I plan on playing at least one event, so that should help.

You should come back because now Erle is in charge of things. Erle's word is as good as anyone's in this town and if he says they are doing good things @ CR then that's good enough for me. If he endorses a tourney series then that means it is probably good value for your $$.

Mom is that you?

Thanks for the kind words.

For the record, Erle is not in charge, but he is helping with this event, and so are quite a few knowledgeable folks. Chris Spears will be TD for the week, and the crew from 2pair are getting the word out. I would love to see more events like this come to Sacramento in the future, and happy to lend a hand to try to make them all a success.

I like the changes thunder has made lately but it definitely has not translated to much med-high stakes action. The 5/10 is virtually non existent nowadays and even getting 2 good 5/5 games has been quite a challenge.

There was a lot going on in poker tournaments tonight! Derby had an $1100 overlay in their weekly sat pm $5k guarantee tournament! Wish I wasn't working

Lucky Derby has the best structure for a $125 buy-in event in NorCal: 17000 chips, 25-minute levels with Level 1 at 25-50. Around twice as many chips compared to what other casinos will give you.

Saturday's 6pm tourney ended after midnight even though only 37 players (including re-entries) entered.

On Saturday (April 12), there were 37 players x $125 = $4625

The house had to:

1) add $190 to bring the cash prize pool to $4815

2) add the $185 last-Sunday-of-the-month tournament seat to bring the total prize pool to the guaranteed $5000

3) forgo the $370 in house fee (instead of taking the fee from the players)

4) pay the $370 in dealer/staff appreciation fee (instead of taking the fee from the players)

The result? A good deal for the 7 players who chopped: 1st-5th got $763 each, 6th-7th got $500 each.

Who is this?

Can I get a couple opinions on #2 above?

IMO an added seat should be separate from a cash guarantee

Edit: nm just watch out for event not saying "added seat"

From Lucky Derby's printed pamphlet:

Saturday 6:30pm

$125 buy-in $105 + $10 entry + $10 staffing T17000
Re-entry 1st 4 levels | 25-minute levels
Guaranteed $5000 prize pool
$185 last Sunday seat awarded from the prize pool

Derby did the right thing, that's awesome. Sounds like the event is a great structure as well.

In a related question Event 2 at the Casino Royale series. Is the 1500 seat given to the winner from the prize pool or is it added?

To clarify

All a.m. tournaments and Tuesday p.m. have the $185 seat added to the prize pool by Lucky Derby. The Saturday p.m. and last Sunday Events both have guaranteed prize pools but the $185 seat is taken from the prize pool on those.

Last Sunday of every month is the $10k guarantee. It has been really good (107 runners last month). It will be able to get bigger once Derby moves and becomes The Stones, since capacity was clearly reached on the last one (evidenced by two baccarat tables and a blackjack table needing to be used).

There are more enhancements planned for Stones. It's getting pretty exciting as the date gets closer!!!

We have a Thursday tournament option this week at 6pm at new casino royale to kick off the 2pair poker tour 10 day series. See you there.

np916 must have quit working for thunder valley!

Thunder only has one good regular tourney each month: the $300 buy-in ($30 house fee, $9 dealer fee).

The rest are crapshoots with high juice (20-25%).

Stones (Derby) offers better value than Thunder for tourneys in the $40-$125 buy-in range.

Royale still used the crappy old chips last Saturday. The T100 and the T1000 chips look alike.

Yes sir! That was the biggest complaint I heard. I also heard new chips will be here to start the 2pair series off right!!!

I feel like gambling, anyone want to set an o/u line for this Thursdays 6pm $200 2pair Event? The event is $7500 guaranteed 1 day event. You have to be willing to take either side. I want upto $100 in action.

List of things that need to be fixed in Sacramento-area card rooms:

Thunder Valley

1. The cards. The locally-made Top Notch cards (Elk Grove, CA) pick up too much dirt and can be marked easily. Other cardrooms in the market use KEM or COPAG.

2. The smoke and the noise from the casino. Separating the poker room with a glass wall is one possible solution.

3. The new daily tournament chips. Players have trouble distinguishing the "gray" T100 chips from the "pastel blue" T500 chips.

Royale

1. The tournament chips. Players have trouble distinguishing the "white" T100 chips from the "gray" T1000 chips.

2. The noise from the people in the walkway surrounding the casino. Perhaps glass partitions are needed?

All good suggestions. I know you play at LD, do they have everything right? Do you ever play at Cap? I do agree with mostly everything your saying.

I will reserve judgment on Stones (Derby) until new location opens in 2 months.

As for Capitol: the problems with the cash game chips have been fixed now that the old orange $1 chips have been replaced with new blue $1 chips. I don't play tournaments at Capitol so I will defer to those who do.

I have never played at Limelight, Cordova, Folsom Lake Bowl, Red Hawk, Lodi, or Cache Creek.

I'll take it, but probably more fair if you set the line and I pick a side since I have zero idea how many they are expecting.

53

Action open to anyone?

I'll take over vs erle for $20.