Wondering if anyone has opinions/review on Encore they would like to share? Transitioning to live from online here shortly and looking at options in the Portland area. This club looks like the best so far from other reviews I have read.

I read somewhere that there might be a new Indian casino around La Center area, do any of you folks around Portland have any solid information on it?

For years there has been talk and rumors about it being built.

So it is still very far from reality?

Portland Poker Rooms
Players Club
Aces
Final Table
Encore
Ace of Spades
Sellwood Public House
Claudia's
Lucky Devil (strip club)

Cowlitz Casino - La Center, WA (future development)
http://www.cowlitzcasino.com/

Warm Springs Gorge Casino - Cascade Locks, OR (future development)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propose...a_Gorge_casino
http://www.clbb.net/leftmenus/casino.htm
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/in...for_gorge.html

anyone play at the final table club? Gangsta or respectable? How does it compare to the encore?

I agree. I only play the free roll or the 100-300 tourneys. The 25-50 tourneys suck.

Depending on your definition very far. 4-5 years maybe if things go well? last I heard a few months back there is a lawsuit trying to stop the build and a news source said that aspect is supposed to take ~2 years

I've recently become manager of the Encore Club here in Portland. I hope this isn't spamming the forum or anything, but I'd love to hear from 2+2'ers over at the club, just ask for Sean. There are several of 2+2 fans there, whether dealers or players, and it's like we're part of a secret society when we talk about things. I think most of the others are lurkers (Dan, Josh, Jeff) but maybe some of them post. I send my floor people threads to check out.

Final Table is run by a pretty cool guy that has been around the Portland poker scene for some time. I haven't had a chance to get in to their club. I've met a lot of guys from Aces and Ace of Spades as well. There are also several smaller niche places that have real dedicated serious players running them. A new club just opened in inner southeast Portland and another is in the works in Beaverton.

I think improvements in the regulation are coming for Portland in general, I imagine in the next year or so there'll be a real boom and I'm happy to be a part of it.

Just realized Bicycle Dave posted in this thread. He's an Encore guy who is no lurker!

Where's the Beaverton club going to be located?

$10 door fee is NOT the clubs' choice. They are forced into it by the city's regulatory organization which bars them from charging a fee per tourney. So if they tried to do $50+5, $250+25, etc, they would get fined and dragged into court. Many people have tried to explain the problem with this, but the explanations fall on deaf ears.

And Beaverton will not fly. They have no social gaming there, and they'll be shut down, just like Beaverton Poker Club was.

The new place is Deuces:
http://www.deucesplayersclub.com/

Gotta wonder at what point the market becomes saturated. But so far, more clubs seems to be generating more players, not diluting them.

And it is nice to see that the people running the clubs are shunning the absurd flame wars, character bashing, and cop baiting techniques of past.

Hopefully this rising tide really can lift lots of boats, club owners and grinders alike.

Yeah the $10 door fee is tough to understand if you're not really hip to the scene. As a player, I only feel happy paying $10 if I'm going to play multiple tournaments, or one bigger buy-in. If you pay the once-daily $10 fee and play three tournaments throughout the day, you get reasonably good value. I can't speak for all clubs, but at Encore it's just once a day and you can come and go as you please throughout.


Indeed. I remember when I first stopped going to casinos and started playing at the clubs, Craigslist was swamped with rumors and accusations (most of them BS) about all of the major clubs in town. That really has died down, thankfully. I see two of the major owners of Ace's quite often and am on a solid first-name relationship with both of them. We discuss the ins and outs of business and all of us agree that there is plenty of room in Portland for both of our clubs, as well as the other places.

I hope so, too! Weekend trips down there to clean the house!

Can you explain the $1/$2 "tournaments" to an out of towner? I play $1/$2 NL in Detroit and Vegas but am not familiar with the style of a mandatory 1.5hr stoppage?

In town for the weekend and need to get a game going.

Thanks!

You are referring to the "shootouts" as opposed to the "freezeouts" which is the standard tournament style. How did we get here?

Imagine a conversation like this...

Social Gaming Regulator: You can't have cash games, only tournaments.

Poker Room Operator: Why?

SGR: Because I said so. And I can fine you $1,000 or more anytime I like. And take away your license.

