The RunGood Poker Series is bringing its NorCal Poker Championships to Graton Resort & Casino in Rohnert Park, California, with a stacked eleven day schedule running August 20 through August 30. The series packs 19 trophy events into that window and pushes total guarantees past $500,000, giving Northern California grinders a marquee stop without the travel demands of a trip to Las Vegas or the East Coast.
RGPS NorCal Championships Bring 19 Events to Rohnert Park
RunGood Poker Series built its reputation on affordable buy-ins paired with deep structures, and the NorCal Poker Championships schedule follows that formula closely. Across the 19 trophy events, buy-ins range from as low as $105 for satellites up to the $1,100 marquee championship, with most of the mid-tier events sitting comfortably between $200 and $600. That spread is designed to let recreational players build a full week around the series without needing a bankroll built for high roller buy-ins, while still offering enough structure depth to reward patient, skilled play deep into each field.
PokerNews will provide live reporting coverage of the Main Event, a detail that signals RGPS continues to treat the series as more than a regional stop. Live reporting brings updates, chip counts, and hand highlights to a wider audience that cannot make the trip to Sonoma County in person, which has become a standard marker of a series’ growing profile on the tournament calendar.
Series Opener Sets the Tone on August 20
The action begins August 20 at 11 a.m. with the $250 Series Opener, a No-Limit Hold’em event that gives players an early low-cost entry point into the series before the schedule ramps up in intensity. That same window also features the $400 PokerNews PowerStack, a $200,000 guaranteed event that runs across multiple starting flights from August 20 through 22, giving players several chances to fire into the field before the late registration period closes.
The mid-series stretch adds variety beyond standard No-Limit Hold’em. A $300 Tag Team event pairing PLO and NLH formats runs August 23 at 5 p.m. with a $150 per player buy-in, followed by a $200 Double Board Bomb Pot PLO event on August 24 at 5 p.m. that same day also hosts the $400 Seniors Event for players 50 and older at 10 a.m. Mixed game fans get another outlet on August 26 with a $300 Mixed PLO and Big O event at 2 p.m., paired that day with a $600 Super Stack starting at 11 a.m. for players who prefer deep-stack No-Limit Hold’em structures.
The $1,100 NorCal Championship Anchors the Series
The marquee event of the series is the $1,100 NorCal Championship, which guarantees a prize pool of at least $300,000 and follows a four flight starting structure spread across two days. Day 1a and Day 1b run August 28 at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. respectively, with Day 1c and Day 1d following the next day at the same start times. That format gives players multiple entry windows to build a stack before the field consolidates, a structure RunGood has used successfully across its other championship stops to maximize turnout without forcing everyone into a single grueling starting day.
With a $300,000 guarantee against a $1,100 buy-in, the Championship Event is priced to draw both grinders chasing a series-defining score and recreational players looking to test themselves against a stacked field. The eventual final table will cap off the series on August 30, closing out the eleven day run on the property’s signature event.
Satellites and Flip&Go Events Widen the Door
Beyond the trophy events, the series runs satellites throughout its run ranging from $105 to $250, giving players a lower cost path into the bigger buy-in events, including the Championship itself. RGPS has leaned on this satellite structure across its other stops as a way to keep the series accessible, letting a $100 investment turn into a shot at a five figure score if the cards fall right over a short satellite field.
Flip&Go tournaments, a fast-paced format that has grown in popularity across regional series over the past few years, will also run throughout the schedule. These events typically pair an all-in flip stage with a short-handed tournament finish, appealing to players who want action without committing to a full multi-hour grind, and they have become a reliable side attraction that keeps the poker room busy between larger flights.
Why the NorCal Stop Matters for RunGood’s Calendar
RunGood Poker Series has built its national footprint by rotating through casinos that serve regional grinders who cannot always justify the cost of flying to major series, and the Graton Resort stop fits squarely into that strategy. Northern California has a dense population of regular tournament players who otherwise have to travel to Southern California or out of state for a series of this scale, and an eleven day run with 19 trophy events gives that audience a legitimate reason to clear their calendar.
Players who want a refresher on how multi-flight tournament structures like the NorCal Championship work, including how starting stacks and Day 2 consolidation typically play out, can find the fundamentals covered in Poker Pro Academy’s how to play poker guide. With the series still two weeks out from its opening flight, RGPS has time to build momentum through its satellite schedule, and early indications suggest Graton Resort’s poker room is bracing for one of its busiest stretches of the year.
