Bay 101 easily.

been playing at Garden city last couple weeks. today they were cracking down on the cell phone rule really hard and one of the dealers mentioned the cheating that was going on. I assume they got caught again or something since they were cracking down really hard today. just wanted to give everyone the heads up to keep your eyes out. heard it was in a 1-2-3 NLHE game which is the game i play so am unsure if i was cheated...

IIRC the cheating happened a few months ago. The latest crackdown is because Mgmt said they would suspend any dealer not enforcing the rule (heard from a dealer).

good to know that it wasn't a reoccurance. they all were hyper vigilant today so i just assumed is all

On a similar note, what happened to Chinese poker on table 48? I went to GC recently and noticed the 5 handed round table has been replaced with an oval poker table.

I played in this game the other day and it is nowhere close to 1-2nl. The blinds are 1-1-2 (1 on the button), but the min bring in is $5. When people were tilting or felt like gambling, which was most hands, they voluntarily killed it by putting out either $5 or $10. The min bring in was then $10 or $20 respectively. Pretty crazy game. With no cap, there were stacks from $100 to $3500 in the game. Siiick action cuz the pots are worth winning after a couple limps and a raise.

this is the other game i played when i was in Nocal last week. another action filled game. nice people, good game. i played like hellmuth in that session (trappy to the max) cuz they just tried to bulldoze every pot. i made a few hands and got paid off huge by just checking and calling.

they play with $2 and $20 chips. i asked "why not use $5 chips?" and the owner didn't really answer. it seems to really slow down the game to count out $36 and $84 bets using $2 chips every time.

Sounds like AJs. Kill pot 1/2 the time.

What are the closet 18 year old casinos to the bay area????

Pretty sure closest now is Morongo in the desert, nothing in Nor Cal since Jackson switched to 21+

Pig,

Where is the site?

I mainly play the Grand 15/30 but Oaks, 101 and Lucky Chances for mid NL. Thanks.

I was advised from a fairly good player that @ the 2/5 game in LCs the dealers collude to play the "best hand game" @ NL. Any truth in that?

Ive been avoiding LCs for their high rake... although its the closest to my house.

Unless I'm thinking of something totally different, how does a dealer facilitate any type of "best hand" type of collusion?

I play in the 3/5 at LC's, among other places, and it seems pretty on the level.

+1. I don't live in Bay Area but travel to SF a lot and have spent a lot of time in their 3/5 and 5/10 NL games. I've never seen anything done by the dealers that is suspect. I play all over when I travel and am very observant of dealing procedures. LC is definitely above board.

I just moved to Daly City from New York, any good 1/2NL games around here?

Lucky Chances in Colma has a 1-1-2 (basically 1/2 NL)

It's less than 15 min from Daly City

i played at The Grand in Pacheco the other day, and i feel i need to voice some opinions / complaints:

- there is absolutely no use of mobile phones while seated at the table, unless it is specifically being used as a "listening device". floor people , hosts, and dealers were not shy about jumping down my throat as i tried to text my wife / change my music selection / check in for a flight on line. i have never encountered such anal-ness () about this rule, especially in a cash game. holy kriste. two ridiculous example include:

1) i was seated in my chair, but had moved it about 5 feet away from the table so that i could text in peace. i was facing away from the table and was accosted by a host that i "need to be removed from the table" in order to use my phone, which he further explained means that i need to be standing. wtf?!

2) i had just moved from a must move table to the main game and had just received my meal, so i told the dealer not to deal me in and that i would wait for the button to pass. in the mean time while i was eating, which was about 3-4 hands, i received a text and picked up my phone to read it. the dealer immediately jumped down my throat telling me that i could not use my phone while seated. hmmmmm......let's see: i was not dealt into this hand or the previous couple of hands, in fact, i haven't been dealt a hand at this table yet since i "must-moved". what rule could i possibly be breaking regarding the ongoing poker game?

