Get a Floorman to go over w you and approve it at the front desk. It might take awhile though

Hi all,

I am visiting SoCal in a couple of weeks and plan to play 2 or 3 nights at The Bike. I cannot play more than 4 hours at a stretch due to family and business.

I will play either 2/3 or 5/5 depending on how much I can save by then. I tend to take 3 Buy Ins and quit if I lose them. I have been playing 2/5 NL @ Borgata for the past year once/every two months and am a moderate winner so far.

So far I have learned that the Bike (and So Cal casinos) are looser with more gamblers due to the fixed rake structure and richer player pool.

Any tips on what I should expect and adjust to wrt to Bike vs Borgata game style?

Is the Bike 2/3 NL called the 300 NL and the 5/5 NL called 500NL? The LABT videos show that some pots at 5/5 start with antes? Will this sort of things be clearly posted?

Do I need to post when I sit at a table if its not yet my BB?

Thanks in advance for the tips. I like to be prepared and SoCal sounds so different from Borgata.

Frank

The Bike 2/3 game is super soft, is called 100NL I think. Bike 5/5 game would be 300NL and is 300-1k buy in. They are both good games, but 5/5 can get kind of nitty sometimes. If you don't like that game, you can also head over to commerce and play the 5/5 300-500 buy in. Or Hustler 5/5 300-1k.

Yes you need to post if you are new to a table (or wait for your BB)

Haven't played much at Borgata, but I can't imagine it's too much softer than the 5/5 game here. Probably similar. Every table is different of course.

LATB has two different 5/5 games. One is the normal 300-1k capped game. The other game is a 5/5/5 ante structure, with 1k min buy and no max. That game plays more like a 10/20nl game, but you don't have to worry about it, as it only really runs on the show.

Gl

Thanks ticketmaster.

Travels plans finally set in stone - looking forward to playing at least one night at The Bike next week.

I've heard they are getting 2-3 tables of 20 40 OE every night -- can anyone comment on this? Does it run 24h now?

Every time i am there (2-4 times a week) they always have at least 2 games going until i leave at around 1 AM

The Bike is currently running a new structured NLH game. It is 3/5 with a buy in of $200-500. Last night there were two games running but personally havent had a chance to play it. Spoke to a floorman who said that as long as the demand is there the game should continue to run. I think its a great alternative between the $100-300 and $300-1000.

Does anyone know the buy-in's for low stake games NLHE as well as 2/5-5/5 and 5/10.

1/2 $40-$60 buy-in
1/3 $80-$120 buy-in
2/3 $100-$300 buy-in
3/5 $200-$500 buy-in
5/5 $300-$1000 buy-in
5/10 $500-uncapped buy-in

Thx for the information. Does anyone know about the comps.

For 2/3 and above food is completely comped. Currently for the month of April the Bike is giving $4 back in rakeback with 40 hours minimum required and $5 any hours after that. Not sure if promotion will continue into May. If not the Bike always runs tournament freerolls with a changing minimum hours required. Those tournaments if available are completely free unlike HG and other places.

Thx for the info man. So that is $4/hr? And is that food comp only or actual rakeback where you can use that for what ever you want.

The food comp and the rakeback are two separate perks at the Bike. The food is completely comped at 2/3 NLH or higher regardless of how long you play. This is clearly a better deal than the $1 an hour for food at places like Commerce, Hustler, etc.

The rakeback promotion for the month of April is/was $4 for the first 40 hours and $5 for any additional hours played after that. Not sure if Bike is running promotion in May though.

thx for the information man. Keep all the information coming guys.

What days and hours does the 5-10 nl run? Thx.

it doesn't run most days. prob like 1.5 days/wk avg and usually that is bc of LATB.

I love the Bike (and their food), but to be fair, food is completely comped in the high sections at Commerce and Hawaiian Gardens as well.

Thanks for the information guys. Keep it coming. I'm trying to find a good spot to stay but it's really hard to find. I'm looking for something close to The Bicycle and The Commerce where it is not shady. If you guys know any good places to rent that is not in a shady area please let me know. Or, let me know a good area to look at. Also looking for a cheap car rental for a month.

Bike is running the $4 then $5 promotion in May as well.

I played there for the last two days and found the environment much more pleasant than Commerce.

Someone mentioned the rake was increased, can anyone confirm?

Confirmed.

The rake for the 2/3 NLH $100-300 game is increased to 5+1!

According to the floorman it is directly due to the $5 promotion running. Once the promotion stops running I doubt they will reduce the rake. Surprisingly, the floorman said all games in the plaza have the same rake which doesn't sound right. How can the 2/3 NLH, 5/10, NLH, 20/40 LH, etc. all have the same rake?! This change is making me second guess the Bike being my favorite casino. If I continue to play at Bike it will be the $200-500, especially if it has the same rake as the $100-300.

Pros
-free food
-VIP parking
-buy in structure
-$5 promo
-generally comfortable room in plaza

Cons
-rake
-40 hrs required for promo
-slightly better players
-VIP parking full at times
-slightly more grinders because of promotion

Serio - so you know if they increased the modified drop (no flop drop) as well? At Commerce it's the full small blind.....

No flop drop is still $1 but dealers were told to enforce "chopping" only out of the blinds.

Wasn't the rake already $6 total? I thought it was when I was there 2 years ago and played 20/40. Is it not the same in all games?

lame...