Poker Tournaments California 2023: Where to Play?

California isn’t exactly poker-friendly when it comes to legislation (poker fans and California sports betting hopefuls can bond over that), but you can still find a surprisingly large number of real money poker tournaments in California. The trick is knowing where to look. There are two types of establishments where you can legally play poker and participate in tournaments throughout the year: card rooms and Indian casinos. The best Indian casinos in California are more likely to host tournaments over the weekend more than during the week. Tournament pools tend to have lower maximum limits in comparison to card rooms, although no-limit tournaments sometimes pop up. California card rooms provide cash games and tournaments all the time, attracting expert and novice poker players. At these locations, you can find high-stakes and beginner-friendly tournaments daily. Generally, card rooms host their tournaments in the evenings and offer affordable buy-ins. Overall, there are tons of excellent California poker tournaments to enjoy betting as you tour the state’s best poker locations. Below we break it all down for you in more detail, as well as the best legal online poker option in California.

Best Online Poker Tournaments in California

If you’re looking for legal online poker tournaments in California, Global Poker is without a doubt the way to go. No, it’s not a real-money poker site — none of those are legal in California. However, tournament players can still redeem cash prizes through the promotional sweepstakes model — where the currency they play with isn’t real money but can be redeemed for cash prizes and gift cards. Global Poker has daily tournaments, as well as occasional weeks-long or month-long promotion events. Weekend tournaments usually feature a bigger pot, and daily events are most often low-commitment Sit’N’Go tournaments. Use our Global Poker bonus code FLUSH to get 150,000 Gold Coins for $10 plus 30 FREE Sweeps Coins when you sign up.

Upcoming Poker Tournaments California Schedule 2023

LA Poker Classic 2023

Where: Commerce Casino When: Jan. 13-March 5 The Commerce Casino’s three-month, world-renowned poker extravaganza begins Jan. 13. There are 75 events with a whopping $2.8 million in guaranteed prize money. Here are the biggest LA Poker Classic 2023 events: Big 50 No Limit Hold’Em — $200,000 prize pool, $250 buy-in (Jan. 13-16) No Limit Jacked Stacks Combined Stacks — $100,000 prize pool, $360 buy-in (Jan. 17-21) No Limit Mystery Red Envelope — $288,888 prize pool, $288 buy-in (Jan. 22-29) Mixed Game Championship — $100,000 prize pool, $600 buy-in (Jan. 29-Feb. 4) No Limit Hold’Em 30 Year Anniversary — $300,000 prize, $360 buy-in (Jan. 30-Feb. 5) No Limit Hold’Em 40/40 — $200,000 prize pool, $600 buy-in (Feb. 6-11) No Limit Hold’Em LAPC Classic — $500,000 prize pool, $1,200 buy-in (Feb. 15-20) LAPC Main Event — $1,000,000 prize pool, $10,000 buy-in (Feb. 25-March 3) The Remington No Limit Hold’Em — $100,000 prize pool, $250 buy-in (March 1-4)

RGPS Checkpoint – Jamul Casino San Diego

Where: Jamul Casino When: Feb. 21-26 The RunGood Poker Series comes to Jamul Casino again in late February with a 15-event tournament, featuring a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool for the Main Event (Feb. 24-26). The buy-in for the three-flight Main Event is $600, while buy-ins for the other 14 events range from $145 to $300. For Omaha fans, there’s one Pot-Limit Omaha event at 3 p.m. Feb. 23 with a $300 buy-in. Something cool: At the Opening Night Guest Bounty Ring Event starting 7 p.m. Feb. 21, a select number of guests will receive special bounty envelopes with up to $1,000 in cash or RunGood apparel store credit.

2023 North Coast Poker Championship

Where: Bear River Casino When: Feb. 22-March 5 Bear River Casino in Loleta, California, is hosting the 2023 North Coast Poker Championship, which will crown the 2023 North Coast Poker Series Champion. That player will win $1,000 and a trophy. Players will get a certain number of points depending on where they finish in each event. Then, after all 10 events, the player with the most points will be named champion. For more information on the events, go ahead and click here.

