does anyone know the buyin/drop for 2/2/3 NL at california grand?

can anyone comment on what the NL games are like there? (lots of action? lots of limping? shortstacks?)

thx :)

2/2/3 max buy-in $200. $4 drop every hand regardless of the presence of a flop. Therefore, no point in chopping.

Artichoke Joe's (artichokejoes.com)
General: NF$1D (SB), BBJ, no HHJ
FL 3/6: regular/always, $3+$1 drop, regular multiple tables
FL 6/12: regular/always, $3+$1 drop, regular multiple tables
FL 15/30: regular, ? drop
SL 2-100: ?
O8 4/8: regular, ?drop
Stud?
Tournaments: Mon 11:00 am (FL $20+$8+rebuy), Tue 11:00 am (FL $20+$5), Wed 6:45 pm (NL $40+$9+rebuy), Thu (FL $40+$8), Sun 6:45 pm (NL $40+$9+rebuy)

Stud doesn't run at AJs. Never seen it when I've been there.

I've filled in some blanks. I think the no limit is $4 + $1 for the bonus and it isn't a spread limit game. The Omaha only runs twice a week.

Artichoke Joes no longer allows dealer to play (as per ten days ago). Also, they're "player menu" is gone. I've never played tourneys there but Wednesday used to be half lhe/half Omaha 8b. I'm not sure if this is still the case.

They seems to have cleaned up the 15/30 a bit, but buyer beware.

So what are the games at LC like now? Don't know if it was because of black friday or what but the last time I went there was the end of April and I was surprised at how many more games they had. They spread 10/20 NL for the first time in forever, almost two full tables of 5/10, and even had a 9/18 O8 table.

Is LC still poppin like this or is it back to normal now?

How ridiculous is a 9/18 o8 game. Seems like it would be easier to deal and better for the house to just make it a 10/20? right? or are omaha players at LC that nitty where theyre gonna complain about the increase?

maybe it's a 3 chip 6 chip game with $3s? O.o

Yeah they were using the yellow chips. Why 9/18 instead of 10/20 I have no idea. Maybe because its easier to chop out the drops with $3 chips.

more chips = more action

however, i can see the argument that in omaha you want less chips so pots are easier to split.

For the purposes of making this FAQ-like, can you explain more? I don't think everyone knows about the collusion accusations, and I don't know enough to really explain it well.

I think people are scared to play at AJ because it's in a roughly small town, there's bigger card rooms close by so the customers are literally the same every day. (the very local degens and regs).

You can go to AJ twice, and any time you go after that at any random time, 90% of the players will be the same.

LC used to run a 10/20 O8b game with a half kill on WED...but that was a while ago.

That game was CRAMAZING

Could anyone describe how often the 9/18 is running, and how good the game is? I would love to play some o8b...

That O8 game looked wild. There were some massive pyramids at the table. This was on a Saturday BTW.

For the most part it's Cantonese speaking regulars who team play, both with hand and chip signaling, and sometimes verbally. During my last few trips up there, it seems like the 15/30 game are in better shape.

The management seems to do a better job in terms of keeping an eye on the table, and last weekend they managed two to get two table running. That's the first time in quite a while I've seen to table running. That being said, there were just seven tables going on a Saturday night so they could afford the attention.

That's not to say all the Cantonese speakers are team playing and there's a separate team that plays there that's not Cantonese, but telling the difference to a new player would not be possible. If someone is new to the game I tell them to try the Oaks first (although it looks like a good percentage of 2+2ers are there).

Meh. Not sure if this is the best place to post this , or if I should have started a new thread.
Anyway, the other day I was playing at Lucky Chances and decided to move over to the Omaha 8 game. Fairly typical O8 lineup; old guys, etc. Anyhow, lots of cheating among the regs. I don't use that term lightly and I am not referring to the soft collusion that you often see in these games like when two people flip their hands and check it down.

They were doing a good amount of signalling and sandwiching players for extra bets knowing who has the low and high locked up. I realized there was one phrase in particular that they were using to let the other regs know when they had A2.

Most savvy, observant players would pick up on this crap pretty fast and may be able to use it against them, but I'm just trying to give people a heads-up.

Oh yeah, this was in the 4/8 half kill game, not the 6/12-10/20 that runs on tuesdays.

Oh and I think someone above asked about the 9/18 o8. As far as I know, it doesn't go anymore and is now the 6/12-10/20 mentioned above.

went to oaks today and the spread limit games are basically dead.

there were 2 100max tables but 8/10 players would only buy in for less than 50big blinds.

there was no 200max today. so sad

oaks has definitely changed. last year there would always be one 200max running and sometimes even two.

small sample size bro. try a different night, not the night of the first day of work of the week for your typical 9-5'er. I was there last night and yes, the spread limit traffic was lower than normal.

They started a 3rd 100max table on table 8 but it broke after a couple hours.

The 200max game last saturday was pretty epic. There were so much money on the table it looked like a 15/30 game. In fact, the last 100max table broke around 4am Sunday, a good solid hour before the 200max game finally broke around 6am.

yeah im saying this after ive checked out the oaks three times this month. ive played at the oaks quite a lot last year and never has there been even one night where the 200max was not running. maybe bay101 has spoiled me

how big does the 6/12-10/20 game play? i was signed up yest. but ended up staying at NL. just want to get a sense of how much to bring if i ever get over to that game.

i am a regular in this game and i know exactly what your saying, however, after a couple weeks of playing you will pickup enough reads and know when your getting sandwiched, alot of these guys have been doing this for years and its very typical in omaha 8 games to see signaling (either verbal or demonstrative) in most of casinos where regs know each other and go after the newbie,
was this your first time playing in the o8 game at LC?

bring 600-1k, you will need it if actions players are capping pf

I visited California Grand for the first time last night. It was a really nice little cardroom.

I sat at a 3/6 table - and boy does that third blind on the button make the game more action oriented. That thing should be in play in any small limit game. For those that haven't played it - they have a $2 SB, $3 BB and then another $2 blind on the button.

O8 was running last night, as was 15/30, 6/12 and I didn't pay attention to the no limit games. Not bad for a monday night

Iv read through this whole thread and it seems that there aren't very good games in the Bay area especially san francisco. Where is the best place for a NL game that plays with decent stacks? These games seem to be mostly limit games. Im from the Sacramento area and there are alot of decent games.

The tournaments seem to be NL but not cash games.

Has anyone ever played the sunday NL tournament at the Oaks?

most of the NL action is concentrated in the two card rooms in San Jose, but generally there is NL in every card room.