The RunGood Poker Series Graton makes a return visit May 2-12 to California’s Wine Country, while Graton Resort & Casino’s poker room plays host to 11 days full of action with 18 ring events, plus new activities including a five-tournament Mixed Game Championship.
Due to popular demand, the price tag for mixed games during this RunGood Poker Series Graton stop increases to $500 for Big O, Omaha 8, HORSE, TOE and 2-7 Triple Draw. The top finisher for the five combined events will earn the title of RunGood Mixed Game Champion alongside a championship trophy.
There’s a $500,000 Guarantee on the $800 Main Event taking place May 10-12, with two starting flights per day May 10 and 11, and the Day 2 Final on the closing day of the series.
Graton Poker and RunGood kick off the 11 days of fun with a $400 buy-in, five-flight $200,000 Guarantee Mega Stack that begins with one evening flight on May 2, and wraps up with the Day 2 Final on May 5.
RunGood Poker Series Graton: What to Expect
Every RunGood tour stop’s Ambassador Bounty event – the Graton version taking place the night of May 8 – shows locals how to remember if we’re not having fun, what are we all doing playing poker? It is calling ‘playing,’ after all, amirite? There are prizes awarded for knocking out a RunGood Graton Ambassador, and $100 black-chips for every tournament elimination.
No-Limit Hold’em events on the schedule include Black Chip Bounty, Six-Max, Seniors, Bomb Pot, Super Stack, Black Chip/Ambassador Bounty, and an $1,100 Purple Chip Bounty event on the final day of the tournament series.
Satellites offer great value during RunGood Graton – with a $185 Package satellite awarding seats to both the Main Event and Mega Stack, plus $200 cash; and even a $550 satellite awarding seats to the 2024 $10,000 entry WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas.
Many series offer a nightly smaller buy-in tournament, and RunGood Poker Series Graton is no exception, albeit with a fun twist. Win any on the $135 Nightly tournaments and you receive an entry into a winner’s-only single table where both 1st and 2nd place in that single table earn a Main Event seat.
Tournament competition at Graton takes place in The Event arena where indoor concerts also take place. Tournament Director Jordan Cutter brings in a team of dealers and coordinators from across the country to manage the 80 tournament tables in one of the country’s premier setups.
An adjacent registration room offers multiple cashiers and the ability to obtain (or replace) your player’s card while registering for any of the 18 RunGood Poker Series Graton events. Multiple bars are available exclusively for tournament players, breakfast, lunch, and dinner offerings are available at the rear of the tournament area, a separate direct entrance from the rear parking area is open for players … and the concert stage plays host to several tournament final tables, with action broadcast on large screen monitors in the room so everyone can watch final table action.
The Graton Resort & Casino is in the early stages of a $1 billion (yes, that’s a 1 and 9 zeroes) expansion, adding a second hotel tower and pool, more restaurants, more casino floor space, and the poker room is also set to expand from its current 22 tables. Speaking of restaurants at Graton, do NOT miss Tony’s, an offshoot of Tony’s of North Beach in San Francisco, 12-time World Pizza Champion winners.
Traveling to any around Graton showcases some of the most spectacular parts of the California countryside at your fingertips – from redwood forests as you travel north, to the internationally-acclaimed Napa/Sonoma Wine Country with vineyards mere blocks from the casino when heading west, a 30-mile trek east to grey whale sightings in the Pacific Ocean at Bodega Bay, to slightly more than an hour’s drive south in to San Francisco.
Nearby off-site activities include world-renowned breweries such as Russian River (known for Pliny the Elder, recognized year-after-year as one of the world’s best beers) to the original Lagunitas Brewery facility and much more. Parliament Brewing is within walking distance for those who depart the tournament area via the rear parking lot, with a nice selection of crafted beers and different food trucks nightly.
Go slightly further – by car or foot – past Parliament to Café Mimosa a breakfast spot where you are likely to see poker players every day of the series. Be quiet, though, this is a secret destination for the poker community and locals, don’t tell anyone about this amazing find!
RunGood Poker Series Graton 2024 Tournament Schedule
Thursday, May 2
- Noon – $200 Series Opener
- 3 pm – $185 Package Satellite
- 6 pm– $200k GTD $400 Mega Stack – Flight A
Friday, May 3
- Noon – $200k GTD $400 Mega Stack – Flight B
- 3 pm – $185 Package Satellite
- 6 pm – $200k GTD $400 Mega Stack – Flight C
- 8 pm – $135 Nightly
Saturday, May 4
- Noon – $200k GTD $400 Mega Stack – Flight D
- 3 pm – $185 Package Satellite
- 6 pm – $200k GTD $400 Mega Stack – Flight E
- 8 pm – $135 Nightly
Sunday, May 5
- 1 pm – $400 Black Chip Bounty
- 2 pm – $500 PLO
- 5 pm – $245 Deepstack Satellite
- 8 pm – $135 Nightly
Monday, May 6
- 10 am – $245 Deepstack Satellite
- Noon – $300 6-Max
- 2 pm – $500 HORSE
- 4 pm – $1,100 Deepstack
- 8 pm – $135 Nightly
Tuesday, May 7
- 10 am – $250 Seniors
- 2 pm – $500 Omaha 8
- 6 pm – $200 NLH Bomb Pot
- 8 pm – $135 Nightly
Wednesday, May 8
- 10 am – $170 Mega Satellite Package
- Noon – $600 Super Stack
- 2 pm – $500 TOE
- 6 pm – $300 Black Chip Bounty + Ambassador Bounty
- 8 pm – $135 Nightly
Thursday, May 9
- Noon – $400 NLH
- 2 pm – $500 2-7 Triple Draw
- 6 pm – $185 Main Event Satellite
- 8 pm – $135 Nightly
Friday, May 10
- 9 am – $185 Main Event Satellite
- 11 am – $500k GTD $800 Main Event – Flight A
- Noon – Nightly Winner’s Freeroll
- 2 pm – $500 Big O
- 5 pm – $500k GTD $800 Main Event – Flight B
- 6 pm – $185 Main Event Satellite
Saturday, May 11
- 9 am – $185 Main Event Satellite
- 11 am – $500k GTD $800 Main Event – Flight C
- 2 pm – $185 Main Event Satellite
- 5 pm – $500k GTD $800 Main Event – Flight D
Sunday, May 12
- 9 am – $135 Purple Chip Satellite
- 1 pm – $1,100 Purple Chip Bounty
- 4 pm – $550 WSOP Main Event Satellite
*Image credits: Hayley Hochstetler, for 8131 Media
