Im craving one of those iced coffees with whip from commerce right now

I'm a PLO beginner and maybe would like to play some low (1/2, 2/3) PLO once in a while. Are there any regular games at any of the casinos?

Literally just opened this thread to ask the exact same question lol. I see 5/5 PLO listed at the Gardens and Bike, but there's usually never a table running AFAIK.

Commerce 100-400 buy in PLO is the best low stakes PLO option. Don't recall if its 1/2 or 2/3 blinds.

Does that run every day or just weekends? Is the drop still 5+1+1?

Today’s my second day playing at Hawaiian Gardens. It’s really clean. The ambiance makes me be able to tolerate the grind. There are lots of Asians gambling. More people are willing to get the straddle going.

Runs 1-2 tables during the week, more on weekends. IIRC it's $4+1+1 ($1 less than standard commerce rake), but not 100% sure if this is still the case.

Why would they offer a lower rake in a game where I'm sure hands take longer to play than the average game?

Went to HG for the first time last week, it's a small but solid poker room. I love how it's 90% poker tables - didn't see a single slot machine there, which was really surprising to me, as I'd imagine those yield the biggest profit margins for casinos.

Did you play the 5/5 there? My table had a few gamboolers at first, but turned into a TAGfest after a couple hours.

Sounds like a good way to get some live PLO experience on the cheap. Might be worth fighting through LA traffic for on a weekday. Are the games pretty loose?

Slot machines are illegal in California, except on Indian reservations.

Slot machines are illegal but Pai Gow and blackjack are not? Where's the logic in that?

It's very sketchy, but in the California versions of those games, you technically don't bet against the house, so they are legally considered to be like poker.

At one point only poker was legal, and before that only draw poker (no stud, holdem, or Omaha). The restrictions keep getting looser, but still allow only for games played with cards, not with machines, wheels, or dice. Some rooms even spread a form of craps using cards instead of dice.

Like Rob was getting at, house-banked games are illegal in CA while player-banked games are not. The non-poker games you see in CA cardrooms are not being banked by the house, but instead by the representative of the banker, which tends to be a third-party company (you'll see this bored person at third base of each table, managing the bank). Also, all games have to go through strict approval process, and slots have gone on the ballot but have lost.

Indian casinos are regulated too, but not nearly as stringently (they still have to abide by a compact made with the state, but they have much more leeway). You may notice that Indian casinos don't have dice or roulette.

Ya, I think that’s just how it is in most games now. A gambler or two comes livens up the game for a few minutes and they lose their money fast and then it returns to a relatively boring table. It’s so important to have people limping in and calling raises with marginal hands pre for the game to be any fun. Otherwise it’s just a great bore.

Does anyone regularly play the 1-2 40NL games spread at HG or Commerce? Are these games beatable at all? I feel like the average player here is probably terribad, but not sure if the drop would erase any advantage we could have against them.

Very interesting. Was there some big scandal where a casino was fixing craps/roulette that led to these rules? I would think card games would be much easier to cheat (anyone good at stacking a deck can make it look effortless) vs. dice.

considering the rake in the $40 NL is so much less $4 instead of $7 absolutely. i used to win about $8-10 an hour over the long run when i played it for a few weeks.

It's $4 at both HG and Commerce?

I'm assuming it's crazy action with an all-in pretty much every hand with non-existent postflop play? Are you just sitting back for big pairs/broadways and GII pre?

I just visited commerce and played some 5-10. There were like 5-6 tables running at 11 pm on Saturday night. The table was great at first and then one guy left and it became one of the tightest tables I’ve played at in a while. Players are tightening up and becoming significantly more aggressive in general. So many people on their phones killing the game. Not much socializing going on most of the time.

Probably going to stick it out at the gardens for a while. Commerce is like a zoo and i feel dirty and restless playing there. The dealers seem really miserable.

No, it has nothing to do with "casinos" per se. There have been poker rooms in California for over a hundred years; some of them have been continuously operated in the same spot for that long (like CA Grand and Artichoke Joe's near SF). Probably even before that there were bars with a poker table or two - there are still places like that near Sacramento.

But eventually the owners wanted to be able to make more from their gambling customers than they can just by taking a time charge for poker or even than eventually charging a per-hand drop. So they made up other games based on Las Vegas house-backed games but changing the rules so they can be described in a way similar to poker - players betting against each other with the house just facilitating and taking a cut. But in reality, the odds of these games are all worse than the original games they were based on, and the house just rakes in the money.

Playing games with dice or wheels or machines just can't be made to look at all like playing poker. Maybe eventually they will be allowed to offer those games as well, but the Indian casinos would lobby against that so it would be tough to get passed.

Talked to someone at the Gardens yesterday, and they said 5/5 action at Commerce is pretty good, but cap is the lowest compared to Bike and Gardens. And everyone seems to say how dirty/ghetto Commerce is. Might check it out next week to see if their games are any good.

Ya, I really think you have more table selection at commerce than anywhere but it’s like a zoo and the tables are close together and the chairs are old and there’s just this feel of uncleanliness in both the people and the actual building. There’s a big difference between just the gardens and commerce. Gardens is really nice and new and there is great food and it has this sleek modern age feel to it.

Commerce you also have smoke wafting into the room because people keep the door open while they take or exhale their last puff of smoke. And as soon as I smell smoke I’d rather be somewhere else. One of the worst things in the world for humans is cigarette smoke.

Whenever I play the 5/5 at commerce its the first row of tables closest to the floor. Each time the door opens, you can feel the air come in which many times is polluted with smoke.

Did they move the 5/5 tables? Those and the 5/10 tables have always been the furthest from the doors, pretty much from mid to back of the room.

Never heard so much ****! I hate CC but in over 400 hours of combination 5/5 and 5/10 I've never smelt smoke. The latter is closer to the door but still a good 20ft+ from it.

Does anyone play the daily tourneys in the LA area? Looking to dabble and was wondering which ones are worth my time.