Eastbay California for a week, where to play poker???

[dazraf69]

I am in Walnut Creek, California for a week and want to play some poker. Where am I going to find the juiciest tables??

[Phntm]

Depends what you want to play, but I would check out Oaks for Limit action and some nice Sunday NL turnys, or Lucky Chances for some sick SAGtastic NL.

[dazraf69]

Is No-Limit allowed in CA? Just saw a couple sights that said no no-limit (which really sucks!). If thats the case then I would be looking for some tourney games with some reasonable buy ins ($60 or so). TIA

[Dennisa]

In california, each city/county can regulate maximum bets / NL. In LA county their are plenty of no limit games. I am not very familar with the bay area.

[chillrob]

In most bay area casinos they don't have NL games, but in some they have large spread limit games which probably play almost like no limit, unless both players have already won a lot more than their original buyins.

I wasn't paying that much attention because I play mostly limit, but when I was there earlier this year I believe Lucky Chances had some of the spread limit games but also some actual NL games, not sure of the reason behind having both.

I would also recommend the Oaks if you are on the east side of the bay and want to play limit though.

[egj]

Lucky Chances in Colma has 1-1-2 and 2-3-5 spread limit (max bet $200). They also have 10-10-20 true no limit which runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

[dazraf69]

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Lucky Chances in Colma has 1-1-2 and 2-3-5 spread limit (max bet $200). They also have 10-10-20 true no limit which runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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Whats the reasoning behind the spread limit? So the max bet of $200 makes it an almost no limit game right? Sorry I am not fmiliar with spread games.

[Coelacanth]

http://poker.wikia.com/wiki/Casinos:California

Casino San Pablo and the California Grand both have small NL games. The Oaks has 15/30 and 30/60 limit, the Grand has 12/24 limit. For big NL, you'll have to go to Lucky Chances. For big limit, go to Bay 101.

[GoldenBears]

Yeah, it makes it no limit until your stacks get to be $1000+ and then it's more like a limit/NL hybrid... makes it more difficult to punish people when you hit draws, and makes it easier to draw out.

I love the 2-3-5 game at LC, don't bother with Casino San Pablo it's a horrible establishment. Oaks is great if you are looking for limit. You might also want to check out Bay 101 in San Jose, I've heard good things.

Enjoy the 'nut!

[swope]

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Whats the reasoning behind the spread limit? So the max bet of $200 makes it an almost no limit game right? Sorry I am not fmiliar with spread games.

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the reasoning behind spread limit is that certain counties decided not to legalize no-limit, jackpots, etc.

now, early this year, no-limit became legal in colma, for example. so they started spreading a 10-10-20 NL game and left the 1-1-2 and 2-3-5 games spread limit at lucky chances, as both of those games were fairly healthy and no one wants to mess with a good thing.

the 1-1-2 remains 200$ max bet per street, not sure about 2-3-5.

with regards to ops question, Oaks is your best bet probably. stick with the 6-12 or 15-30, the 30-60 is pretty brutal in my opinion.

your other option in the east bay is casino san pablo, which is pretty horrid. the video gambling pit is right next to the poker pit, and the smoke and ambient noise are inescapable. the games are nothing special either.

if you can stand driving for an hour or so, head to san jose and hit bay 101 or garden city casino. both are very class joints, although the games at bay 101 tend to get pretty tough at the middle/high stakes.

another option is artichoke joes, which has a fairly tough 15-30 lhe game but has consistently lively 6-12 lhe action.