Southern California Poker Championships to span Four Casinos

The worlds largest live poker tournaments often present players with multiple days of starting flights, giving all players enough time to get to the venue and participate. Sometimes, a player who loses in Day 1A will pay to enter again on Day 1B or 1C. Yes, multi-day starting flights can be a great thing for avid poker players, but what if a poker championship offered 64 days of starting flights?

Crazy, right? I know. Now lift your jaw back up from the floor and get used to the idea, because that’s exactly what several California casinos have teamed up to offer in the new annual Southern California Poker Championships, guaranteeing $3 million in the prize pool, with at least $500k and a brand new Mercedes for the eventual winner.

Their are four casinos associated with the new poker tournament. First is the Hawaiian Gardens Casino, which nearly quadrupled in size following a recent $90 million renovation. Then the series travels west to the Hustler Casino on Redondo Beach Blvd in Gardena, CA. Next up is the the world-famous Bicycle Casino (aka The Bike) in Bell Gardens, followed by a final stop at the Commerce Casino in southern Los Angeles, home to the world’s largest card room.

For years, these California casinos, all located in or near the poker-playing mecca that is Los Angeles, have competed against one another to draw customers to their tables. Now, they’ve all decided to work together on what could potentially evolve into one of the most prominent poker championships in the world.

Southern California Poker Championships

The new poker championships series will begin at the Hawaiian Gardens with starting flights running daily at 12-noon and 5:30pm from September 18^th through the 25^th. Then from October 1^st through the 8^th, starting flights will take place at The Bicycle, again at 12-noon and 5:30pm. The same schedule will be found at the Hustler Casino from October 21^st – 28^th, and again at the Commerce from November 5^th – 12^th.

The buy-in for all starting flights is $350. Players can take advantage of one re-entry per starting flight, and are permitted to enter as many Day 1 starting flights as they wish, at as many of the eligible casinos as they want to travel to.

In order to move on to Day 2 action, a player must finish in the top 6% of the field during a Day 1 flight. The day 2 ticket comes with an $800 prize, as well. Note that players who finish in the top 9-10% receive a $600 prize, while the top 7-8% receive $700 (but no ticket to Day 2).

If a player fails to qualify for Day 2, or would rather skip the preliminary starting flights altogether, they can enter any Day 2 flight at one of the four California casinos for a direct buy-in of $4,500.

Day 2 flights begin September 26^th at Hawaiian Gardens, October 9 at The Bicycle, October 29^th at Hustler Casino, and November 13^th at Commerce. Day 3 action – if necessary – will start the following day at each respective card room.

The final Day 4 tables will play out at The Bicycle this year, rotating to a different casino with each annual return of the SCPC. Day 4 runs from November 14-15, where the winner is guaranteed at least a $500,000 slice of the overall $3 million guaranteed prize, and a new Mercedes.

$100k Freeroll for Top Players

To help spice things up, the California casinos devised a special side event for the top 50 points earners throughout the SoCal Poker Championships. Points are earned by registering for starting flights, as well as making it to Day 2. Those lucky players will participate in a $100,000 Freeroll at The Bike on December 13.