Commerce casino have slots

New casino sites to play real money

No, the commerce casino is privately-owned. Yes, we have a large free parking lot with plenty of spaces, or valet parking for $5.

Commerce casino have slots

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Commerce casino never closes. Come in and play with us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

We're located at 6131 telegraph road in sunny commerce, california. Just minutes from downtown los angeles and right down the road from the citadel outlet mall. To get here, take the 5 freeway to the washington exit and follow the signs for the commerce.

Yes, we have a large free parking lot with plenty of spaces, or valet parking for $5.

How old do you have to be to play at the commerce?

We welcome players of all skill levels, 21 years of age or older.

Do you have slot machines?

No. The commerce casino is california's #1 venue for games of skill, and slot machines are considered games of luck.We have all forms of poker, 21st century blackjack, caribbean stud, baccarat, and asian style games such as pai gow poker, and super nine. For a complete list of our games, click here.

How many tables do you have?

With 270 tables (and counting!) on over 91,000 square feet of casino floor, the commerce casino is the largest card casino on earth. Any time of day or night, we've always got a seat at the table for you.

The commerce casino has been a los angeles institution since 1983.

How many people visit the commerce casino daily?

More than 10,000 people play at the commerce every day.

Are beginners welcome at the commerce?

Absolutely. We were all beginners at one time or another, and our friendly staff is more than happy to show new customers the ropes. Talk to player relations and we'll walk you through the basics of any game you'd like to play!

Can you learn how to play with fake money?

Yes, all of our tutorials are taught with fake chips.

Are there any special terms I need to know to play at the commerce?

Like any activity with passionate followers, poker and card players have their own lingo. Some terms that might come in handy are: ante – a small bet required of all players before play begins in certain games big blind – the second bet, placed before the game begins, usually by the player to the right of the button. Typically, the big blind is double the small blind. Board – the community cards available to all players button – a marker that designates the "dealer' for the current game. At the commerce, our in-house dealers handle the cards; the button indicates who is required to post the small and big blinds for each game. Hole – the cards that are dealt to each player flop – the first round of community cards dealt pre-flop – the betting period that takes place before the flop is dealt river – the fifth community card dealt; also known as "fifth street" showdown – the final round of betting small blind – the first bet, placed before the game begins, usually by the player to the left of the button turn – the fourth community card dealt; also known as "fourth street"

Can I have a birthday party there?

Yes, check out: “bring your home game to commerce casino”

Yes, we have a wide selection of table-side dining options, available 24 hours a day. We also have a great selection of on-site restaurants when you want to take a break from the game. For more information and to see menus, click here.

We are a smoke-free casino, however, smoking is allowed outside and in designated non-gaming smoking rooms.

Do celebrities play there? If so who are they?

Because of our proximity to hollywood, we do have regulars who you might recognize. We won't divulge their names out of respect for their privacy. But celebrity or not, everyone gets the royal treatment at the commerce.

Is the commerce on social media?

We are. You can follow us on facebook, twitter, and instagram, for news, discounts, invitations, and special deals. You can also subscribe to our monthly mailing list for additional news and special promotions at the bottom of any page on this website.

How big is the crowne plaza® hotel?

The crowne plaza® hotel has 200 rooms, including executive rooms and suites – with some of the most reasonable rates in los angeles. To book now, click here.

Do you offer ATM’s and other cash access services?

Yes. We have several ATM machines. In addition, our player cash kiosks allow you to obtain a cash advance from your credit card or a point of sale withdrawal from your ATM or debit card. To access this service, simply perform your transaction at a player cash kiosk (located adjacent to our cashier cage) and proceed to the cashier cage to complete your transaction.

Are there any fees associated with ATM or player cash transactions?

ATM fee notice – we charge a fee of $4.00 for cash withdrawals at our ATM’s. This fee is added to your transaction amount and is in addition to any fee that may be charged by your financial institution. Player cash fee notice – player cash is provided by a third party vendor who charges a fee for each transaction performed. The fee is added to your transaction amount and is in addition to any fee that may be charged by your financial institution.

Do you offer player bank or “front-money” accounts?

Yes. We offer player bank accounts for the convenience of our customers. To establish an account, simply visit our cashier cage.

Is the commerce a tribal casino?

No, the commerce casino is privately-owned.

If the commerce isn't a tribal casino, how is it legal?

In california, it is legal to host california-approved games of skill anywhere in the state.

Commerce casino review

To many, commerce casino is the world’s capital of poker. You won’t find a more active poker room in the world than what you will see at commerce. Located just outside the major city of los angeles, commerce attracts players of every limit and for every game type imaginable. It is a traditional california style card room, but the poker floor is what it is most well known for. On any given night, players will have 100+, often times close to 200, games to choose from. This does not even count all of the other table games also offered at the casino, nor the fact that there is a hotel on site which on its own is fairly unique to california casinos.

