin—but there are a lot of solid events twice a day that will likely be in the 60-100 entry range for the single-flight tournaments.

The three big events of the series are a $125K, $100K, and $150K, for buyins of $250, $400, and $250, respectively. The first is two days after Christmas, the second starts New Year’s Day, and the last begins 4 January. Presumably, in addition to some tournaments, there should be some action from a surge in visitors to Vegas during the holidays.

And sometime around the end of January, the first of the 2017 Extravaganzas should get going.

This Week in Portland Poker

I haven’t heard of anything out of the ordinary for Thanksgiving weekend (what with the Holiday Championship Series coming up next week), but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a late announcement of something, Keep an ear out and watch @pokermutant on Twitter.

Only a Day Away

  • Speaking of the Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza, the last day of the current series is tomorrow.
  • It was on and off my schedule because of an error on my part (I had links to last year’s event), but the Ante Up NorCal Classic got going Tuesday. It runs through Sundaty at Thunder Valley outside of Sacramento, and the Main Event this weekend is a $200K guarantee with a $555 entry. The 2-day event finishes Sunday, with starts on Friday and Saturday.If you get done with turkey, get someone else to handle the drive down before the l-tryptophan kicks in.
  • The WPT/Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic Starts Friday, with five low buyin events, including a $560 on the Sunday, and a Shot Clock tournament Tuesday.
  • Deepstacks Poker Tour’s Championship series at the Grey Eagle Casino in Calgary starts Saturday. Pairing with Run It Up, they’re offering a C$550 buyin C$100K guarantee with two entry days at the beginning of the series.
  • Tulalip Casino north of Seattle has a Last Sunday of the Month $75K guarantee tournament with an $820 buyin at 11am 27 November. Muckleshoot Casino has a game the same day at noon, with a $150 buyin (8K in chips) and a $100 addon (10K in chips, with 2K if you buy them both at the same time; how’s that for incentive?)
  • The World Series of Poker Circuit shows up at The Bicycle Casino next Thursday, with a $50K Circuit Ring event and a $350 Survivor tournament leading the way. See last week’s Deal of the Week.
  • On 7 December (the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor!) the Venetian holds the December edition of its Weekend Extravaganza, featuring a $100K guarantee tournament with a $340 buyin.

Remember to keep an eye on the #PNWPokerCal Twitter hashtag and the PNW Poker Calendar for upcoming events!