Trip report: The Oaks Club, Emeryville, CA

[swope]

Last night I headed to the Oaks Club for the first time, with the intent of testing the waters in their 15-30 LHE game. Oaks spreads 1/2, 2/4, 3/6, 6/12, 15/30, 30/60 LHE, as well as 4/8 o8, and stud 2/4 & 4/8.

Getting there is fairly easy; its maybe 5 minutes from the Bay Bridge. I got there at about 7:30pm on a Wed night and almost the entire lot was full, but they do have valet parking available for 2$. I got lucky and found a spot, but I also drive a very old BMW and wasnt too concerned with it getting broken into. Oaks *is* in Oakland, and cars *do* get broken into, even in the protected lots, so proceed with caution.

Anyway, I walk in and see a poker pit maybe 3/4 the size of the one at Lucky Chances, packed tight but not uncomfortably so. The clientelle is an even mix of locals, Asian ultragamblers, and middle aged white dudes. Lots of regulars apparently. A lot of very animated conversations at tables, more shouting than Im used to, but I didnt see any drama at all.

The interior is actually ok, lots of wood, big ceiling, etc. An entry in the poker wiki claims its the nicest casino in the bay area. Id say thats an exaggeration; Joes has Oaks beaten easy in that respect, but its still a nice club. Service was never far and the food I saw looked edible and appeared to be served quickly.

The tables were ok, chairs were fine. Shufflemasters are installed on all tables.

I have to check my bag, which doesnt suprise me, but is still a bit annoying honestly. Considering the neighborhood tho, it only makes sense.

I walk over to the desk and ask to get on the 15-30 list. They have 2 games spread, Im #2 on the list. They also have seats open on 30-60, Im told. I inquire about the other games spread, as Im not even rolled for 15-30 by anyone standards, and am very pleased to discover that the desk is very personable, empathizing with my frustration that no one spreads omaha hi in the Bay for example. This is refreshing; with the exception of Garden City, every other casino desk in the bay seems to treat its customers like necessary impositions. Oaks seemed to genuinely appreciate me doing biz there. I like that.

Anyway, continuing my long standing tradition of total fiscal irresponsibility, I agree to sit at 30-60.

I wont bore anyone with details regarding the play itself. Within 60 minutes I was up 10BB, and then I got the most statistically impossible cold decking of my entire career. From 8:30pm to 11:00, I had 2 playable hands, got felted shortly thereafter with KK after a fellow who nailed quads twice in 45 minutes tabled KQo on a board with a jack high straight on it.

One of those nights.

Above and beyond that, the play was fairly nitty. Much, *much* tighter than the 15-30/20-40 games Ive been playing lately. There was a good 45 minute stretch where I didnt see a single pot with more than 3 or 4BB in it.

To make matters worse, the table seemed to constantly be short handed, as there was a must-move policy in place. I friggin hate short handed play.

On top of that, in addition to the rake, there is a time drop of 8$ every 30 minutes. In short, this is not a good place to run cold.

I plan on heading back to take a stab at the 15-30 game there but honestly Im in no rush to head back. The timed drop, the nittyness, and the sting of getting such frozen cards has left me a little gunshy at the moment. There are easier ways to make a buck playing poker in the Yay Area, I suspect.

[crashjr]

The Oaks now has a rake + time drop?? Ewwwww.

[El Diablo]

swope,

If you're gonna play 15-30, AJ's is a way, way, way better place to play it than the Oaks. Same thing for 3/6 and 6/12.

[swope]

[ QUOTE ]
swope,

If you're gonna play 15-30, AJ's is a way, way, way better place to play it than the Oaks. Same thing for 3/6 and 6/12.

[/ QUOTE ]

Im sure youre right, and I appreciate the feedback. I do want to at least test the waters at the 15-30 at Oaks before I write it off however, if only for the sake of experience.

Also, although Ive done well at AJ's 15-30 when the game is lively, there are days where Ive sat down with 6 regulars and watched them check down aces with eachother because they spend half their waking hours in eachothers company and dont want to make enemies, so it would be nice if I had another option that was closer to my home in SF than the casinos in San Jose.

[elena_elphie]

No, but there is a $1 JP drop every hand. $8/hh time + $1 JP drop is still a little better than the $5 drop at the San Jose casinos, I think.

It's only $6/hh in the 15/30.

[jfk]

Thanks for th trip report. To this day I've still not been to the Oaks.

This...

[ QUOTE ]
Above and beyond that, the play was fairly nitty. Much, *much* tighter than the 15-30/20-40 games Ive been playing lately. There was a good 45 minute stretch where I didnt see a single pot with more than 3 or 4BB in it.

To make matters worse, the table seemed to constantly be short handed, as there was a must-move policy in place. I friggin hate short handed play.

On top of that, in addition to the rake, there is a time drop of 8$ every 30 minutes.

[/ QUOTE ]

...is not promising. A time collection and a drop is a bit excessive. I'm still engaged in a partial boycott of the San Jose rooms with their $5 drop.

Just for clarity, is the 15/30 time collection only (if I read Elena right) or is it a collection and drop?

[elena_elphie]

no, they take a jackpot drop in all games, and it is a total ripoff because they max the jackpot at $15,000

[I.Rowboat]

Nice TR. Pretty much confirms my impression of The Oaks, which is why I haven't played there in 10 years. It's definitely not a bad place, but there are better games to be found, and my .02 cents is that once you start playing mid limits you need to practice good game selection. FWIW, the San Jose mid-limit games are rocking these days. It will be interesting to see how much local talent heads out to Vegas for the WSOP...

[Scorcho]

I was in the bay area for business last March and made my way to Oaks for some low limit (2/4) play. My impressions about the card room were the same as OPs across the board. However, my overall review of it is much higher given that I ran insanely hot and finished +75 BBs in 6 hours. Since I wasn't able to park in the main lot and instead parked on a side street (didn't know about valet for some reason), I made sure to get out of there before the sun went down, as I didn't feel exactly safe carrying any amount of cash in that area on a side street.

I'd go back because the low limit play is atrocious and you can get on a table fairly quickly (at least compared to Bay 101).

[swope]

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my .02 cents is that once you start playing mid limits you need to practice good game selection.

[/ QUOTE ]

if there was a service available where i could wear an electric dog collar and be shocked when im stuck and stubbornly refuse to leave a terrible game, there is no amount of money that would be too expensive for it.