{"id":1734,"date":"2016-12-14T07:05:26","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T15:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/?p=1734"},"modified":"2016-12-14T08:35:28","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T16:35:28","slug":"pnwpokercal-planner-for-14-december-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/?p=1734","title":{"rendered":"#PNWPokerCal Planner for 14 December 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Portlander Wins World Poker Tour Five Diamond Main Event<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I thought my little interview would be the most Portland thing in\u00a0poker\u00a0last week, then Sunday,\u00a0Devin Sweet<\/strong>\u00a0posted\u00a0in NW Poker<\/a> about\u00a0James Romero’s<\/strong> first-place finish in one of the\u00a0WPT’s<\/strong> premiere events at the\u00a0Bellagio<\/strong><\/a>, for $1.938 million<\/strong>, a record prize for a WPT $10,400 buyin event.<\/p>\n

\"wpt-five-diamond-james-romero-wins\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The second paragraph of the story leads off: “The Portland, OR\u00a0resident<\/strong> was active early and often at the final table, opening the betting action more than any other player on the final day of this six-day $10,400 buy-in tournament.”<\/p>\n

Romero also wins a seat in the $15,000 WPT Tournament of Champions<\/strong>, a big-ass Hublot watch<\/strong>, and some Monster headphones<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I have to say that I was completely flabbergasted when I saw Devin’s post. I can’t say that I’ve ever met James, and I’m not even sure if he plays here in town. He certainly isn’t playing large tournaments outside of Portland, his two previous Hendon Mob<\/strong> cashes<\/a> came to less\u00a0less than half my<\/em> total, if that can be believed.\u00a0In a WPT article\u00a0published before the beginning of the final table:<\/a><\/p>\n

Coming out of nowhere to reach the prestigious WPT Five Diamond Main Event final table, Romero told the WPT he has plays a little bit of online poker and that he doesn\u2019t play much live poker.<\/p>\n

\u201cMostly just a little bit of online play and running really well in a 10K,\u201d Romero added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/pokermutant\/status\/808102781487697924<\/p>\n

\"boardrider68\"<\/a>According to his coaching profile at Drag The Bar<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0from early in the decade, Romero (aka boardrider68<\/strong>)\u00a0was raised in Orange County, CA, played lots of games as a kid, and was at the time studying finance and economics<\/strong> at the University of Oregon<\/strong>.He mentions he played Sit-n-Gos on PokerStars<\/strong> (and had a 46% ROI), and over a couple of years he produced several dozen videos at stakes between $4.40 and $20.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0boardrider68 handle is only tracked on PokerStars for three years at\u00a0<\/a>Official Poker Rankings<\/strong><\/a>, but racked up a decent $75K in winnings<\/strong>\u00a0at stakes smaller than $20 for the most part (and rankings in the top 1.2%<\/strong> all three years), with nearly 1,900 PokerStars tournaments in 2010, then just 701 in 2011 before things were cut short by Black Friday.<\/p>\n

Romero’s Facebook page lists him as living in Costa Rica (and there’s a brief endorsement from him at\u00a0Poker Refugees<\/strong><\/a>\u2014a company that sprang up to help players re-locate outside the US after Black Friday\u2014but presumably he moved at least part-time to Portland after graduating from UofO.<\/p>\n

I’m hoping that 10K he did well in was here in town; it’d be nice to think the seed money for the big win came from some locals. Congrats to the champ! The rest of\u00a0Portland gets a whack at a WPT $10K buyin in February at the Commerce Casino’s LAPC<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n

Rialto\u00a0Saved By Bell<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

According to a report in\u00a0Willamette Week<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, the\u00a0Rialto pool room<\/strong> is transitioning to new management who are rescuing it from\u00a0a planned Christmas closure<\/strong> and say their plans are to keep it\u00a0\u201cthe same but better,<\/strong>\u201d which would be\u00a0good news for poker players who like some downtown action.<\/p>\n

High Roller Radio<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Just in case you missed it. Last week’s interview with High Roller Radio<\/strong><\/a>. Seems a little mundane now….<\/p>\n