As a hopelessly addicted poker player, I’ve been thinking for over a year about how lucky I am to live near Portland, OR. When I came here to look around I assumed there would be a thread detailing the exploits of one or two Portland residents cruising from social gaming club to social gaming club, playing tournaments or the funky cash games (“shootouts”) that social gaming laws make legal in Portland. I mean, especially with how much everyone runs their mouth at the table about how great they are. ;-)
I am embarrassed for our lack of representation on these boards. I will post a big post to kick things off, and let some people know that there’s discussion here. If nothing else, I would expect to see more local club owners on these forums, so I’ll bug a few.
Portland has a list of high quality social gaming clubs to play at. They are venues with snack bars, usually, some have full bars, some sell beer. They run from cozy (6 tables) to quite large (30+ tables). Flatscreen TVs abound for sports and tournament clocks. When taken as a group and graded, I’d say well run and professional overall. They are low pressure and everyone’s friendly, so if you’re new to poker, find a low stakes Hold Em tourney and confess your ignorance. The dealer will always help you out.
Tournament schedules run from slim to robust, many with the pseudo-cash games sprinkled in. Games are mostly Hold Em, but somehow there has also been a bumper crop of pot limit Omaha 8/b junkies, and most of them prefer five cards to start instead of four (or “Big O” as it’s usually listed). There are the random weird events (HORSE, Crazy Pineapple) and many special events like WSOP satellites and other player perks.
I realize that many people posting here tend toward the professional end of poker. I have a day job. If you’re looking to make a living, you’re not moving to Portland for your poker career, don’t get me wrong.
That said, I’m a tournament player and I’ve had to travel all over the US for work. I have used these boards to find games, and good tournaments are hard to find. In a casino they want you paying a rake, so they’re hyper-turbo formats half the time just to get you back to the cash game. In Portland, unless it’s really low stakes it’s going to be a real tournament with a decent (or awesome) tournament structure.
I absolutely love the poker scene in Portland.
Here are my favorite venues:
Portland Player’s Club
http://portlandplayersclub.com/
Smaller venue, owner operated (I think) by a super friendly guy who makes amazing milkshakes and has a decent menu for food. Professionally run, nice schedule, and an Irish bar downstairs? What’s not to love?
Big Stack Player’s Club
http://bigstackplayersclub.com/
Smaller venue, owner operated by another super friendly guy who is equally addicted to football and poker. The schedule is short, but the games are fun and there are other special events that aren’t listed on the calendar.
The Final Table
http://www.pokerportland.com/
Larger venue, usually well run, basic snack bar and food you can order in I think. I have not been here for a while but I’ve been happy with the tournaments. The schedule is vast and their Friday night Hold ‘Em event is very nice, with a big prize pool.
Encore Club
http://www.encoreclub.com/
Larger venue, usually well run, has a full bar and kitchen, which is nice. A little dark inside which I don’t like, but the schedule is very full. I haven’t been to this one in a while, either, but the times I have gone I enjoyed it.
These are places I’ve been – I have nothing to do with any of them, besides paying the $10 door fee to get in. There are other clubs too, like Aces, that I haven’t been to so can’t comment. Hopefully we can get a few other Portland people here to comment. We are not generally a shy bunch. There’s plenty of action on the NW Poker group on Facebook – I will cross-link.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/415541628483848/