- when two players are all in, hands must be tabled. ummmm......let's think about why this rule was put in place (for TOURNAMENTS !!!). it was to prevent chip dumping (collusion), which makes a difference to your fellow players. in a live game, who the F gives a crap if player A wants to muck a winning hand when he's in position to player B, essentially giving him cash money. how does that affect the other players at the table. what the casino is saying is that all players who are all in are immediately suspected of collusion and need to show their hands to make sure they are not trying to give money to each other. this is insulting to poker players who have a brain.

- the drop policy. we as poker players understand that the casino needs their take to provide a nice room to play in, dealers, chips, floor people, electricity, etc. but the policy at The Grand includes dropping $4 every hand NO MATTER WHAT. this is greedy beyond all belief. when it is folded around to the blinds and there is a potential chop, the house still takes $4. when there is a raise and take it, the house still takes $4. just gross.


looking back on my session (in which i did leave a winner), i can't believe i stuck it out there for a whole evening, considering these three issues. the card room is nice enough and the dealers seemed competent and the action was pretty good, but i doubt i'll ever return to play poker at The Grand, unless there is some re-formatting of their "House Rules".

whoever is out there reading this that knows management at The Grand, please forward a link to this post.

Yeah its unfortunate considering the room itself is very nice.

The one time I went, I played two hands, noticed the drop and immediately got up and left. I will never go there again as long as that and the other rules you mentioned are still in effect.

Heh, one of the reasons I prefer the Grand is the strict "no cell phones at the table" rule. Anything less than absolute, consistent enforcement ends up being exploited by the players, so IMO you either go nun-in-a-Catholic-school or you might as well not even have the rule at all.

Full drop without a flop is blech, but that's what the BTN blind is actually there to offset, and while "BTN blind + NFND" would be best, I think "BTN blind - NFFD" > "no BTN blind + NFND". At least for the 15/30 LHE game.

Sorry lemme rephrase.

The story I heard was that the LC dealers collude when they are off work and PLAY poker. So a bunch of them sit at the same table PLAYING poker and play the best hand game. Lets say a player like me raises, 4-5 of them call. On the flop they signal who has the best hand and that person continues to play vs me. Considering the pot is so large and now most likely a commited pot with so many players in stacks go in and they split profits.

I heard of colluding but I was reluctant to believe this kind of colluding from bad players for the "best hand play" would actually work vs a good player. Even if they are fair players that are better than average. I still find it hard to belive it would work vs a good player. High variance yes. Profitable? No.

My source said he or his friend were warned to stay away from said tables a couple times because they would lose. They were friendly with some of the dealers that were playing. I dont remember which.

Maybe they told them that to keep the good players away? And they solely focus on the bad ones?

@calip
I don't care if they want to have a btn blind, but taking the full $4 for a hand that is over before it starts is straight out robbing poker players. Can't believe their gaming authority approved such thievery.

Nitpick: It's $5 for 15/30 LHE.

Still heads and shoulders above any other Bay Area 15/30 IMO. Maybe even better than the 20/40 at Bay101.

Total BS in my experience. First off dealers there don't really sit and play that much. I can really only think of two or three dealers that I see play regularly. And they're not that good............

With that being said, seeing 4-5 dealers at a single table is definitely not happening with any regularity. Sounds like typical table chat, people spouting off the craziest theories they just happen to hear.

This is a nice, clean and comfortable room, but it is the most odd in terms of rules. Here's some not mentioned:

The NL games are not 100bb buy-in. So the 2/2/3 is a max $200 which I dislike but whatever. What really irks me is that you cannot re-buy until you are below $100, and even then the max re-buy is only $100 more so basically the NL games there are just short stack games.

They change dealers in the middle of hands. What's that about?

You cannot sit at a table with your seat backwards. Not a big deal, but why would that matter?

When leaving you cannot exchange your chips for cash from someone who is re-buying.

When talking about sports bets you cannot speak in terms of money wagered!

i forgot about the dealers pushing in the middle of a hand. that was kinda scary and it seems the casino is leaving itself wide open for player complaints about mis-handled decks, exposed cards, collusion, etc. crazy stuff.

i saw at least 4 standard practices at The Grand that i've never seen in any other poker room, and i've played in about 65 different poker rooms. (see here)

i'm not sure what you mean when about the sports betting? you can't say how much you bet on the horses or on the football game?