I am going to LA for several weeks and will be playing poker at Bicycle, Commerce, Gardens.
I would like to play some table games for fun two. Last time I checked they have special rules for card games in California and even Blackjack is kinda different.

Anybody could give me a quick rundown of differences between California casino games and Las Vegas Style table games.

The quick difference is that you don't play against the house, you play against other players and the house takes a commission. Unfortunately in most places you can't really take a turn being the banker and an outside corporation always has a player there permanently bank. So the rules which were originally created to help the customer and improve their odds actually hurt the customer, as he is now paying overhead to cover both the house and the corporation making a profit.

Even quicker explanation: it's a scam.

I vaguely remember reading somewhere about there being a lawsuit over this and they have to let someone else take a turn. But I'd guess it's frowned upon and subtle and not so subtle pressure discourages it.

Do they( Bicycle, Commerce ) have Blackjack, baccarat and 3 card poker?

Obviously what your $2k gets you will vary, but you can do that plan most places. Distance will be the key factor: I’d suggest not going west of the 405, for example. Things that look close can be pretty far with traffic, but 45 minutes provides a pretty big radius.

Yes, but it’s California blackjack so the rules are all weird.

Table games in LA are sad and expensive. They’re nothing like they are in Vegas.

Anybody is playing at the Bicycle? It appears that they have tournament series going - will it increase cash game action?
Will be in LA tomorrow for the next 6 days

I’ve been spending a bunch of time there lately because of the tournaments. Plenty of cash game action, but there pretty much always is anyway. The main event is this weekend so there should be some bigger games.

Gonna be staying downtown this weekend and never played in LA before.

Best bet for low-mid stakes plo?

Appreciate it

Hollywood Park runs PLO/PLO8 mix 3/2 300/500 max

Question for the rest of the LA community: Which room do you think has the best promotions for players? I typically play at HG because its the closest, but wanted to hear thoughts about what the other rooms are offering.

Thanks!

Great question, and I hope we get a knowledgeable local that can give a comparative analysis.
I did play at Bike last week- it seems they have stepped up their promos with HH of the hour going on a recent Tuesday night. But, thats it for my knowledge. I only get to Bike and HP when I'm in LA. But I would travel to other rooms if it seemed worthwhile. I'm usually staying w/fam in Ingle/Hawth area, so getting to any of the rooms is pretty easy.

Any help would be appreciated.

I haven't been there for years. It used to be pretty gross back in the Hawaiian Garden days. Just looked at their site and obviously someone pumped A LOT of money into renovations.

What are general perceptions of this Club among LA locals?

For Cash games?

For Weekly tournaments?

My search skills might suck but I could not find a thread for this Club in Venues forum.

Gardens is really really nice and games below 5/10 are good.

I play at Gardens on occasion and something I learned about the Gardens that is pretty interesting to note.

#1 a while back, not sure when but they now take $2 drop preflop just like commerce.

#2 Gardens specific rule that could be major angling. Ex, on the river, play A first to act check and says, "I play the board" doesn't matter the board context. Then mucks their hand into the muck. If player B who acts last mucks there hand into the muck without exposing their hand, the pot is awarded to Player A, even though they mucked first. So player B has to show their cards even if play A mucked their cards because player A said, "I play the board"

This isn't Gardens-specific. If you muck your hand without declaring that you're playing the board, your hand is dead whether or not there was a declaration in front of you. If a player wasn't paying attention or had headphone on or something and didn't hear the declaration, that's on the player.

I always hold onto my cards even if someone mucks in front of me because it removes all doubt that I still have a live hand.

Thanks I didn't know that is wasn't Garden specific. Interesting. I think it could be viewed as an angle just because the intention of declaring your hand then muck, seems like the intent is to cause the other player to muck and not realize you said, "I am playing the board"

In my experience if you declare "I play the board" and then muck your hand without showing your hand would be dead. The only place I've seen it different is Gardens.

Same rule at Hustler. A similar situation came up a couple weeks ago at the $8/$16 LHE, except the second guy held onto his hand and claimed the first hand was dead. I don't see why there should be an exception to the rule that you should have to show your cards to claim any part of a pot (because in theory you could have a hand that shows it's a fouled deck), but this is an exception.

It's just so rare that this comes up that you might never actually see this rule applied. I don't see why you'd ever want your share of the pot to depend on the dealer actually hearing you declare you're playing the board. What if no one hears you say it? I think people do it just because they think it's cute to invoke this rule, but I think it's asking for trouble.

My impression of Hawaiian Gardens ( living in Socal most of 2014-2018 and now going back a few times a year) is that while it's the nicest casino out there (comfortable tables, nice decor, good TV coverage, tables well spaced apart), it has a lot more props than Hustler or Commerce, even on peak weekend nights in games that don't need any help running.

interesting. Why do you think they do that?

Are low limit NL games considered better, worse, or same at Gardens vs Bike/Commerce

Is there a club that is considered to have the best weekly tournaments?

It happens because Gardens players are afraid to play short. They just walk at 7 hands. Pathetic

They need to get on board with the lobby fee. Hustler used to be like that and it's better now.

lobby fee?

If you miss the big blind twice because you're sitting out, when the button moves past your seat the floor takes $2 off your stack and puts it in the pot before the hand is dealt. This keeps happening for every orbit thereafter until you get back or are picked up from the table.

They only have this rule in effect at the $8/$16 and $25/50 LHE tables.