Why did the dealers leave Commerce?

Commerce's website is now advertising "now hiring" and when I was there last week several games had lists 10+ long.

Confirmed, Commerce short on dealers. And regs had no shortage of vile spew every other hand or so for whatever poor dealer bothered to keep their job and show up, complaining (ironically) about the lack of dealers. The chatter was they treated and paid their dealers poorly and a whole bunch quit right before LAPC which was about a month ago.

Compared to the (recently renovated) Bike, the Commerce was a Pit of Desperation & Despair. Table 27 might be the only redeeming quality in the pit, clearly fielding the best game in the joint. Would recommend that game, will go again.

Hotel side seemed ... ahem ... well staffed, so if you are there for the Big Games, you are good to go, no worries.

I just came back from a poker-centric trip. I saved a lot using Air bnb and definitely recommend it. I picked a spot that was close enough to use residential/surface streets to reach both the Bike and Commerce and spent most of my playing time between those two. Commerce had a great PLO game (table 27 ftw) I liked and the Bike has a 12-24 EO mix plus Badugi that was really great. If you are looking for the "Big Games" that is pretty much Commerce - Bike tops out at 5-5 or 5-10NL or 20-40 limit with interest list for 40-80. Commerce usually has a 25-50 NL and a 400-800 FL mix game. If you want fishy and full of recreational players, well, both are good.

Enjoy the trip and good luck!

The regs in the 40 game are nasty. Always whining, angling and occasionally slow rolling.

There some good dealers at Commerce, hopefully they didn't get laid off. I forget his name but the bigger white kid was always a great dealer, quick and friendly. Also that Indian girl who deals was really really good. She would deal some of the sickest bad beats I had ever seen LOL.

Okay cool.. I am unsure whether to stay in the city or as close as possible to Commerce..thoughts on this? I'm planning on playing 5 days a week. Good locations near Commerce and same for places in the City that would accomodate two small families (6total). Roughly any idea the difference in rent I'd be looking at to be close by or the city? I guess we would most likely be budgeting on accom. Take the overall question as where would you stay if making this trip for month or two? I know very little about LA bar the games. No real interest in nightlife partying. I know traffic can be time consuming on the commute from downtown to casino. Perhaps Beverly Hills area would suit from what TripAdvisor tells me. Although it seems I'm going further away from Commerce. 30 min commute be ideal.

Let's go from there so I get a basic understanding..

Hey, what was the area you stayed and would you stay there again. I'm thinking mostly commerce so would you have identified best area on your commutes back and forth?

Beverly Hills is really far from Commerce and the traffic is a nightmare. In general Commerce is in a gross industrial area. I think there is a double tree pretty close by but there is nothing to do near Commerce besides the shopping center like 5 min down street. You're probably better off staying downtown LA cause then you can take the 10 east to Commerce but just be aware of time of day, cause if it's near 5pm traffic will be horrible. If you take the 10 west you can get to Santa Monic pier and beach pretty easily.

Oh she's one of those bad beat dealers?

You know one of those who's blessed to magically affect the order of the cards obv without notice and give some specific players the worst freaking bad beats of all time over and over again, its to the point where they have no other option than sit out when she's at their tables

I wouldn't stay near the casino if you're taking you family on a vacation. For a ~30 min commute, you're looking at no further west than hollywood, from dowtown the commute will probably be less than 30 min. You could also consider staying inland like in pasadena (the nice parts)... It's cheaper and less congested, but your family will be further away from the fun LA stuff.

In LA since 15th, come April I'll need another apartment. Looking for an apartment share with another live CG pro. Been playing commerce. I'll stay here until June 10th when my visa expires.
Feel free to HMU

Something to be mindful of, Floor @ Hustler said they caught a few players colluding in the 8-16 game on Friday night (03/17). They were seated next to each other and swapping cards. I was there until about 11pm, so it must have happened sometime after.

Would be interested to find out more..

Colluding in a practically unbeatable game (for a western/LA liveable $ amount anyway) sounds hilarious to me.

I stayed about 2 blocks east of 710, one exit south of Florence (Bike exit) - Firestone. I would describe as condominiums. I would stay at the same place again. I was able to take Garfield up to Eastern and the Bike and continue on Eastern to Telegraph & the Commerce. Its an Air bnb place, so just search the map in that area, there are a few.

Blaaaaah, please don't stay in this area with your family, or anywhere close to the casinos. Sure it's convenient for poker but your family will have to commute every day to do anything fun. Like, even to find a decent restaurant.

Getting to a card room from Hollywood or Beverly Hills or wherever isn't difficult, just don't try "commuting" between 7am-10am or from 2pm-8pm. Even without traffic though, it's really hard to get anywhere in LA from anywhere else in less than 30 minutes. So don't be upset if you can't achieve that goal.

All the advice you're getting about where to stay is correct. You can basically draw a 10 mile or so circle around Commerce/Bike and then avoid anywhere inside of it. Communities that would be decent enough for a family to be staying:

Downtown - but that's really a maybe and depends specifically on where

W. Hollywood/Beverly Hills - both are fine

Westwood - good area, farther west than WeHo/BH (which will make the drive to poker longer, but whatever)

Santa Monica - very good area for vacation, brutal traffic getting out

I can't speak to anything non-Westside, others can. And there are plenty of areas in between the ones I listed above.

You should prioritize living conditions/area over poker. You will sit in traffic no matter where you go.

I agree. I would recommend only for solo travelers who are primarily looking to hit the poker rooms.

If you also want to see the sights (I did not; traffic, barf) or bringing family -- the advice to avoid this area is sound.

I've always liked staying in long beach. Not a bad drive to the bike or commerce and have Hawaiian gardens as an option also. Anywhere around belmont shores and you'll be happy.

I agree. Long Beach can be very family friendly with a lot of food options and close to the beach for the days you aren't hitting the felt. Even during rush hour (which is almost all of the time in LA), traffic isn't too bad on the 710 going to the Bike or Commerce.

You can find some "edge" neighborhoods that are pretty close to decent neighborhoods, and the cardrooms. Thinking about the area on the edge of Hawthorne, Manhattan Beach and El Segundo. Nice hotels, decent restaurants. Easy access to casinos on nearby I-105. Throw in Hustler and HollyPark as convenient to here as well.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...404-story.html

This is a long ways off as I'm currently grinding 20/40 in MN while also working a full-time job.
I want to eventually move to the golden land of LA to play 20/40+ LHE full-time.

I want to move to a nice suburb-like area and buy a house. I have two small dogs so a fenced backyard (even a small one) is a must. Needs to be fairly close to some good LHE casinos.

From the research I've done, it seems like Bell Gardens is a dead-ringer for these criteria, but I've never actually been there. I would be super-close to the Bike and only a few miles away from Commerce. Does anyone here live in Bell Gardens, and if so, how do you like it?

Bell Gardens definitely won't qualify as a "safe suburb" that you would want to live in in most people's book.

You are going to need to make a lot of money playing to be able to afford to buy a nice house in safe area that's a quick drive to the casinos.

Not sure why you want to move to LA for poker. The 20/40 in MN is just as good, with lower rake and a lower cost of living.

I agree, stay in MN. If you really want to come to LA and want a good suburb life check out Pasadena but it ain't cheap.
Bell gardens is fairly ghetto.