I come to the bay area frequently (4-5x a year) and have yet to play any cards, but will actually have some time on this trip coming up in August.

Wondering what the best options are for standard 1/2-2/5 and smaller stakes plo?

Will be staying part of the time at a buddy's house on Buena Vista Park and then part of the time will be up north across the bridge in Nicasio, past Fairfax.

Any help appreciated

San Jose is the place to play for NL in the Bay but that's an ugly drive from Fairfax. I'd check Graton out on the weekend from that spot, Lucky Chances is a similar distance but would have to go south through the city to get there.

I think Graton gets interest lists for PLO also, someone else could confirm if it goes though.

Napa Valley Casino has a small stakes PLO game but you may need an invite from the organizer.

Best option is there are three major airports with 1 hour flights to Vegas.

If you don't live in the SFBA (anymore) and don't like the SFBA poker scene, why do you post in the SFBA poker threads?

For any who might be interested. I did get to Bay101 before getting to the airport on the way home. They had several tables of 3-6 going.

I travel to the SF and Sacramento several times a year. I prefer tournaments and will drive around to find them. From Fairfax, Graton, Parkwest Petaluma and The Oaks in Emeryville are all worth the trip, for cash or tourneys. If you get to SAC, Thunder Valley, Stones and Red Hawk are nice.

Any recent experiences at Lucky Chances? Will there be a decent 3/5 NL game going on a Tuesday night?

Looks like i may be in the bay area multiple times for work this winter for extended periods. Is there *still* a good supply of mid-high stakes games in the area?

2/5 & 5/10 NL and 2/5 plo are my main games. Though Id be interested in regular higher games also.

I'll keep an eye on bravo this weekend but thought Id post here for a start.

Bravo won't do you any good for most of the rooms because they aren't on it. Graton is, and prob your best chance of finding a PLO game. They also used to run in Petaluma.

None of the rooms are in tourist destination cities, so weekdays are probably busier than weekends.

2/5 NL runs pretty frequently all around. Lucky Chances or Oaks is closest to San Francisco proper. Bay 101 and M8trix are very nice but 50 miles from San Francisco proper. They are probably your closest and best option if you're in Silicon Valley. If you're in the North Bay (e.g. Vallejo) or East Bay (e.g., Berkeley), California Grand is a nice place with a good 2/5.

5/T is not widespread. LC and M8trix have it regularly but infrequently - I've never played but I think it's Mondays at LC and Wednesdays at M8trix. M8trix also schedules a 10/25 on Friday I think. Both places have been reasonably honest when I've asked about LHE games that run, so your best bet is to call, ask, and get your name on the preschedule list.

As pig4bill mentioned, weekends are probably slower than weekdays.

Any LC regs here?
How are the games? What NL games are running every night?
I was thinking about playing at LC in September if they have a regular 2/5 game going.

I know Andrew Brokos used to play at LC a lot and talked about a $10/25 game.

Thanks in advance.

Ty

They spread 1/1/2 and 3/5 every day. They spread 5/5 PLO on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 5/10 runs most days except when all the 5/10 players decide to play PLO.

I mostly play the 3/5 game and its pretty nitty. In my limited sample this year, I havent sat with many action players, mostly old asian dudes.

Disclaimer: I'm a nit

Thanks for the info. I'll be there Labor Day week.

I have a secret to beating old Asian dudes. They fold to triple barrels too much. Just isolate and bet the boards that are bad for their limp calling range. Easy game.

I'm going to be in Palo Alto next week for business. Looks like if I want to escape to play poker, Monday is the day for it. A couple of questions:

Looks like Palo Alto is about equidistant between the rooms in San Jose (Bay 101 and Matrix) and the rooms in San Francisco (Artichoke Joes). Is that right (obviously depending on traffic?
I'll be looking to play 2/5 NLHE or maybe 1/2 or 2/5 PLO. Any views on which rooms are better for those games on a Monday evening?

That's about right except AJ's isn't in San Francisco. It's near the San Francisco airport, which is also not it San Francisco. But then neither are the San Francisco 49ers, who are in Santa Clara.

No idea if AJ's has 2/5 NL, they almost certainly do not have PLO.

Thanks! I'm a NY'er, and find everything about CA (including but not limited to geography) to be completely befuddling, despite the fact that this will be my third trip to CA this year.

I don't play NL

Pretty much zero chance AJs gets a 2-5 NL going. They can barely keep a single 1-1-2 NL game going.

Lucky Chances in Colma will have a bunch of 1-1-2, very likely 3-5 NL, and maybe even 5-10 or higher.

Why does LC still have that 1/1/2 4 to go nonsense? Just spread a normal 1/2!

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New to the Bay Area, huh? We've done it like that all along, since the days of NL draw.

Nope, been here all my life. Just wish they would spread a game similar to the Oaks.

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I was in the bay area a couple weeks ago, and Lucky Chances had a few $3/5 tables going each night I was there (tues through thurs).
Max buy in $500, $1 rake plus $1 BBJ taken even if the blinds chop.
Overall, it's a average card room, but it feels shady as **** as you arrive, park, and finally make your way to the crappy looking casino area.

They spread $5/10 one night I was there, but the game quickly got short handed then it broke.

I want to play at your table..Simple poker.. just sit to the left of you and quadruple barrel

Your name implies you're from LA. Is it really worse than other casinos?

Of the three casinos closest to San Francisco proper, LC is arguably the nicest. Cal Grand is nicer and Bay 10 l1 and M8trix are pretty upscale, but that puts LC solidly in the middle overall IMO.