How late does it go?

I've lived in the Portland area for a little while and here's my reviews of a couple of the clubs I've played at.

Final Table:
Has the most games of any place in Portland. Spreads 1-2,2-5,5-10 daily. Also has 1-2 big O a couple nights a week. It's in a strip mall in a slightly bad part of town but its pretty close to the airport. In addition to the shootout rules in Oregon, this place will let you chip down to a min buyin at the end of the 1 hour session in any of the games. 85% of the bad regs and fish do this in 1-2 and big O so those games don't play very deep. Dealers are a mixed bag as well as the floor. Food is pretty basic, service is below average and they only have beer and wine.

Encore: Downtown Location. You will have to park a little ways away during the daytime. Spreads 1-2. Gets pretty deep. Only 2 tables for shootouts. Shootout games start at 5pm. Younger crowd and aggressive action. Games can be great or terrible. Players are a step up from your usual 1-2 game. Floor and dealers are good. Food is good, full bar. Service is pretty slow, so just order at the bar.

Lucky Devil: It's a strip club . Only 1 table of 1-2. The game starts at 9pm, but get there at 8pm so you can get a seat with a view of the dancers. Dancers are solid. Full bar, menu is a step up from final table but below Encore. Service is good. Good action, and the players are your normal 1-2 variety. Lighting is terrible so really check your cards well.

How is World Tavern Poker

WTF is this?

They have it in places near Portland

Free poker? LOL. zzzzzzzzzz

I was completely unfamiliar with it myself, since I play mostly in the clubs and not the tavern tournaments, but I ran across the notice for the World Tavern Poker championships in Vegas (held last November), when I was writing up a tournament calendar update last fall.

Super late response, but it runs until a little after 2:00 most nights it runs. It's my understanding there have been a few nights over the past month where the game has busted at awkward times and didn't get going again, but for the most part they run until 2:00, 2:30. Every time I've gone the game's been pretty good. $5 entry.

The Wildhorse Resort/Casino Spring Poker Round Up (Pendleton, Oregon) schedule is now up for April 7-17, 2016. "5% of prizepool withheld for dealer and staff", up from 3% in previous years. Wildhorse is adding $40,000 total to the prizepools during the tourney.

"High Roller" this year is $1,100 ($950 + $100 entry fee + $50 dealer/staff)

You wouldn't play for free for chances to go to the World Series of Poker

Go astroturf for your silly poker somewhere else how about

Think I'm going to go check this out at Chinook Winds in Lincoln City.

Stopped by Final Table over the holidays. Called in early, they put me on a a second waiting list? the list for call ins.

Showed up, they didn't have 5/10 running on a friday evening (6pm) , and would not move my name up to the normal wait list for the single 2/5 they had running without paying the $10 (or $5 i don't remember) cover. They were really rude.

I played in one of the 1/2 while I waited. It was short stacked, dealers talked way too much and everyone chipped down after one hour of play. I left. Won't go back.

I played in another poker club called Aces? a few times. Small room. Really friendly staff and management w/ decent bar and food.

Whenever I went they almost always had a 2/5/10 (optional straddle). Ok mix of players, couple wannabees, couple old nits that take forever and some gamblers. Kinda tight but still decent considering no rake.

Definitely going to visit again next year. I hope this room takes off.

You didn't have to pay the cover to play the 1/2 anyway?

The obese floorman said he couldn't move my name up unless I paid the fee. I paid the $10 just so they would put my name on the real wait list. The hour I was there the list didn't move and the floorman didn't want to start a short game despite having 5-6 interested players. Frustrating.

Gresham is in the middle of nowhere/ really ****ty. There's nothing to do there. If I had known about the weird waitlist rules / not having a game they said they would have etc, I would not have wasted my time driving over there in rush hour traffic.

Maybe he was having a bad day or something idk

There's just something about the atmosphere at Final Table I can't stand. And the smell. You're spot on with the dealers talking too much; one of my biggest pet peeves. Friendly is fine, but way too many dealers who need to be reminded they have a game to run, and please do it. Plus, Gresham.

Other than private games, Encore really is where all the cash game money is these days. Really, REALLY deep 1/2 games most days of the week, from what I understand. I just HATE the one hour rule (can't cash out except on the hour). Yeah yeah, the city rules, blah blah blah. I guess I can accept wanting to be very cautious, but SOO many clubs run in town that don't require that, with no hassle. But, they are the most prominent. Just annoying. I also find several of their dealers extra annoying, along with a lot of inconsistent rulings and stupid rules.

Can thank Encore for one thing: whenever I'm in another room and someone brings up the "show one, show all rule" and someone says that's the rule in every card room ever, I can point out that it ain't the rule at Encore.

If Encore doesn't have SOSA then that sounds like a big negative to me. Sounds sketchy and encouraging collusion between buddies.

well its still Portland, but for a lot of people anything east of 82nd and west of Hood River is greater gresham

All the action is moving to Portland Meadows soon. Should be great for the games.

What / where exactly is Portland Meadows? I must have missed it.

Portland Meadows is the horse racing track in North Portland by the N Denver I-5 N on ramp basically. Near Delta Park. Big Stack from N Lombard is apparently moving up there.

Thanks for the info. Why would they be taking all the action though? Will they be fully approived for cash poker games, or still in the psuedo-tourney mode everyone has now?

It's possible there will still be other games outside of the race track.

I have to laugh a little at this. Most of the population of the Portland Metro area is on the east side of the river. It always has been. If you live in the trendy neighborhoods near Laurelhurst Park, you're 4 miles from Encore and 5 miles from Final Table, and it takes about the same amount of time to get to either one, given that you don't have to drive through downtown to get to FT.

And FT has cash games starting at 11am as of Tuesday. Encore's don't generally get started until the afternoon. And I usually see multiple tables of cash games running at FT by 2pm. Maybe not the stakes you're looking for, but the staple at either club is 1/2.

I play at both, and I'm not going to take sides of one against the other (or against any another club), but so far as I'm aware, there's no "smell" at FT that's significantly different from Encore. Fried food for the most part. And weed. I just about coughed up a lung at Encore Friday night because the skunk someone had been smoking was irritating the hell out of my throat.

Dealers at either place can be great or not.

So, anyone tried World Tavern Poker?