Poker News

Lake Elsinore’s Casino Manager: Pat Wilmes

Pat Wilmes is a native Californian, born and raised in Orange County. After graduation from La Quinta High School Pat started his own Appliance Sales and Service business. In the early 80’s, at the age of 21, he began playing poker in theGardena area. Pat had some friends in the gaming business that convinced him to move to Southern California to pursue a career in poker. Poker was becoming more and more popular and the idea of a career in the gaming business looked very lucrative.

When Pat made the move to Southern California he found Saboba Casino to be his favorite place to play poker. In 1995 Saboba started to evolve into a Vegas style casino and Pat took advantage of his knowledge of poker to land a floor position in the poker room.

In 1999 Pat left Saboba and took a graveyard shift supervisor’s position at Lake Elsinore. In November of 2004 Pat was promoted to Casino Manager overseeing a staff of more than 140 with up to 22 tournament tables. His duties include general casino management and working closely with the restaurant and hotel services.

DB: What does Lake Elsinore offer poker players in the way of incentives?

PW: We offer discounted room rates for players. We have a 24 hour food menu with very reasonable prices, and players are treated to free buffets on Tuesday and Thursday morning from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. along with a continental buffet daily.

DB: What poker games can players expect to have available to them on a daily basis?

PW: We spread a range of $2-$4 to $20-$40 limit hold’em. Our no-limit hold’em games start with a mini no-limit with a $50 buy-in up to a $100 minimum-$ 500 maximum buyin. We also have a $500 minimum with no maximum buy-in no-limit game. We spread four-card Omaha high-low with $3-$6 and $4-$8 limits. We are a player friendly casino and will do everything possible to accommodate our players. We will lay down what ever game the players request. We have a player contingency that enjoys playing HOS (hold’em, Omaha and stud), and HOP (hold’em, Omaha, pineapple).

DB: What daily tournaments are offered at Lake Elsinore?

PW: We run tournaments seven days a week. Our Monday-Saturday tournaments begin at 10 a.m. with a $1,000 guarantee, a $17 buy-in, $5 rebuys and two $5 add-ons. They alternate between Omaha high-low, limit hold’em and no-limit hold’em. On Sunday the tournament begins at 2 p.m., the game is no-limit with a $2,000 guarantee for only a $5 entry fee. The Sunday tournament offers $10 rebuys for the first hour and two $10 add-ons at the break.

DB: What else do you offer in the way of tournament action?

PW: We are presently running WSOP qualifying events every Monday and Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The game is no-limit hold’em, with a $25 buy-in and two rebuys. We guarantee one $2,500 WSOP seat and one $125 buy-in to another tournament at a later date to win a $10,000 WSOP seat. We run a nolimit ladies tournament once a month, usually the third week of the month at 7 p.m., with a $30 buy-in, one $5 rebuy and a $1,500 guarantee. Another once a month tournament we run is our “5 G’s for $25.” It’s a no-limit event with a $30 buy-in.

DB: Lake Elsinore sounds like a tournament haven, are there any more?

PW: Actually, yes there are several more. Another favorite among our players is our “$33,000 Weekend” which is held the beginning of every month. It starts on the first Thursday of every month at 7:15 p.m. with an Omaha high-low event. The buy-in is $40 with one $30 rebuy and we guarantee $5,000. On Friday at 7:15 p.m. the event is no-limit hold’em, also with a $15,000 guarantee. The buy-in is $75 with two $40 rebuys. Saturday is also no-limit hold’em that starts at 4:15 p.m. with a $10,000 guarantee and a $65 buy-in. And last but not least, the Sunday event starts at 2:00 p.m. with a $5 buy-in, $10 rebuys, two $10 add-ons and a $3,000 guarantee. Add all the guarantees together and it’s a $33,000 weekend. We also hold two freerolls every week. The first is limit hold’em on Tuesday at6:30 p.m. with a $1,500 guarantee. There is no buyin or entry fee but we do offer $10 rebuys and two $10 add-ons. The second freeroll is held on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. except on the “$33,000 Weekend.” Oh, one last thing. We are one of the only places left in California that still offers live Pan games on the weekends. Once a month we have Pan tournaments that draws from 150-200 players, mainly from the LA area.

DB: Is Lake Elsinore planning any major tournaments or televised events?

PW: We just finished filming our second Southern California Poker tour event. It was a no-limit hold’em event with a $25,000 guarantee.

DB: Is your player base mostly locals?

PW: We draw most of our players from a 20 mile radius of Lake Elsinore but we also draw from Los Angeles and Las Vegas because of our hotel. We are just north of Temecula, which is a very well respected wine community with lots of wine tasting available. Lake Elsinore is famous for our beautiful lake which can be viewed from our property.

DB: Does Lake Elsinore offer a player rate for overnighters?

PW: Yes, the rate is $25 per night and I recommend making reservation in advance because we never knowhow booked we might be on any given weekend. We have a lot of players come in for a high-end no-limit game that sometimes goes around the clock for up to 48 hours.

DB: Is there anything else you’d like players to know about Lake Elsinore?

PW: Yes, we have a large female player contingency and we do every thing possible to make them comfortable while playing. We have a no abuse policy with set rules and regulations for penalties that we expect everyone to follow. We are a smaller club with a low-key atmosphere and we want our players to have a good time and a pleasant experience. We have plenty of convenient parking with three main entrances.

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