Pechanga Poker Room Thrives By Giving Back To Players

Headed to Southern California to play poker? Looking for more than just a card room but, rather, a luxurious resort with an action-packed poker room and amenities for everyone in your group? If so, it’s time to plan a visit to Pechanga Resort and Casino.

The property’s 24-hour, smoke-free poker room is located on the second floor of the AAA Four Diamond Award winning resort located just minutes off the I-15 in Temecula, California, a short drive from San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Inland Empire area.

“Pechanga Poker Gives Back” is the tagline of the room, a beautiful 43-table self-contained facility that offers no-limit hold’em, limit hold‘em, Omaha, and daily poker tournaments. And indeed they do give back. In the last year, Pechanga Poker has paid out $1,125,903 in just promotional winnings, including cars, trucks, Vespa scooters, cash and other added value giveaways. That figure does not count the wins players take home every day from live games and tournaments.

The poker room routinely spreads limit games ($2-$4 up to $8-$16) and no limit ($1-$2 up to $5-$10). Players can also find eight-handed five card Omaha spread at the $3-$6 and $4-$8 level in the room. A dedicated food menu, carving station, and full bar are located within the room so players can easily acquire tableside meals, snacks and drinks. Complimentary valet parking makes the room easy to access.

Tournaments Galore

For daily tournament options, Pechanga has you covered by offering well-valued, low buy-in tournaments almost every day.

The room offers daily morning tournaments Monday through Thursday at 10 a.m. and on Friday and Sunday at 11 a.m. Evening tournaments are offered Wednesday and Friday at 7 p.m. Buy-ins for the events range from $25 to $45 with healthy guarantees that hover between $2,000 and $5,000.

“We are aggressive and creative with a variety of daily tournaments and promos,” says Pechanga Poker Room Manager, Richie Lopez. “Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays players compete for the highest hands of the hour. We splash the pot and pay you if you lose on Mondays. On Wednesdays, if you win a pot, you earn an entry ticket for our six $500 drawings throughout the day.”

The most popular weekly tournaments, Lopez says, includes survivor format events on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays that offers a $5,000 guarantee.

Lopez has overseen the room for seven years. He began as a dealer and now manages the 123 person Pechanga poker staff. He credits the room’s success to his top notch management team consisting of Shift Managers Star Pulver, Adam VanDusen, and Jeffrey Perry. ”We all love the game of poker. We are poker players so we understand the needs of our guests. Personally, I like to play any two cards,” he laughs. “Get me in a game and I’ll play any two.”

Great Promotions, Great Payouts, Great Value

Acting on player feedback and instituting a zero tolerance policy that makes for a relaxed and enjoyable environment have all helped Pechanga establish a reputation as one of the top rooms in California.

“It’s our job here at Pechanga to make the customer experience as good as it can possibly be,” says Lopez. “That’s why we continue to offer terrific promotions such as car and truck giveaways, hot seat contests, the Beat the Bosses tournament in which poker players get to try and knock out members of Pechanga management (and are awarded bounties up to $500).”

Promotions in the room are prevalent. Pechanga Poker has been deemed the high hand capital of the world with High Hand Competitions on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday
that pay the top three hands in hold’em with $250 going to first, $150 to second, and $100 to third. Also, an Early Bird High Hand competition runs each Tuesdays starting at 8 a.m. and pays $50 for the highest hand of the hour and $20 for 2nd place.

The poker room offers some special promotions and events for visitors this fall.

On Saturday, Sept. 13th and 20th Pechanga will host its Sizzling Hot Seat Promotion from 12 p.m. – 12 a.m. The poker room will award $250 every 20 minutes to one lucky player. All you have to is just be seated in a poker game to win.

In Sept. 13, the room’s major poker tournament will take place on Sept. 27th at 2 p.m. It features a $250 plus $40 buy-in with a $75,000 guaranteed prize pool. Players will begin with 10,000 starting chips and 30 minute rounds and Pechanga will run single table satellites every day during its daily tournament hours.

Wednesdays in September and October will offer another winning opportunity. Every time you win a pot you earn an entry ticket for cash drawings of $500 from 3 p.m. – 11 p.m. Also, with Monday Night Football kicking off Sept. 8th, the poker room will offer various cash drawings and a great viewing experience on its six 103” televisions.

Pechanga doesn’t just give more. It also takes less. Players can expect to pay less to play poker at Pechanga, compared to other rooms in the region. While other card rooms have raised the rakes, Pechanga has maintained its rake at $4 max with $1 jackpot drop. “We want players to enjoy coming here and not feel as if their wins are diminished because of how much they have to contribute each hand,” says Lopez.

The room is also open to familiarizing new players with the game, offering complimentary poker lessons to anyone who requests them. Lopez says the staff prefers to do this in the mornings when it’s not as busy, but his staff is always available for questions.

Pechanga’s poker room also shows that it likes to give back to players with the Pechanga Poker Gives Back program. For every hour you play in a live game, you can earn up to $1.50 comp dollars on your Pechanga Club Card. Those comp dollars can be redeemed for meals at any of 11 Pechanga’s restaurants, merchandise at the retail shops, championship golf, concert tickets, and the thing players like most, gasoline at the Pechanga gas station.

While the popularity of poker has changed over the years, Pechanga Poker maintains a very steady and healthy stream of guests coming through the doors, including many people each week who come to the poker room for the first time and tell staff, they will definitely be back due to the comfortable atmosphere, knowledgeable staff, and great game selection.

Robert L. from Long Beach gave the Poker Room staff a resounding review on a recent guest comment card. He made his own check box on the survey and in front of the “Excellent” category, he drew another box and called it “A Step Above” and checked that in reference to the room.

Full Service Resort

Many people come to Pechanga specifically for poker. But Pechanga is much more than just a card room. The entire facility is an AAA Four-Diamond resort and that level of excellence permeates throughout the resort and casino.

With a championship golf course, 11 restaurants that run the gamut from fine dining to casual fare, a full service spa offering massage, facials and body treatments, and one of the premier concert venues in Southern California with a 1,200 seat theater, Pechanga rolls the best elements of Las Vegas into a relaxing, one-stop-shop stop for luxurious gaming at a world-class resort getaway. Upcoming entertainment options at Pechanga this fall include Bellator MMA 127 on Oct. 3 and a star studded line up, including Ramon Ayala and Marco Antonio Solis, Sept. 14th and 16th respectively for Mexico’s Independence Day, plus comedian Lewis Black, Tony Bennett and Smokey Robinson in October.

So the next time you are looking for poker action in Southern California, why not hit the tables at Pechanga Resort and Casino. With so much to offer, you are guaranteed to find games, limits, action, and perhaps more! ♠

Pechanga Poker Room Games and Buy-Ins

Limit Texas Hold’em
$2 – $4 $20 minimum
$3 – $6 $30 minimum
$4 – $8 kill $40 minimum
$8 – $16 kill $80 minimum

No-Limit Texas Hold’em
$1 – $2 blinds $40 – $100 buy-in
$1 – $3 blinds $50 – $300 buy-in
$2 – $5 blinds $200 – $1,000 buy-in
$5 – $10 blinds $500 – no cap
$10 – $20 blinds $500 min buy-in, no max

Omaha High/Low
$3 – $6 $30 minimum
$4 – $8 $40 minimum