PRO: OK, please don't do that. But while we're talking, could you define a tournament for me? That's not written in any of the laws or regulations.

SGR: Uhhh, OK. A tournament is a poker game where there is a fixed buy-in and a set of rules that define the winner after a certain amount of play or time. But the chips have no cash value.

PRO: OK, then how about this. I have a tournament with a fixed buy-in of say $200, and a pre-set time limit of 90 minutes. Because of the time limit, we'll call it a "shootout", like a shootout at high noon.

At the end of the pre-determined time the prize pool is distributed according to the chip stacks, like when players make a deal to equity chop. But in the shootout everyone knows that there will be a chop after 90 minutes.

Chips have no cash value, but the prize pool is distributed according to stack size. That sounds like it meets your definition of a tournament. OK?

SGR: Sure, why not.

PRO: Thanks for your time. No more cash games. I'll just run two types of tournaments from now on: traditional "freezouts" and "shootouts".

SGR: Great. Like I said, no cash games, only tournaments.

(notice, there's no mention of the blinds going up... blinds are fixed at 1/2, and in a $200 freezout you get T$200 chips to start ... no cash value of course ;-)

Why did Encore decide to do $20 for it's higher tournaments? I know it includes a drink but everyone knows it's just a ruse to somewhat alleviate doubling the door fee.

Scott C (below your question) explains it as well as I've ever seen. The regulations in Portland are archaic and we have to do some interesting restrictions to keep things running.

It is true for the $10k gtd main events, $300 buy-in, and PLO8 tournaments we do charge a $20 door fee. With that is included a non-alcoholic drink and a food item (which varies per event) to provide the customer with value. We believe this is a fair balance.

Fineee, I'll start posting.

dont forget to try 'ACES UP' in dallas, OR. Only $5 door fee and tourneys 7 days a week! the room is ran really well overall.

Portland's newest poker room: Deuces Players Club, NOW OPEN 24 HOURS!!!!

www.22spc.com

$22,000 Guaranteed Tournament! ($10 door fee)

2:22 AM $222 Guaranteed Freeroll ($10 door fee)

"No Cover Nooner" $10 door fee waived for the first 22 registered (good for 24 hours of play).... come get your 40 hour poker session for $0 door fee!

815 SE Oak St. (corner of Sandy Blvd, 8th & Oak St.)

My real wonder is how Portland's bigger clubs are going to survive the next 6 to 18 months with the changes in Social Gaming that will come to pass. Without the ability to actually have your $1/$2 Shootouts and the fact that the big tournaments ($10k+ Guarantees and $100+ Buy ins) all going on the chopping block it doesn't really seem like paying a $10 cover to play a bunch of $25 tournaments will be worthwhile.

Seems to me since a lot of the bigger clubs are already bending and in many cases just blatantly breaking social gaming rules anyway they'll probably continue to do so. Things like "dealer incentive" and the dealers being forced to pool their tips seem to only be upsetting the city regulator and really ticking off Oregon Lottery.

Needless to say it'll be interesting to see which of the big clubs implode upon themselves first. I personally will stick to the smaller games around town that I know aren't in any real danger of being effected greatly by the changes.

I'm quite familiar with the discussions around the social gaming laws here in Portland, and the potential changes. We're absolutely following the laws here in Portland, our owner has had several discussions with the governing body and all that we do here has been approved explicitly. The same goes for most (if not all) of our competition, from what I have seen.

There are always rumors and accusations flying around, but the reality is that there are a lot of responsible people running these clubs who are doing their best to provide a safe, reliable environment for people to play. We're working with the city to ensure that all of us stay in compliance with the regulations, and whatever comes over time we'll continue to serve the poker players of Portland. If you prefer smaller games, there are plenty around, but we'll continue to offer a great schedule of alternatives in the mean time.

whats up sean, Just found this thread, I talked to u last week at encore. this is Tim with the friend from vegas u met. just wanted to say hello. I may be doing a review thread about all the clubs, I have been to alot of them and need to go to the last couple of them soon.

Wow 22k ,first time i have heard of this mtt. I'm will most likely be there,Do you have security? and do you do receipts with the 22k buy in?Tim