WELCOME TO THE SEATTLE POKER OPEN

Are you tired of competing against players that are just trying to "win their way in" to an event they aren't ready for?  Are you bothered by all the "wild jokers" that don't take the game seriously? Come play in one of our events and elevate your game to the next level.

The SPO was developed as a "learning league" where players who take the game of poker seriously can hone their skills and ready themselves for larger, real money events, while still having fun and meeting folks with similar interests.  If this is your first exposure to the game (you aren't our first!), you'll find friendly players at our tables, and tournament direction of the utmost quality.  Because of our attention to the finer details of the game, we are the only recreational league endorsed and sponsored by Tulalip Casino.

Whether you're just beginning or want to try a different style, we welcome you to come and sit at one of our friendly tables, where the only thing you need to worry about is your game.  We offer a different |tournament structure| each night of the week, and some extremely fun |Special Events|.  In addition, we provide many lucrative prizes nightly, weekly, and a great Season Championship.  All you need to play is to |register| for free.

We hold many tournaments a week in your local neighborhood bar and restaurant. Check the |schedule| to see a full list of where and when we will be holding one near you.

Mong Kon Mo
Player #0943
League Member since: 9/13/06

Occupation: Teacher
Hometown: Fresno, CA
Neighborhood: Maple Leaf
How long have you been playing poker: 3 years
Favorite Starting Hand: J3 offsuit... now everyone please start playing it against me!
Greatest Poker Moment: Winning the SPO Championship AGAIN!!! It was a lot tougher this time around with stronger competition throughout the tournament (not to mention a great 3-handed and heads-up match) and only a mere 3000 chips to start with. It also didn't help having to fold every hand for the first 2.5 blind rounds (remember, we got professional dealers so that's a lot of hands).
Best Lay Down: I was in a 2-40 spread limit cash game. Action folds to a guy in MP who raises to $14 and everyone folds to the button, who calls. The button has been playing very tight and has avoided preflop raises over $8. I look down in the SB at AK suited, think for a second, and mucked. The BB folds and the flop comes out K high rainbow. MP bets and then folds to a raise. The button shows KK. That hand would've cost me big time had I not been paying attention. Whew! The best part about a cash game is that you can always wait for a better spot.
Poker Superstitions: Not protecting your hole cards is bad luck...
Poker Pet Peeve: People claiming that they had pot odds when they have no flippin' clue what that means. That's not why you called. We all know why you called, but we're too nice to say it. Oh, and people who can't take free poker seriously.
Favorite Pro: Daniel Negreanu
Favorite Poker TV Show: High Stakes Poker
Favorite Poker Book: Poker reading I've enjoyed from time to time include Jason Mizuta and Jason Cortese (among others). Seriously though, I haven't read any poker books. I own one though...
Players on Your Dream Final Table: Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harmon, Allen Cunningham, Evelyn Ng, Barry Greenstein, Chris Furgeson, Andy Block, Kenny Tran, and me.
You Get Aces on the first hand of the Main Event of the WSOP and someone goes all in pre-flop. Do you call?: Let's see... Day 2 begins at 500-1000 +100 ante. To feel comfortable playing at this level, I need to have about 100,000 chips at the end of Day 1. I believe I can do this without risking my entire stack very early in the tournament (and certainly not on the first hand). To me, it is about slow and steady chipping up during the first day. This tournament is a marathon, not a sprint. Another factor involved in this decision is that I feel that I do a reasonably good job reading other players, but this takes time. So playing patiently and allowing myself to collect valuable information before putting myself in a difficult position will work to my advantage in the long run. All that said, I'm more likely to call the all in pre-flop than I am to call $5000 pre-flop. So I guess the real question is, what is the largest pre-flop raise I'll call with aces? I'd say around 10-15% of my stack during the early stages of the tournament. Of course, if I find myself sitting with 9 well known pros at the beginning of the first day, I will immediately call the all in since I will need every edge I can possibly get at that table. But it is very unlikely that a well known pro would go all in on the first hand, especially when they have fresh fish like me at the table. That answer long enough?