Happy New Year! California poker rooms are ringing in 2024 with tournament series across the state, meaning players have something to play every day of the month.
The Gardens Casino Winter Series began on Dec. 26 and runs through Sunday, Jan. 7. Further south, the Mid-States Poker Tour will stop at Sycuan Casino for an 11-day series concluding on Jan. 14.
As MSPT wraps up, the World Series of Poker Circuit heads to Thunder Valley Casino, and Commerce Casino begins its annual LA Poker Classic, which runs into March.
While these California card rooms and CA tribal casinos headline the January poker calendar, you can find daily tournaments at more than 30 rooms statewide. These daily events have smaller buy-ins and shorter run times and are the only nearby option for in-state residents, with California online poker unlikely to become legal soon.
January 2024 California live poker tournaments
The Gardens Casino Winter Series
SoCal poker players have access to tournaments every day in January between The Gardens Casino, Sycuan and Commerce. The Gardens’ Winter Series has three events with six-figure guaranteed prize pools.
- Saturday, Dec. 30: $500 no-limit hold ’em mystery bounty ($100,000 guaranteed)
- Monday, Jan. 1: $500 no-limit hold’em deepstack ($100,000 guaranteed)
- Thursday, Jan. 4 – Sunday, Jan. 7: $1,100 main event ($500,000 guaranteed)
The $500,000 guaranteed main event features three starting flights at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. All who make it through the day will advance to Sunday’s Day 2, which begins at noon and plays down to a winner.
MSPT San Diego Showdown at Sycuan Resort & Casino
The Mid-States Poker Tour heads to Sycuan Casino, just east of San Diego, for its 19-event San Diego Showdown Series from Jan. 4-14.
A $360 no-limit hold’em mystery bounty with a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool runs on the opening weekend. The event has three starting flights between Thursday, Jan. 4 and Saturday, Jan. 6. Day 2 runs on Sunday, Jan. 7.
The next weekend follows the same schedule for the $1,100 main event, running Jan. 11-14. Unlimited re-entries are available over three starting flights, and the event has a $300,000 guaranteed prize pool.
The MSPT website has a complete list of events, including trophy events and satellite tournaments.
Uncorked Series & World Series of Poker Circuit at Thunder Valley Poker Room
The poker room at Thunder Valley Casino will be busy all January, starting with the Uncorked 2024 Champagne Series from Jan. 2-8. The series features eight events, including two six-figure guaranteed tournaments:
- Jan. 4-5: $300 no-limit hold ’em NorCal Jacked Stack ($100,000 guaranteed)
- Jan. 6-7: $600 no-limit hold ’em Champagne main event ($200,000 guaranteed)
Next, the World Series of Poker Circuit runs from Jan. 11-22 with a schedule that boasts 15 ring events and nearly $1 million in guarantees. Highlights include:
- Jan. 11-14: $400 “The Opener” ($250,000 guaranteed, four starting flights)
- Jan. 14: $400 PLO; $600 NLH ($75,000 guaranteed)
- Jan. 15: $600 HORSE
- Jan 17-19: $400 monster stack ($100,000 guaranteed, two starting flights)
- Jan. 18-19: $3,250 high roller (two-day event)
- Jan. 19-22: $1,700 main event ($500,000 guaranteed, two starting flights)
Commerce Casino’s LA Poker Classic
Last but certainly not least, the storied Los Angeles Poker Classic at Commerce Casino returns for a seven-week schedule. It kicks off on Friday, Jan. 12 and runs all the way through through Sunday, March 3.
Since we run this column monthly, we will only focus on January’s portion of the LAPC schedule. January alone guarantees more than $1 million in total prize pools.
- Jan. 12-15: $300 NLH ($300,000 guaranteed, $50,000 guaranteed to first place) – six starting flights
- Jan. 15-20: $400 NLH XL Stack ($150,000 guaranteed) – six starting flights
- Jan. 21-28: $600 NLH XL Bounty Multiplier ($500,000 guaranteed, $2,000 bounties on Day 2) – nine starting flights.
- Jan. 29 – Feb. 4: $600 NLH ($400,000 Guaranteed) – seven starting flights
Additional one-day and mixed-game events run all series long. You can find a full schedule of events on the LAPC website.
December California Tournament Results
The main focus of December poker went to neighboring Nevada, where the World Poker Tour’s World Championship festival took place at Wynn Las Vegas. Californians more than held their own, earning $35,000 or more in at least 12 tournaments.
