“The Oaks had a hofbrau just as AlanBostick described. It was across from and parallel to the bar.”

I’ll take your word for it. It also had a restaurant.

“ The Oaks was definitely 10-handed pre-COVID”

Again, I’ll take your word for it.

“ doublerup even provided some helpful math”

His math is irrelevant for the reasons/situations I already discussed ad nauseam with Dennisa (I don’t want to repeat myself, or I think I will throw up). Also, I just saw that post. This forum is moderated, so I do not if I missed it. Or. Something else.

“ You don't seem to want to believe the posters here who have had such conversations”

I have no evidence or reason to believe that they have had such conversations.

“Now here's some exciting news: According to the Bravo Poker app, tournaments returned to Graton in the New Year:
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, $135 at 10 a.m.
Tuesday and Thursday, $165 Bounty at 6 p.m.”

Other than that, that’s exciting news about Graton! Maybe Livermore Casino and/or Lucky Chances will be next!

“Good luck on and off the felt.”

Thank you.

As an aside, does anyone know when Parkwest Casino Sonoma is opening back up again?

Santa Clara and Los Angeles counties are the only two with mandatory indoor masking for all business. Not sure if other counties trigger indoor masking for card rooms.

Anyone driven SF to vegas via bakersfield? I wanted to try it on the motorcycle to fit in more wsop. Dumb I know but only 12 gallons of gas roundtrip.

It's pretty much the quickest way to go on wheels. I have done it many times.

When Tioga Pass is open, though, I like taking state Rt. 120 through Yosemite and past Mono Lake, to US 6 to US 95, and take that south to Las Vegas. It is longer, but a lot more interesting.

Thanks Alan. Are you exhausted once you get there or stop on the way anywhere?

I recently moved from the North Bay area to Vegas, and I've made that trip many times through Bakersfield. I always stop in Buttonwillow for gas, as it's just about midway and has the cheapest gas I've found en route. Overall the trip feels like a pretty full day to me, but isn't bad. I've done it in a 16' Penske as well as my car. I imagine it might be easier on a bike, but I wouldn't know from experience.

Has anyone heard anything regarding when Bay 101 and Lucky Chances will resume running their tourney series? Their websites are totally barren of information. Lucky Chances didn't respond to a tweet. Seems they have both gone ghost.

I was told 2022 for Lucky Chances.

Are there any 25/50 games or higher in SF?

I think bay 101s shooting star series used to be in March. But idk how tourney series would work with the table number law. They were talking about adding a Sunday tourney since the weekday ones are going so well.


RIP Bay's 20/40 O8 game. I tried finding a game that big on poker atlas and it was the biggest non-mix O8. Their 8/16 is same $7 drop so pointless to play that

If you’re looking for a bigger o8 game Mondays and Fridays in Manteca at the new parkwest casino we play 15/30 omaha. Signups are taken a week in advance. If you would like more details please message me.

What about PLO? Is it only lucky chances?

Has anyone been to Bay 101, Matrix, Lucky Chances or Graton lately for NL poker? I am getting the itch again post-covid, and didn’t see any posts recently about which room spreads the best NL games nowadays. I mainly play 2/5 and 5/T.

2/5 is going everyday everywhere, bay 101 will have the bigger games most days, lucky chances just on weekends

Last time I played at Graton, I found the dealers on the whole to be rude and grumpy. Is that a common occurrence there or maybe I was just there on a bad day?

I had the chance to play at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, AZ this past weekend and WOW! I was blown away by the following:

Competent, friendly dealers (some even pretty)
Player pool consisting of lots of retired types with money they could afford to lose
Good food
Comfortable chairs and clean tables
Helpful floor staff/brushes that start new games quickly
Reasonable rake structures
Tons of tables and games

I raise this because this is in stark contrast to the Bay Area rooms I have played in over the years. Rake in the Bay Area is ridiculous, waits can be long, and dealers and other players seem miserable.

Arizona thread --------> that way.

That wasn’t the point of my post. It was meant to describe how lousy the Bay Area cardrooms are by comparison.

And why/how is AJ’s on poker atlas and none of the other rooms are??

^ was my review of Graton in Santa Rosa. Except for the rake, which is a snatch most places out west.

Graton is pretty good. I’ve found some of the dealer and other staff to be kinda grumpy though. And yes the rake is brutal

Has anyone ever played at Palace Poker Casino in Hayward?

According to their website seems like they only spread one game. $1/2/2 NL. $100 buy in no cap.

Wondering how much traffic they get and how big the game plays.

Good question if anyone has current updates? I played once 2.5 years ago and found stacks from 100-900 and some action present but not sure if rake is $8 a hand. Has anyone played at California Grand or dare I ask Pete’s or the Napa games? Are there good days for those? Also does PLO only go at Lucky and if so what days is it Tuesday Thursday or something? Thank you kind posters

I've played there a few times, kind of a hole in the wall compared to the SJ rooms. 1 or 2 tables of nl. $4 to limp so it plays roughly like 2/5 nl, decent action.