New Kid on the Block

This new kid on the block isn't actually a kid; it's a tournament that has placed itself squarely on the tournament circuit. This new tournament is at the Wildhorse Casino and Resort, which is owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Umitilla Indian Reservation in Pendleton, Oregon.

If you've ever heard of Pendleton, Oregon, it probably has something to do with the making of Pendleton blankets and shirts, or the Pendleton Roundup, which is a rodeo held in September every year that attracts about 70,000 people to a town of about 16,000.

Pendleton, being famous for those two things, is not going to change. But perhaps now, at least as far as the tournament poker world is concerned, there may be quite a few more people who will know about this quiet little Eastern Oregon town. I'm referring to the big splash the recently concluded Fall Poker Roundup tournament made in the Pacific Northwest.

Actually, to say it is a new tournament is not quite accurate, since it has been held twice a year in March and November for the last three years. The reason I've kind of fudged by calling it new is because in the past, the tournaments were not advertised to any extent. This year, the folks at Wildhorse decided to go all out and try to make their tournament a big event. They placed several ads in Card Player and other publications to make sure the entire poker world knew about it. They even hired three hosts – Tex Morgan, Jim Worth (Krazy Kanuck), and yours truly – to help spread the word.

The tournament was eight days long, with seven events and one day with no poker tournament. Instead of a poker tournament on one day, the casino hosted a golf tournament (the Wildhorse Casino has a beautiful 18-hole golf course). For the non-golfers, the casino planned a full day of activities. At 10 in the morning, a poker seminar was hosted by Tex Morgan, Krazy Kanuck, and I. At 1 o'clock, there was a free four-hour tour that consisted of the Pendleton Underground, the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute (an Indian museum), and the Rodeo Hall of Fame.

The tournament buy-ins ranged from $110 to $310. Notice that the vig or juice was only $10 for all of the events. Wildhorse also added $5,000 in prize money to the first six events, and a whopping $20,000 to the final $310 buy-in tournament. Another added incentive was a $5,000 best all-around player award with five players sharing in the prize money. Incidentally, my good friend Chuck Thompson from Bay 101 and Lee Smith, the cardroom manager at Aces Casino in Spokane, Washington, shared this year's best all-around player award.

To show you how well the advertising and all the added money worked, the tournament drew a total of 1,990 entrants. The total prize money was $365,300, thus making it a qualifying tournament for Card Player's Player of the Year award. The last event drew 440 players, resulting in a prize pool of $152,000, $45,045 of which went to first place.

The tournament director is Roland Waters. Some will remember Roland from his days as the tournament director at The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California, from 1986 to 1990.

When Roland first asked me to host the tournament, he told me that he and the Wildhorse were committed to doing everything in their power to expand their tournament from a local Northwest event to one that would attract players from all over the country.

He assured me there would be nothing that he and the Wildhorse would not do to make everyone happy and anxious to come back. This was music to my ears. It's so easy to sell a product when you really believe in it.

The Wildhorse started out on the right foot by offering a very reasonable $39 a night room rate for the players. I am not in casino management, but I have always thought that casinos should do more to get players in the door. Other than the amount of the buy-ins, I don't think there is any more important consideration for a poker player when trying to decide whether or not to attend a tournament than the room rates.

Another consideration for many players is food. Is it good, and is it comped? The answer is, yes and yes. Every day at about 5:30 p.m., they offered a very generous free players buffet. Everyone I talked to agreed that the food was excellent. A small added perk was the 24-hour coffee and soda bar.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the courtesy of the dealers and staff. It was obvious that the Umitilla Tribe had trained everyone well. It was a very pleasant change of pace to be called "sir" by almost all of the employees instead of pal, partner, or buddy.

When all is said and done, I can honestly say it was a great experience, and I wholeheartedly recommend that you check it out.

Hopefully, I will be asked back as a host next March 6-13 for the Spring Poker Roundup, but even if I'm not, I'll be there anyway.