One thing to mention about the bike right now is currently there’s a pretty big tournament series going on so that might be attracting more ppl to come play there right now

Also Bike is like three miles from Commerce so you can easily check out both via cab or Uber.

Just wondering whats the cheapest way to live in commerce CA or near there to play poker for a living so the drive isn't too bad and to get in about 50+ hours a week. If any one has any ideas or suggestions that would be amazing. Trying to keep the rent budget in the 1-2k range but the more affordable the better. For one person and I don't need much.

I would get an AirBnb in Monterey Park or Montebello or the San Gabriel Valley which is very close and the safest part of entire USA and primarily Chinese/Hispanic suburban communities you won’t need to worry about parking your car on the street and having your catalytic converter stolen

as you will anywhere else semi-nice in LA like Gardena, Glendale, the valley etc

Getting to commerce which is east of downtown along the BNSF train route, why it’s called commerce, is also not impossible from anywhere in la county and you should be playing more at 3 am hours so you can live where you want as long as you avoid rush hour traffic in your commute planning. You could look deeper in the inland empire if you need an entire place to yourself and proper lease such as Riverside, Ontario etc. Westside options like Sherman Oaks, Woodland Hills, the valley are nice and closer to beach and westside where most people live but you’ll have to commute to commerce at not crazy times

Its a little longer than ABC's ideas, but North Orange County would work too. La Habra, Brea, Fullerton, Anaheim. Pretty nice cities, no more than 45 minutes each way, but closer to 20 at night. Reasonable driving to Hawaiian Gardens also.

Dennisa is right, Brea is amazing and has a great mall and all of the areas in North Oc are lovely and low traffic. Finding an AirBnb might be tough I don't know which is why Rowland Heights/Monterey Park SGV is a good place to look at as there are many family houses airbnbing out extra bedrooms there. Fullerton is nice with a historic downtown strip and access to the train should you ever want to take a train ride down to SD. The gardens is better than commerce for good games and whales as well imo if you are seriously playing like he said too

I’m going to LA in October and looking to book a hotel for between 7-10 days.

Looking to play 5/5, 5/10. Can anyone recommend a hotel reasonably priced close to commerce or the bike?

Where would someone who wants to go to LA stay for their first time ever?

I want to take like a 3-4 day trip

Maybe play poker 1-2 days

Looking to play 5/5 but where at ?

How are the 5/5 games compared to typical Vegas 1/3 games? Thanks all

5/5 will be good everywhere that runs it in LA.

I would stay near the Airport, and play at Hollywood Park. This is assuming you want to do other things besides play cards for 4 days.
There are some nice hotels on century Blvd, near airport. Its an easy cab ride or drive down Century to HPark. The higher B/I games at HP are in a smaller, nice room in the interior of the casino.
Sure, others will suggest Commerce or The Bicycle. Those are way out of town in industrial areas with no sights to see. They do have hotels attached, which does make it desirable for a poker trip only.

Staying in this neighborhood also brings in going to Hustler, which is another fine card room on Redondo Beach Blvd, probably inside of 7-8 miles from HP.

Buy ins in LA are smaller than what they are here in LV; it seems to encourage looser play by smaller stacks, resulting in more buy-ins.

I've been to Los Angeles several times to play poker (and get yummy Chinese food in the SBV area). I don't really know anything about the sights other than the card rooms.

I would suggest flying into Long Beach instead of LAX. It's a much smaller airport and far easier to navigate. And it's relatively close (for big city standards) to both Hawaiian Gardens and the Bicycle.

Just back from visiting and playing for a week (way too much).

==

Bicycle Club - The Bike

This place seems to have f***** it up for poker players. They moved the gambling/table games to the main floor and all of the poker to the smaller room on the side. We stopped by there only once during the week and there was no Omaha running and it was crowded and loud and so we left.

It felt really chaotic and badly run. Poker is getting short shrift there.

==

Commerce Casino

The floor set up is the same. The high limit area is gone, but the main floor still has 145 tables (or so).

The bad thing is that you now have to have a card to sign up for any of the games. You go to a computer kiosk (only a few) and swipe and sign up. But we were screwed the first time there since our cards were old and out of date and there was no one to renew the cards for about an hour.

They are really short staffed. On the busy nights, only half the tables were active despite there being lists of at least 20 players for all the games. They just do not have enough dealers.

There is even a HR booth in the corner for job applications. And there was a training table of dealers in the back.

They still spread the BigO game, but it's only one table or maybe two. 4/8 full kill or 8/16. One PLO table that was HUGE. They all had stacks of hundred dollar chips. Crazy.

They have a security robot named PANDA that circles the floor. Like a Dalek. I asked and it scans faces to see if there are any banned people and then notify a human to kick them out. I joked about PANDA tasing you.

They have two new electronic tables that they are trying to start using - no dealer, no chips, no cards. These tables all have a video screen at each player spot. Not in use when I was there. And no one said they liked them.

Food is absent. You can order but there are no servers. At least there are free coffee stations. And the store is still there, but the bakery is gone/closed.

