Lucky Chances questions

[slowturtle]

(long time lurker, first time poster)

I might be bumming a free hotel room from a friend in San Francisco, about 15 minutes north of Lucky Chances. So I was hoping to get some answers before booking a flight. Thanks in advance.

I'll be by myself, how safe/secure is the casino/area/staff/players.. I wont have a ton of cash, however I wont know the area and I have no clue what the atmosphere of small casino/card rooms are like.

Is there alot of collusion amongst locals?

How exactly does the 1-1-2 200 max spread game play? is it a max bet of $200 each round, or is capped $200 for each hand.

Is there any time of days/week I should avoid, due to lack of players?

Basically I'm trying to a get a feel for the place, to see if the trip is worth it. I enjoy playing live almost anywhere, the competition level does not matter much (hopefully not a rock fest however).

Should I rent a car or get around via Bart transportation? I'll prob play late into the nite/morning, so I'm thinking I'll have to rent.

Any suggestions, comments about Lucky chances or near by Card rooms is appreciated.

[pig4bill]

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I'll be by myself, how safe/secure is the casino/area/staff/players.. I wont have a ton of cash, however I wont know the area and I have no clue what the atmosphere of small casino/card rooms are like.

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Never played there but talked to people who have. I believe they have 100/200 running steady there, so unless you have more than 5 grand in your pocket, there are much better targets than you walking around there.

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How exactly does the 1-1-2 200 max spread game play? is it a max bet of $200 each round, or is capped $200 for each hand.

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$200 per bet. If someone bets $200, you can raise to $400 if you have the chips. Max buy-in is $200.

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Is there any time of days/week I should avoid, due to lack of players?

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Again, second hand info, but during the week around 4 a.m. is probably slow. But seriously, you will likely have more of an issue of having to wait for a seat than getting a game. Bay area gamblers are maniacs for the game.

[Forbin]

- The casino itself is fine for security. The area around it is, however, filled with dead people.

- Not so much blatant collusion, but you will see a fair number of people who check it down with their cardroom-friends if it winds up heads up. You'll also see people who win a pot then toss a "lucky chip" to one or more friends at the table.

- I haven't played in the 1-1-2, so I can't answer that question.

- Like many smallish rooms, daytime during the week is usually quite a bit less crowded.

- It will not be a rock fest.

- You could rent a car for convenience, but they have a shuttle from the nearby BART station. If your friend lives near another BART station then that may be easier. The shuttle does stop during the hours BART is closed (midnight to 6ish, or so). So it depends just how late into the night/morning you plan to play. It's possible you'll play right through the closure. Uf you are in a particularly nice game (and can't leave for the last BART) the chances are you should win more than a taxi ride will cost you to get back after midnight.


You might also want to check out Artichoke Joe's. It's roughly equidistant from SF, just a few miles east of LC. However the only NL they have is a 5-5-10 game. About an hour south of SF, around San Jose, you can find Bay101 and Garden City.

[egordo877]

these days Lucky chances has low limit stud, low limit holdem, 4-8 omaha/8. The 9-18 1/2 kill game rarely goes, much less so the 20-40 game.

the 1-1-2 and 2-3-5 games have lively action. I definitely wouldn't worry about collusion although there are plenty of regulars. at times i have seen seen friends checking it down when heads up though. and yes, its not a cap game, its a max $100 or $200 bet every round.

they have games at pretty much all times. tighter in the mornings.

there is a well lit underground garage parking you can use, you should be quite safe.

if i remember right there is a free shuttle every half hour that goes from the Colma BART station to Lucky chances. call them and ask. so if your sessions finish up at around 8 am in the morning, i think you wouldn't need a car at all.

nearby lucky chances is artichoke joes as the above poster pointed out. decently lit parking lot which feels reasonably safe. no nlhe except for a 5-5-10 nlhe game, $2000 buy in every mon wed fri. all they spread is limit, biggest game is $15-30.

there is also casino san pablo and the oaks club but you would have to drive. casino san pablo has a $1-2 nlhe/spread limit game (not sure which) and i dont know about the other games. oaks has no spread limit, just limit up to $15-30 (although you can play with overs) and they get a $30-60 going on tues and fri. the outsides of both those places is kind of sketchy to me though.

edited to add: I just noticed that Forbins post pretty much covers what i said. i will add though that the Bay 101 room is really nice and is the only place in the whole bay area where you can find $40-80 and up to $100-200. Garden city only offers up to $20-40 but has the juiciest limit holdem games imo. and they have the only regular stud/8 game too.

[mrcunningham]

I agree with the others, this is a pretty safe area/casino, since it is amongst cemetaries and not in a commercial or even residential district.

Collusion is uncommon. The couple times I have suspected it, it wasn't regulars, it was "buddies" visiting and wanting to play on the same table.

1-1-2 is loose and fun. Currently max for each bet of $200 because of local laws. Therefore, not capped per hand.

They always have a game, even weekday 6 am, when they have an aces cracked gets a rack jackpot. However, fewer tables and shorter waits. limit up to 6-12 or 9-18 and mostly 1-1-2 NL in the am. At nite or weekends, 20-40 frequently and 2-3-5 no limit.

this is not a rock fest, definitely loose, often aggressive at night and weekends. daytimers tend toward loose passive.

Check the BART schedule to see if they will run when you want to go home. Renting is okay since they valet park downstairs.

Artichoke joes is close by, but mostly for limit, they run 3-6 to 15-30, with a big no limit game a couple nights a week.