These were some of their best results:
- Noel Rodriguez (19th – $236,300) and Neel Murthy (27th – $159,200) made deep runs in the $10,000 World Championship. The tournament drew 3,835 runners, generating a first-place prize worth nearly $5.3 million.
- The $1,600 Mystery Bounty had four Californians at the final table: Matthew McEwan of San Francisco (4th – $192,754), Todd Turoci of Riverside (5th – $148,507), Danny Fuhs of Monrovia (8th – $62,463) and Ubaid Habib of Tracy (9th – $44,396)
- San Francisco’s Lawrence Chow finished in 3rd place out of 4,950 entries in the opening $600 NLH $2 million guaranteed event to earn a career-best $186,493.
- Justin Geronsin of Grass Valley finished in 7th place out of 2,196 entries in the $3,000 NLH on Dec. 20 for $167,749
Two Californians made the final table of the $10,100 NLH on Dec. 22: Ventura’s Michael Brinkenhoff (3rd – $154,945) and North Hollywood’s Aram Oganyan (7th – $49,875)
California daily poker tournaments in January
Hundreds of California daily poker tournaments run throughout the state each month.
See below for a complete list of events at more than 30 cardrooms in California. We’ve separated the rooms into four regions for you to see what’s available in your area.
Rooms may cancel or suspend tournaments for larger series or other reasons. Thus, always call ahead to confirm a tournament will run.
Southern California
Agua Caliente Casino (Rancho Mirage)
- Monday through Friday: 10 a.m. $100 NLH with $50 rebuys and $20 add-on
- Tuesday and Thursday: 6:30 p.m. $120 NLH with $50 rebuys and $20 add-on
- Saturday and Sunday: 10 a.m. $150 NLH with $60 rebuys and $20 add-on
Bicycle Casino (Bell Gardens)
Daily tournaments are currently suspended.
Commerce Casino
- Monday through Thursday: 4 p.m. $130 NLH with one optional $100 add-on
- Friday: 4 p.m. $175 NLH Bounty
- Saturday: 1 p.m. $250 NLH Bounty
- Sunday: 1 p.m. $150 NLH with one optional $100 add-on
The Gardens Casino (Hawaiian Gardens)
- Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday: 11 a.m. $130 NLH
- Friday, Saturday: 11 a.m. $250 NLH
$150 Sit-n-Go tournaments also run Wednesday through Sunday at 3 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and on-demand between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Hollywood Park Casino (Inglewood)
- Monday and Tuesday: 10 a.m. $175 NLH; 6 p.m. $80 NLH + $60 add-on
- Wednesday: 11 a.m. $125 Big O; 6 p.m. $200 NLH
- Thursday: 6 p.m. $200 NLH
- Friday: 10 a.m. $300 NLH Bounty
- Saturday: $360 NLH
- Sunday: 11 a.m. $100 NLH + $100 add-on
*There will be no tournaments on Saturdays and Sundays when SoFi Stadium hosts games
Hustler Casino (Gardena)
Daily tournaments are currently moved to Lucky Lady Casino, one mile north of Hustler Casino on Vermont Ave.
