So, I'm thinking about playing a tournament this saturday at Pete's 881 club

$80 buy-in
5K starting stack + 2K for registering 5 min or earlier
15 min blinds
1 rebuy for $20 = 10K in chips if done before first break

So, the structure seems ok. Blind time is a bit low, but it should be ok depending on what the blinds are at the start.

Has anyone played this tournament? If so, how is it? How is the structure and the pace? Is it a good pace or do you find yourself short stacked and shoving very quickly?

Also, has anyone played the $135 buy-in MTT at the oaks card room?

Lol so the cal grand is trying to come up with ways that will keep the 2/3/5 game open/more popular. With so many better NL games in the area it's been shorthanded in the evening and often collapsing before midnight.

I told em very basic things like allowing a straddle or making it a 1k cap would keep newer players around longer and attract other players who want to play deeper. ("No straddle? It's only dead 10? Lol forget that." "I can only buy in 500?") They tell me their concern is people going busto too soon. (Therefore not feeding the rake monster in the long run...)

Anyway two weeks later they come by... "So there's been talk of adding a rock to the 2/3/5 game..."

lmao wtf

You seriously think that increasing the buyin wuld keep new players around longer?? That is exactly the opposite of what is likely to be true.

NL games originally died out years ago because there were no buyin caps and the fish busted too quickly. The only reason they have managed to stay alive this time around is because of the buyin caps.

Not sure how adding a straddle migh affect things, I'm guessing it would be unlikely to get or keep any players, and would probably be disliked by the guys who want to play deeper, as it makes effective stack ratios smaller.

I meant new to the casino/area and not to poker in general.

And yeah I see the point regarding the straddle.

The reason I made the suggestion of straddle and deeper buy ins are because these things are optional for the player and players like having options.

That's why the Grand does EVERYTHING they do.

30/60? It'll break the player pool.
Deep stack NL? Same

Granted, now that everyone rakes $5/6 in the bay, their take isn't bad (though I heard they rake $3 or 4 for 5 handed LHE when everyone else does $1-2) but asking the Grand to do anything that would be a win-win situation is futile.

Helping winners win is not win-win.

Fair point but winners play hours and help start short games.

Game typically involves a lot of limpers. Calling is $4. Usually around 5-10 players on the wait list during weeknight hours. Fridays/Saturdays, there may be a list of 15-25 ppl.

Does the grand still have that idiotic rule where you can't top off until you fall below a certain threshold (for nL)?

Nope

"copied from another forum"

Bay:
-home of WPT Shooting Stars, very cool time if you can make it packed with who's who of Poker. Cash games are fantastic during this electric time.
-one of the nicest card rooms you'll find anywhere
-Food is suprisingly good, it's the only place I'll eat grilled salmon with steamed veggies and it's not fishy but actually fresh.
-2/3/5 regular: definitely soft, playing Value based strategies will produce consistent win rates. I believe it is a tad tougher then Matrix equivalent game. I'll explain why in the Matrix review.
-2/3/5 deep: $1500 cap, plays less volatile then Matrix's equivalent. Your best players in the room at this time are in this game also, unless the 5/10/10 game is going - which becomes their version of 10/25 Matrix or 5/10 Lucky Chances. Overall, the 2/3/5 deep stack is still a good game with 2 to 3 must move games. I will play depending on how good the game is.
-Bay also has these great napkins with on the one side of them it says "Do not take" detracting from the annoying porter who takes half your drink or food late and throws it away while your in the middle of a hand. I love the little differences each casino brings to the table and this is one of them for Bay.

Matrix:
-as close as card room is going to get to Vegas
-if you like head turning and neck wrenching aesthetics then this is your place, I've never seen such an oasis of beautiful, scantily dressed asian women concentrated in one place than Matrix. if that's your thing, FYI.
-understanding the Vegas environment, I regularly get the pleasure of playing with drop-in recreational players after the club, bar, game coming in with their girl and friends to "play some poker" - oh i love it... I see this constantly at the matrix. I embrace these people, I buy them drinks, banter, commensurate their bad beats while I fry the fish...
-2/3/5 regular is slightly better than bay, both are very soft. i consistently have windfall sessions whereby 3x,4x,5x my buy-in has become common. My best session had me cahsing out 9.3x my initial $500 buy in.
-2/3/5 deep is more wild than Bay's deep stack game. typically only one game goes and it's best on m,w,f being the 2nd biggest game in the room. I play this game when I see spots. I do not need to play bigger than $500 cap as I've got a full time carreer but if the game looks good, I actually prefer to play in it than vs. regular.
2/3/5 deep is a 2K max buy with higher rake then regular. But to have a 200BB cap on a 2/3/5 game is heaven...
-Food is ok but very expensive. I am friends with the waitress' there and they bring me grilled chicken with steamed veggies and it's like $9...

