The Heartland Poker Tour is coming to the Poker Room at Thunder Valley Casino Resort Sept. 20 to 30. This will be the first ever nationally-televised poker event at Thunder Valley and the first stop ever for the Heartland Poker Tour in Northern California.
The Thunder Valley event is the middle leg of the Heartland Poker Tour’s Gold Rush Series that starts at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, then stops at Thunder Valley in Lincoln, and finishes at Club One in Fresno.
“We are excited to bring the Heartland Poker to Northern California,” said Ben Erwin, poker room director at Thunder Valley. “It has been great to see the enthusiasm for poker in California as the Gold Rush Series came together. With stops in Southern California, the Central Valley, and Thunder Valley in the north, along with our satellite partners, every player in California has a chance to play in a nationally-televised event.”
The final table will be broadcast live Sept. 30, but pre-series satellites begin Sept.7. Satellites will be held not only at the Poker Room at Thunder Valley, but also at the Turlock Poker Room, Stars Casino in Tracy, and the 19th Hole Casino in Antioch.
Several big names and professional players are expected to participate in the event including WSOP Commentator Lon McEachern, two-time World Poker Tour Main Event champion Cornel Cimpan, and Allen “The Chainsaw” Kessler, who has 32 World Series of Poker cashes and over $2.5 million in career earnings. Reality TV star and Heartland Poker Tour commentator Maria Ho will also make an appearance to sign autographs and take pictures with fans on Day 1A of the Main Event Thursday, Sept. 26.
The Heartland Poker Tour comes on the heels of the incredibly successful Thunder Valley Players Championship in August. The Players Championship saw capacity crowds at many of its events including the $150,000 guaranteed Deep Stack event, which ended up with a prize pool over $200,000. The main event included 347 entries and delivered a prize pool of $347,000. The two events were both streamed live online on the Thunder Valley Poker Room blog at http://poker room.thundervalleyresort.com.
After more than five hours of play at the final table, Mario Sequeira of Hanford was crowned the champion, taking home $75,000. The complete results are available online at the Thunder Valley Poker Room’s blog.
“Congratulations to Mario and all of the players who cashed at the Players Championship. The huge turnouts for the series are a credit to the guarantees, deep structures, and the increase in starting chips,” said Miguel Cardenas, tournament director for the Series. “Many players travelled from all over California and the surrounding states for these events and based on what the players are telling us, these improvements definitely make it worth the trip. The live stream of the final tables really created a buzz around the Players Championship Series and we look forward to continuing with the live streams in future events.”
This fall also sees the return of the Monday Night Blitz during Monday night football games. Players can win their share of $3,500 each week during the promotion. Four of a Kind Rush also continues every Tuesday and Thursday. Players win $200 for making any qualifying four-of-a-kind, then win $500 for every qualifying four-of-a-kind they make for the remainder of that promotional day.
Thunder Valley Casino Resort is located just off I-80 in Lincoln at the Highway 65 exit. For more information about the casino and specifics regarding upcoming poker tournaments, visit their website at www.thundervalleyresort.com or call 916-408-7777 ext. 8910.