If you are visiting commerce expecting to encounter a typical las vegas casino, you should probably reconsider your expectations. Unfortunately you will be subjected to the same fees and rules that other CA card rooms are required to implement. Instead of profiting from their inherent house edge, commerce casino profits based on volume of play. You will pay $1 per $100 wagered ($1 for $100 bets, $2 for $200 bets, and so on), and this means an additional fee for side and bonus bets. Beyond this, there is no roulette, craps, or machine games whatsoever.

Does this mean you can’t have fun at this casino? Of course not, but it will come at a cost much higher than what you would find in a “normal” casino. It is also worth noting that drinks are not comped at commerce, but they are not comped at any california casinos due to state laws, whether they are card rooms or full casinos on indian territory.

Commerce’s location is what benefits it most. Unlike more remote or harder to reach destinations, commerce is just a few minutes from downtown LA. With this comes many tourists and local residents alike that call themselves regulars at the casino. There is also a lot of poker room competition in the area, from the bike, (bicycle casino), hustler, the gardens casino (formerly hawaiian gardens), and other smaller casinos. This combination of factors makes LA the world’s poker capital, but there are a few downsides. With all of that said, if you are a poker player, you will find commerce to be about as good as it gets when it comes to poker rooms.

Casino at commerce

The non-poker casino table games are located in between the high limit poker room and the main poker floor. If you walk in from the main entrance where valet or the hotel entrance are, you will see the high limit poker room first, to your left. If you walk straight forward, you will see a bar in the corner to your right. Directly across from this bar sits the casino table games section. You will see a large, seemingly endless ocean of games available. The regular casino games at commerce are typical for california card rooms and include blackjack (california style, of course), baccarat (the most popular game here with a large asian contingent in the area), pai gow, ultimate texas hold’em and three card poker.

As mentioned above, this is not the “best” choice when it comes to pure casino games, but it is also just about the only choice unless you are willing to travel further south, where harrah’s southern california (and others) offer a full, complete casino experience with roulette, craps, and all of the machines you would expect to find in a casino, including slots and video poker. To maximize your edge and reduce your disadvantage in these games, you should bet as near to the maximum of the bracketed tiers. This requires you to bett $100 or $200 and not $50 or $175. That means the $1 fee will only increase the house edge by just 1% as opposed to 10% if you are playing $10/hand and paying an additional $1 on each of these wagers.

Make no mistake about it, for the majority of commerce visitors the casino is not the main attraction; it is the poker room. With that said, it can be a fun night with friends, especially if your friends are not avid or experienced gamblers and will be able to have fun even in spite of the fees they will need to pay in order to simply play. If you are wondering, the actual losses at the table go to an outside company that is hired by the casino to play against the actual patrons. The casino is profiting from your wagers only, so there is no break the casino situation at play here (even though this will never happen regardless, but you can put that dream aside entirely at most california casinos).

It is worth noting that there is also a racebook at commerce casino. Horse bettors will find this to be an attractive action, especially when considering that most card rooms do not have this available. Off track betting is available from races around the country and world. The area can become quite crowded during big events, and all wagering on horse racing at commerce is parimutuel, as is standard for the majority of the united states casinos. There is no sports betting available at commerce, however.

Poker room at commerce

The poker room at commerce casino is something that is truly amazing, especially to a long time poker player who has visited many rooms. On most days, especially in the evenings, you will see 100+ games running with many names on waiting lists. This is beneficial to everyone involved. Not only are there a lot of games to choose from, but the structures and limits vary greatly which ensures that there is something for every player. You will see limit games with mountains of $1 and $2 chips and high limit games where white ($100) chips are most frequently in action. No matter the game type or buy in size, if commerce casino doesn’t have it, you are unlikely to find it anywhere else.

Poker room sections

There are two different main sections of the poker room(s) in commerce. The high limit games run next to the casino games area and can be found near the main entrance, adjacent to the hotel lobby area. In here there will typically be anywhere from a handful to 20 games running. The lowest form of no limit game that runs in this section is $10/$20 which has a minimum buy in of $600 and no maximum buy in amount. Smaller games are found on the main floor which is about 25 yards away from the high limit area. Take a few steps past the cafe and you will not miss the sea of tables and players in front of you.