The jackpot is still 100K. I was told it hit three times over the weekend. Aces full of Tens beaten by Quads or better and both cards have to play. Wowza.

==

Things have really changed in the LA poker scene. Gah. I am sad. Wish I had known some of this stuff prior to visiting.

==

I posted my thoughts about The Garden (Hawaiian Gardens) in the dedicated thread.

Visited LA this past week and played at the Bike and the Hustler....Played 2/3 with a $300 buy in at the Bike . At Hustler played mostly 2/5 $500 and 2/3 $300 when the 2/5 games broke..I even played 1/3 with a $80-$120 buy in at the Bike while waiting for a 2/3 seat to open...

The Bicycle Hotel and Casino


Stayed at the Bike hotel. Highly recommend the hotel. For $150 a night it is a great value. Big luxurious rooms, every amenity , standard room is like a suite with a separate sitting area, couch and desk and chair area, huge flat screen and blackout shades. Huge bathroom with large walk in shower. Just top notch in all respects. The spa was closed but the fitness center had great machines dumbbells and elliptical and treadmills and is 24 hours..

The poker room at the Bike is broken down into a few different rooms . 5/5 NL and higher and the higher limit games are in the main casino room mixed in with some pit games in a vast open area with high ceilings. There is a separate small high limit poker room (like a Bobby's room) where I didn't see any games going while I was there. And the Live at the Bike Room where they film the live stream.

The small stakes games including the 1/3 and 2/3 no limit and the 4/8 and 8/16 limit games are all played in a separate large room with a lower ceiling down a hallway off the main casino floor.

The low limit room itself is very unappealing and has the feel of playing in someones basement. The 2/3 $300 max game is ridiculously soft. These games are filled with passive fish and bad spewy Asian gamblers who come over from the Baccarat tables. Keep i mind I played all my sessions there from 1am to 8am when people are drunk and stuck and punting stacks with a greater frequency than during the day.

The dealers in the low limits room are not great. Very slow and many of them are either very old or young and just learning how to deal. Most of them seem to have no incentive to move the game along, and probably only average about 20 hands ph


The floormen were all very nice and will do there best to get you in the game quickly. Javier on the graveyard shift provides great customer service.

I did play one session during the day on Saturday and the action was not great in the 2/3..a lot of short buys and nitty play from locals dreaming of hitting the bad beat jackpot which is $50k.


I wanted to try the 5/5 NL with a 1k buy in , but i only had $4.8 k on me and didn't want to risk losing most of my stake in one session...so I thought the 2/5 $500 at hustler would be a better option..


tbc.....

What's the PLO scene like in LA?

was at Hustler last week...they had PLO going on the weekends//

I haven't played live in LA in years, and am going out next weekend for work. I used to beat up the to 40/80 LHE games at Commerce back in the day, how is the action these days?

Ive never been to LA, whats the deal with the 1-2 games at bike and commerce being 40-80 dollar buy in? I am assuming its some CA rule but can anyone clarify? Unless I misread I am assuming that game is a no-go for anyone trying to actually make money. Also, is the bike requiring vaccines for entry or just masks still? Cant believe I even have to ask that in America, massive L for Commiefornia

It is not a CA rule; they could offer bigger buyin games if they wanted to. Your second statement is almost correct. They are not very good for anyone trying to actually make money except the house.

Small buyins make it so good players don't generally want to play the games, and even if they do so, the bad players will lose their money more slowly. This helps the longevity of the games, letting the house collect their cut as long as possible.

Since this player has an LA presence

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/2...nding-1814010/

The Bike has a 2/3 100-300 buy-in game. Nothing lower with a 100bb buy-in runs in LA.

You don't need a mask or vaccine anywhere in California except maybe to visit someone in a hospital (negative PCR tests instead of vaccine is acceptable). Most people aren't wearing masks any more at the poker room. Pandemic is over.

Many of their players prefer short stack games to limit the influence skill has so they pass the money around losing rake hoping to get a bad beat and socialize at the table.

Driving to LA for a few days to sight see and check out some card rooms, Looking for recommendations for a nice hotel as I am going with the wife?
I will have a car but prefer everything close by incase she wants to go shopping while I play poker.
We are also going hiking/Disney during the trip.

Never been to LA so any advice would be great

The Bicycle Hotel and the Commerce Hotel are both pretty nice. Considering that Commerce is in a semi-industrial area (as is Bicycle) those are the only two worth staying at.
Hollywood Park is on Century Blvd- there are plenty of nicer hotels west of the room towards LAX.
Best bet is probably Commerce- nearer Disney, very near some shopping called Citadel Outlets.

Agree ..the hotel at the Bike is awesome....legit 5 star hotel, nice fitness center, spa and pool, ...good selection of restaurants...I paid about $150 a night in September, which seemed like a good value... Miyako Hybrid hotel in Torrance...4 star Japanese hotel...very nice property,,,good dining and 24 hour gift shop..fitness center just OK ...close proximity if you prefer to play at the Hustler Casino...

Are the Hustler/the Bike worth playing at during day time (9am to7pm) for 2/3, or 2/5, or 5/5?