RGPS Checkpoint – Graton Casino

Where: Graton Casino & Resort When: Feb. 28-March 8 The RunGood Poker Series will travel up from San Diego to the Bay Area for its next Checkpoint event at Graton Casino & Resort to close February and start March. The nine-day tournament features 29 events (including seven Main Event Satellites), $360,000 in guarantees, and buy-ins ranging from $105 (Satellites) to $1,100. RGPS Checkpoint – Graton Casino kicks off Feb. 28 with a Guest Bounty NLH Ring Event where randomly selected players will get bounty envelopes with $1,000 cash or RGPS store credit. A Mega Stack Ring Event with a $360 buy-in and $50,000 prize pool begins March 1. The Main Event, with $250,000 in guarantees and an $800 buy-in, begins the first of four flights on March 3. Here’s where the rest of the guarantees come into play:

• One Day NLH Ring Event, March 5 ($400 buy-in, $25,000 prize pool)
• One Day NLH Ring Event, March 6 ($200 buy-in, $10,000 prize pool)
• Monster Stack Ring Event, March 6-8 ($250 buy-in, $25,000 prize pool)

For Omaha lovers, this tournament also features four events with pot-limit Omaha hold’em:

• Pot Limit Omaha Ring Event, March 2 ($300 buy-in)
• Big O Pot Limit Hi/Lo Ring Event, March 5 ($300 buy-in)
• Omaha 8/Stud 8 Ring Event, March 6 ($300 buy-in)
• Mixed Omaha Ring Event, March 7 ($300 buy-in)

WSOP Circuit – The Bicycle Casino (Los Angeles)

Where: The Bicycle Hotel & Casino When: March 4-15 The World Series of Poker comes to one of the premier poker tournament facilities in the US, The Bicycle Hotel & Casino in LA. There will be 13 events, including the Monsterstack with a $150,000 guaranteed prize pool ($400 buy-in). Buy-ins for the other 12 events range from $250 to $2,200. The Main Event runs March 4-5. It doesn’t have a guarantee, but it does have a $1,700 buy-in. There’s also a Doublestack event (March 4) with $50,000 in guarantees, an NLH Turbo (March 7) with $30,000 in guarantees, an NLH Mammoth (March 11) with $75,000 in guarantees, and an NLH finale event (March 15) with $30,000 in guarantees. For Omaha lovers, there’s an Omaha 8 or Better event on March 14 with a $400 buy-in.

2023 WPT Kickoff Series – Thunder Valley Casino

Where: Thunder Valley Casino Resort When: March 14-18 The 2023 World Poker Tour Kickoff Series comes to The Poker Room at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California, this March. The five-day tournament features six events (with satellites beginning March 11) and $165,000 in guarantees — plus 15 $5,100 prize packages in a March 17 satellite event. A one-day no-limit Texas hold’em event with a $150 buy-in and $20,000 in guarantees kicks things off March 14. There’s an Omaha 8 event with a $200 buy-in set for March 15, as well as an Action 8 event with a $200 buy-in and $20,000 prize pool. A $200 buy-in no-limit hold’em Knockout Bounty event takes place March 16. So does a NLH Jacked Stack event with a $200 buy-in and $25,000 in guarantees. The one-day Main Event ($500 buy-in, $100,000 prize pool) takes place March 18. Satellite events for the Main Event begin March 11. Each features 15 guaranteed entries (valued at $700) to the WPT Package Satellite event on March 17. In that March 17 event, 15 prize packages valued at $5,100 will be randomly awarded. The packages include:

• Free entry to the March 18 Main Event ($500 buy-in)
• Free entry to the April 2-3 WPT Bounty Confidential ($1,100 buy-in)
• Free entry to the April 1-4 WPT Rolling Thunder ($3,500 buy-in)

2023 WPT Rolling Thunder

Where: Thunder Valley Casino Resort When: March 22-April 4 Less than a week after concluding its kickoff series event at Thunder Valley, the World Poker Tour returns to the Northern California poker hotspot for 2023 WPT Rolling Thunder. This is a huge event for The Poker Room at Thunder Valley Casino Resort, with $1.35 million in guarantees and the premier WPT Rolling Thunder event (with a $3,500 buy-in and live stream of final table) running April 1-4. Beyond WPT Rolling Thunder, there are 11 other events. Including satellite events, buy-ins range from $120 to $1,100.

• Anniversary Open @TVPokerRoom, March 22 ($300 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed)
• Deep Stack Thunder Valley, March 23-26 ($1,100 buy-in, $1 million guaranteed)
• NLH One-Day Event, March 26 ($300 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed)
• Omaha 8 Two-Day Event, March 27 ($500 buy-in)
• Action 8, March 27-29 ($500 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed)
• Heros Mix, March 29 ($500 buy-in)
• PLO One-Day Event, March 30 ($500)
• Leaning Tower of Chips, March 30-31 ($1,100 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed)
• WPT Bounty Confidential, April 2-3 ($1,100 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed)
• Six Handed NLH, April 3 ($500 buy-in)
• WPT Series Finale, April 4 ($300 buy-in)

WPT Gardens Poker Championship

Where: The Gardens Casino When: May 21-25 There aren’t many details yet about the WPT Gardens Poker Championship, other than that the Main Event will have a buy-in of $5,000.