Jamul Casino (Jamul)
- Monday through Friday: 10 a.m. $60 NLH; 6 p.m. $60 NLH ($40 on Thursday; $125 on Friday)
- Saturday: 10 a.m. $40 NLH; 4 p.m. $100 NLH ($125 second Saturday of the month)
- Sunday: 10 a.m. $80 NLH; $6 p.m. $125 NLH Bounty
Lucky Lady Casino (Gardena)
- Monday through Friday 12:30 p.m. $80 NLH + $50 re-buys and add-ons; 7 p.m. buy-in varies from $130 to $200
- Saturday: 3 p.m. $150 NLH
- Sunday: 1 p.m. $150 NLH
Ocean’s Eleven Casino (Oceanside)
- Monday through Friday: 10 a.m. $100 NLH; 7 p.m. $100 NLH (no Friday night tournament)
- Saturday: 10 a.m. $200 NLH
- Sunday: 10 a.m. $150 NLH
Sycuan Casino (El Cajon)
- Tuesday: 6 p.m. $70 NLH
- Wednesday: 6 p.m. $110 NLH
Central Coast and Central Valley
Aviator Casino (Delano)
- Wednesday: 6 p.m. $30 NL Mexican Poker
Garlic City Casino (Gilroy)
- Wednesday: 11 a.m. $40 NLH; 7 p.m. $160 NLH
- Third Sunday of the month: 11 a.m. $160 NLH Bounty
Golden West Casino (Bakersfield)
- Wednesday: 6 p.m. $80 NLH
- Saturday: 12:15 p.m. $90 NLH
Oceanview Casino (Santa Cruz)
- Tuesday: 5 p.m. $140 NLH ($200 first Tuesday of the month)
- Saturday: 3:30 p.m. $140 NLH ($200 first Saturday of the month)
- Sunday: 3:30 p.m. $140 NLH ($210 first Sunday of the month)
Outlaws Card Parlour (Atascadero)
- Wednesday: 6 p.m. $20 NLH
- First Saturday of the month: 5 p.m. $250 NLH
- Sunday: 6 p.m. $40 NLH (will not run on Jan. 7)
Parkwest Casino Manteca (Manteca)
- Monday through Friday: 9 a.m. $59 NLH
- Saturday and Sunday: 9 a.m. $120 NLH
Stars Casino (Tracy)
- Monday through Thursday: 12 p.m. $80 NLH + $80 add-on
Turlock Poker Room (Turlock)
- Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday: 10 a.m. $45 NLH Bounty
- Monday: 10 a.m. $35 NLH; 6 p.m. $50 NLH
- Wednesday: 10 a.m. $35 NLH; 6 p.m. $65 NLH
- Friday: 10 a.m. $35 NLH
- Saturday: 10 a.m. $50 NLH
Wanaaha Casino (Bishop)
- Saturday: 6 p.m. $40 NLH
Bay Area
19th Hole Casino (Antioch)
- Saturday and Sunday: 12 p.m. $60 NLH
Bay 101 Casino (San Jose)
- Sunday through Wednesday: 9:15 a.m. $200 NLH
- Friday: 8:30 a.m. $200 NLH Turbo
Graton Resort & Casino (Rohnert Park)
- Monday and Wednesday: 10 a.m. $135 NLH
- Tuesday: 6 p.m. $135 NLH
- Thursday: 6 p.m $200 NLH Bounty
- Friday: 10 a.m. $200 NLH Bounty
- Sunday: 10 a.m. $250 NLH Bounty
Livermore Casino (Livermore)
- Sunday: 10 a.m. $130 NLH + $65 Add-on
Lucky Chances (Colma)
- Wednesday, Friday: 9:30 a.m. $240 NLH
- Sunday: 9:30 a.m. $300 NLH ($630 NLH on Jan. 21)
Pete’s 881 Club (San Rafael)
- Monday: 6 p.m. $120 NLH
- Sunday: 4 p.m. $220 NLH
Northern California
Bear River Casino (Loleta)
- Sunday, Monday: 6 p.m. $60 NLH
- Wednesday: 6 p.m. $100 NLH Bounty
- Friday, Saturday: 6 p.m. $100 NLH
Blue Lake Casino (Blue Lake)
- Wednesday through Saturday: 6:30 p.m. $50 NLH
Capitol Casino (Sacramento)
- Monday through Friday: 10 a.m. $40 NLH + $35 add-on (double add-on Tuesdays)
- Saturday: 10 a.m. $100 NLH
- Sunday: 10 a.m. $60 NLH + $50 add-on
Casino 99 (Chico)
- Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday: 10 a.m. $35 NLH
- Tuesday, Friday: 10 a.m. $35 NLH ($20 rebuys and $20 add-ons)
Casino Club (Redding)
- Tuesday and Thursday: 6 p.m. $60 NLH
- Saturday: 6 p.m. $85 NLH Bounty
- Sunday: 4 p.m. $60 NLH
Elk Valley Casino (Crescent City)
- Tuesday: 6 p.m. $65 NLH
- Thursday: 6 p.m. $70 Omaha Hi-Lo
- Friday: 6 p.m NLH Freeroll ($10 rebuys and add-ons)
- Saturday: 4 p.m. $125 NLH Progressive Bounty
Thunder Valley Casino (Lincoln)
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 9:30 a.m. $75 NLH
- Thursday: 9:30 a.m. $100 NLH Bounty
- Friday: 9:30 a.m. $125 NLH
- Saturday: 9:30 a.m. $240 NLH ($20K Guaranteed)
- Sunday: 5:30 p.m. $150 NLH ($10K Guaranteed)
Towers Casino (Grass Valley)
- Sunday: 3 p.m. $50 NLH ($150 first Sunday of the month)