You are going to wait a long time at both places. Like all places, if you don't want to wait, $10-$20 of floor grease will eliminate that wait. if you come on Friday night at Matrix and don't know anyone, you might as well just leave cuz you are going to wait forever as the floor will take care of their regulars like me first. Unfair but so is life.

oh and 1/2/3 at both bay and matrix are painfully soft. As Bart says, please just graduate to the $5 blind level as with the rake, degeneracy, and short-stacks, that blind level is simply passing time and money at either casino...

The 2/3/5 game at the California Grand now has the UTG 10 dollar live straddle.

I'm relatively new to the Bay Area, and have played some NL Hold'em at the M8trix and Bay 101, but now rent a house in the East Bay, Danville area.

Can anyone who has played recently at Livermore Casino comment on the games that are spread regularly, number of tables, types of players, and how it compares to the card rooms in San Jose?

I'll likely make it there soon to find out for myself, but would like to get others thoughts.

I play there a couple of times a month, usually for their nightly tournament, which is a $35+$10 with rebuys and add-ns, which usually ends up ~30 runners in for $100 each.

It is a 6 table room and for cash they run $4-$8 Limit, $6-$12 08 and $3-$200 Spread. Usually only 1-3 cash tables running when I am there as the tourney tales up half of the tables.

I will kill some time at $4/$8 and the games are loose, but with less preflop, 5 player capping then Bay 101.

Food is good! Friendly environment with probably 90% regs, as on my visits I recognize most players.

I have not played there TOO recently, but have played there a bunch in the past. If you are used to M8trix and Bay 101, you will be in for a bit of a shock. Livermore Casino is VERY small (I think they have like 6 or 7 tables total). The always have a 3/6 LHE and usually a 4/8 LHE and a 4/8 Omaha H/L (with a kill). The last few times I went in they had 1 and sometimes two, 3-200 spread limit tables (no NL tables here). If you are patient, you will win your fair share of money. You get a bunch of people raising to 30-50 pre-flop nearly every hand, or over-betting their hands post flop. Last time I was there, I saw 5 flops in about 2.5 hours, won 3 of them (2 in a showdown) and walked with just over $200. (I have also gone and lost it all in 15 minutes as everyone at table was essentially all in with ATC.... and not even AA can hold up against 6 random hands, lol)

So if you are used to NL, and quality play, you wont really find either of those at Livermore Casino. But its profitable once you realize how everyone plays and play accordingly.

They also run tournaments if that interests you, but they are 15 or 20 minute levels and become shove fests pretty quick... not really worth it if you enjoy quality poker. Feel most people there are regs and just play to play

Recently moved to Monterey, CA. Is there any place nearby where a 20 year old can play Poker? Any suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks both for the info on the Livermore Casino. The 3-200 spread limit game sounds like the one that I'll try.

First time in SF for an upcoming business trip...staying at the Palace Hotel. Browsed this thread and Google mapped each room....looks like Oaks is the closest to me?

Is Oaks nice/not in the ghetto (for lack of a better term)? Looks like I would just have to take the BART and it's like 30 min away. Or is there somewhere closer that may even better to go? Wasn't planning on renting a car so I don't really want to take an hour long taxi ride somewhere

If I go to oaks, am I better off just taking a taxi?

Kind of on the edge of the ghetto but they have good security.

15 min walk from macarthur BART or you can hop on the free shuttle called the emery-go-round.

Oaks is a little sketchy. Main problem is their parking lot usually full and I might have to walk a block or two late at night when leaving. Once when I won a lot I requested a security guy walk me back to my car then I think tipped him $2.

The Oaks is located in a place which was far worse 10 years ago than it is now, so in general take note of advice people give.

It's in a big city, so put on your big boy pants on if you want to go. No flashy jewelry, no flashing wads of money, and no burying your face in a smart phone as you walk around. You know, the general precautions that you should take whether you're going to the Oaks or Union Square.

If you're willing to put up with general big city stuff, you'll be fine. You can BART to Macarthur and take a shuttle (Emery Go Round); depending on when you intend to leave, you can take that back as well (walk a block to the Pixar entrance if you don't want it to be known you came from the Oaks). You can cab too, and tell them to drop you at the Japanese restaurant (Miyozen) across the street if you don't want to admit you're a filthy gambler.

The Oaks runs LHE games as high as 30/60 so people regularly walk in and out with thousands of dollars in their pockets. Assuming you're playing 1/2 or 2/5 NL, you're just another degen and won't attract any attention unless you try to attract attention.

Parking is not great and don't park east of San Pablo. The parking spots heading toward Pixar are monitored by Pixar security. If you're super paranoid you can park behind the IHOP - just pretend to go into IHOP first.

Open a player's bank account if you play regularly.

---

From downtown SF even though Oaks is geographically closest, Lucky Chances is probably the most accessible. It's also more suburban there if you're allergic to melanin.

They have 1/2 2/5 and even 5/T NL but only 3/6 6/12 LHE.

Yeah, it's a pretty dead area. <rimshot>

Joking like that can have some grave consequences.

I saw a t-shirt once that said "It's nice to be living in Colma", or something to that effect.

If anyone doesn't get the joke, basically the neighborhood is cemetaries, funeral homes, and a poker room.

hahaha