Southern California Poker Tournaments

Here are some of the best regular poker tournaments in Southern California. These are often concentrated near Los Angeles and San Diego.

Poker Tournament	Location	When	Buy-in
Commerce Casino	Commerce	Usually 2-3 tournaments in morning, afternoon, and evening Monday-Friday Usually 1-2 tournaments Saturday and Sunday	Buy-ins range from $125 to $600, so there’s a tournament for several levels of poker player
Hollywood Park Casino	Inglewood	Monday, Tuesday: 10 a.m., 6 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday: 6 p.m. Friday, Saturday: 10 a.m.	Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday: $100 Monday, Tuesday: $120 Friday: $200
Hawaiian Gardens	Hawaiian Gardens	Wednesday-Saturday: 11:30 a.m.	Wednesday, Thursday: $130 Friday: $240 Saturday: $250
Ocean’s 11 Casino	Oceanside	Every day at 10 a.m.; an occasional extra evening tournament	Monday-Friday: $75 Saturday-Sunday: $230
Jamul Casino	Jamul	Monday: 10 a.m., 6 p.m. Tuesday: 10 a.m., 6 p.m. Wednesday: 10 a.m. Thursday: 10 a.m., 6 p.m. Friday: 10 a.m. Saturday: 10 a.m., 4 p.m. Sunday: 10 a.m., 6 p.m.	Monday-Friday: $60 Saturday morning: $40 Saturday evening: $100 Sunday morning: $80 Sunday evening: $125
Sycuan Casino Resort	El Cajon	Wednesday: 6 p.m. Friday-Sunday: 10 a.m.	Friday-Saturday: $70 Wednesday: $80
Agua Caliente Casino Rancho Mirage	Rancho Mirage	Monday: 9 a.m. Tuesday: 9 a.m., 6:30 p.m. Wednesday: 9 a.m. Thursday: 9 a.m., 6:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday: 9 a.m.	Monday-Friday 9 a.m.: $100 Tuesday, Thursday 6:30 p.m.: $120 Saturday, Sunday: $150
Hustler Casino	Gardena	Wednesday-Friday: 7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday: 3 p.m.	Wednesday-Saturday: $80 Sunday: $100
Larry Flint’s Lucky Lady Casino	Gardena	Monday, Friday: 5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday: 1 p.m.	Monday: $80 Friday: $100 Saturday: $75 Sunday: $125

Bay Area Poker Tournaments

Here are some of the best regular poker tournaments in Northern California. These are often concentrated in the San Francisco Bay Area and San Jose.

Poker Tournament	Location	When	Buy-in
Casino M8trix	San Jose	Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 6 p.m.	Monday: $170 Tuesday: $200 Wednesday: $300
Bay 101 Casino	San Jose	Monday-Wednesday: 12:45 a.m., 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Friday: 9:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday at 9 a.m.	Buy-ins range from $65 to $490
Graton Resort & Casino	Rohnert Park	Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Thursday: 6 p.m.	Morning: $135 Night: $165
19th Hole Casino	Antioch	Saturday, Sunday: 12 p.m.	$60
Livermore Casino	Livermore	Sunday: 9 a.m.	$240
Lucky Chances Casino	Colma	Wednesday, Friday, Sunday: 9:30 a.m.	Wednesday: $180 Friday: $240 Sunday: $300
Bear River Casino	Loleta	Monday, Wednesday, Sunday: 6 p.m. Sunday: 3 p.m.	Monday: $30 Wednesday: $40-$300 Saturday: $50 Sunday: $60

Poker Tournaments at California Card Rooms

Although 84 have licenses, there are 59 total California card rooms currently open and operating throughout the state, with the majority of these clustered around major California cities like San Diego, Los Angeles, and Sacramento. There were once hundreds of card rooms, but 1995 legislation made it illegal for new card rooms to open. California card rooms offer cash games and tournaments, and they are legal because of a loophole in CA legislation. California doesn’t allow gamblers to play poker when they are in direct competition with the house, at least when it concerns real money. To get around this, card rooms typically have players take turns acting as the dealer or standing in for the house, so they’re betting against each other. This means that games progress a little more slowly than at fully legal gambling locations like Las Vegas. Then, to make money, the card rooms charge the players a fee for using the establishment. This is also known as the rake. This arrangement allows card rooms to persist even with California’s anti-gambling legislation. Most California card rooms offer major poker game varieties like Texas hold’em and Omaha hold’em, although plenty of others also offer poker games like seven-card stud. Most card rooms require that you put up some money to buy-in to various tables. Newcomers can look out for card rooms that offer free, beginner-friendly games to teach new poker players the ropes. Some of the best California card rooms for poker include:

The Bicycle Hotel & Casino

The Bicycle Hotel & Casino offers a ton of different Cal games and traditional poker varieties. It has a rich history and is a stop for the World Series of Poker (WSOP), which occurs from November to December every year. The WSOP tournament draws extremely talented players and is great for playing and watching in equal measure. Viewership alone can get up into the hundreds of thousands. The Bike, which has 185 poker tables, also includes a seven-story hotel, a few other gaming opportunities, and live entertainment venues.

Bay 101 Casino

Bay 101 has 49 poker tables and is well-known for the experience and professionalism of its dealers. It’s a fantastic stopover poker place if you ever fly into the San Jose airport, and it’s pretty close to the San Francisco Bay Area as well. Tons of different hold ‘em games are available, with levels averaging several hundred dollars on most days.

Commerce Casino

The largest card room in the world with 270 poker tables, Commerce Casino hosts the LA Poker Classic. This annual tournament is held from January to March, and it’s actually the longest-running poker tournament series in all of Los Angeles. Promotions vary every year, with pools running upwards of $100,000 in many cases.

Hollywood Park Casino

With 125 poker tables, the card room at Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood is one of the biggest in the state. It hosts daily poker tournaments Monday-Saturday, with some Sunday tournaments sprinkled in there, too.

Hawaiian Gardens Casino

Also called The Gardens Casino, Hawaiian Gardens is one of California’s premier card rooms. It offers Texas hold’em and Omaha hold’em, as well as a variety of other poker variants, including blackjack, pai gow, and EZ baccarat. It boasts a total of 225 tables, with 110 dedicated to poker.

Poker Tournaments at California Indian Casinos

California Indian casinos are also an excellent place for playing poker. These casinos operate because they’re technically not on California soil. Instead, they stand on sovereign Indian ground, so they aren’t subject to the same types of gambling laws. As a result, Indian casinos and resorts offer all the gambling activities you’d expect at a Las Vegas counterpart while still technically being within California borders. Many of the best resorts host poker card rooms of their own or may allow you to play poker on open floors. It all depends on the layout of a given establishment. You do need to be 21 years old to enter the majority of tribal casinos and thus participate in their poker tournaments. However, there 15 California casinos that allow 18-year-olds and one of those has a poker room — Morongo Casino Resort & Spa. One of the nice things about Indian casinos is that many of them feature private poker tables that can be reserved ahead of time. Using these, you’ll be able to set up a private poker tournament for you and your friends or set up high-stakes games if you and your fellow poker enthusiasts want to make things interesting. Another advantage that Indian casinos have over traditional card rooms is that they’re more often paired with exquisite hotels, luxurious spas, and restaurants. Staying at one of these casinos is a true vacation experience, and it still lets you play all the poker you like. The downside is that most Indian casinos feature far fewer poker tables than even the smallest card rooms. There are several top-tier Indian casinos that feature poker rooms and tournaments:

Thunder Valley Casino Resort

Thunder Valley Casino Resort is just outside Sacramento and encompasses 270,000 square feet. There are 3,400 slot machines, but more importantly, it has 27 poker tables, which is more than many card rooms in the state. You’ll be able to play live poker games such as Texas hold’em 24 hours a day, plus enjoy excellent restaurants and a fantastic hotel at the same location. It’s one of the best Northern California casinos in the state. The Thunder Valley poker room plays host to the WSOP Circuit’s Northern California tournament every fall.

Morongo Casino Resort & Spa

At Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, you can take advantage of 150,000 square feet of gaming space, which includes a dedicated poker room that offers 20 poker tables. Other amenities include several restaurants, a hotel, and 4,000 slot machines. Morongo is the only 18+ Indian casino in California with a poker room.

Sycuan Casino Resort

Sycuan Casino Resort has 15 poker tables, which usually feature four no-limit Texas hold’em tournaments every week. The buy-ins vary between $70 and $80, making these tournaments approachable for even novice players. Some poker tournaments in California never dip below a $100 buy-in.

Poker Tournaments California FAQs