The games here range from small $2/$4 limit texas hold’em games to larger $5/$5 (usually with $10 rock) PLO games. The $5/$10 NLHE games are also run in this section and include a maximum buy in of $1,500. The buy in structures are well formatted at commerce and ensure that different limits are not stealing players from each other. For this reason, you will see less crossover between the $5/$10 and $10/$20 games, for example, than you would find in many other casinos that are able to run both of these limits at once.

Player pool, rake and jackpots in the poker room

The player pool for the poker games at commerce is virtually unending. If you play here a few times, you will undoubtedly start to recognize a few familiar faces, but there are always new players joining the games. In our opinion, commerce has some of the best consistent action available anywhere in the world, let alone just in california. This is a prerequisite to the room’s success, of course, since the slightly higher rake and rules for when rake is taken would otherwise make the game much less attractive. Where rake may be capped at $4 in atlantic city or las vegas, it is capped at $6+$1 for the jackpot/promotions at commerce. This definitely adds up over time.

With that said, the bad beat jackpots and promotions at commerce are much easier to win, so your chance of getting some of your repeated $1 investments is not that small. The staff at WCI has personally seen many bad beat jackpots won during their visits. The qualification, aces full, losing, makes it easier to hit the BBJ than what it’d be at other casinos where the requirement may be quad 7’s (or higher) losing). This doesn’t mean you should expect to win, of course, and the jackpots, accordingly, do not usually exceed the $50k-$75k range.

The games themselves at commerce are quite beatable. Yes, the rake is higher than at many other casinos around the country, but the games have more money and a larger dose of hyper active players than other casinos as well. You have to take the good with the bad in this situation, and there is a lot more good than bad. As you increase limits, the rake will become both less and more of a factor. In the $10/$20 game, the rake is a time charge, and is an almost unbelievable $18/per half hour. For comparison, most other casinos would charge around $6-$7 per half hour for a game of this limit, so this is a solid 250% increase, but this is just the cost of doing business, especially in an area like los angeles where everything tends to be a bit more than the rest of the country.

Poker tournaments at commerce

Tournaments are another major part of the poker scene at commerce. Throughout the year, a number of different series run at the casino, with event buy ins ranging from the $100 range to thousands of dollars. The LAPC (LA poker classic) is followed by the L.A. Poker open in terms of popularity and attendance, with the california state poker championship and and the commerce poker series also being popular series at this venue.

Even though tournaments are not the primary attraction when it comes to poker at commerce, there are also daily events that run at the casino. These tournaments that have buy ins ranging from $65 to $150 and run twice per day, with one event usually starting at noon and the other starting at 6pm. The guarantees are expectedly small for these events, and the rake will make it somewhat difficult to be a long term winner in these. Expect to see a lot of the same recreational level players in these tournaments if you decide to play them on a regular basis.

As is the case with just about every casino, the large player pools for these tournaments in turn create a more significant number of cash games. Take advantage of this influx of games with more action by visiting commerce when these series are taking place. If you think the games are normally good, and they are, you will be happy to find that the action tends to be that much better when tourney players are filling up the cash game seats as well.

Dining and bars at commerce

Commerce has a number of food options to choose from. The top options are the asian noodle bar (a casino staple) and arena sports bar & grill (located in the corner of the table gaming area and the only other full sit down restaurant option), if you are in a hurry, the best option will be the commerce cafe, located right near the steps down to the main poker room floor. The food here is quick, fairly priced, and can be taken to go, though there are also tables located by the poker desk if you would like to have a seat at a table.

In addition to these actual restaurant options, commerce casino allows players to order and eat food at the table they are playing at. Commerce has very fair pricing on their menu and the service tends to be very quick. Most food options include choice of (non-alcoholic) drink and most options are in the range of $10 or even less.

Be sure to take advantage of any promotions that may be running at commerce. For example, the casino has, in the past, given away one free meal every 24 hours to players. All you have to do is make a quick stop at the poker desk by the main floor and ask what promotions are currently running. If there are no food options, there may be another active promo that you can take advantage of.

Hotel at commerce

The hotel at commerce is a crowne plaza. The building itself sticks out much more than your average casino because of the size of the hotel. Until recently, commerce was the only casino with a reliable hotel option on site, but the bike (a few miles down the road) now has a new hotel as well. Commerce, for the time being, is the more economical of the two options.

If you are playing at commerce and want to stay at the hotel, you should ask a floor man for the poker room rate. As an active player, you will be entitled to a

$150 poker room, which is virtually always a significant discount over the listed prices at hotel booking websites. Of course, you should always compare before booking a room.

Hotel quality and pricing

The hotel and rooms themselves are of ample quality. They are certainly better than many of the surrounding options, and would fall in line with what you would expect from a mid-range 4 star hotel. For the price and especially the convenience, the crowne plaza at commerce is a wise investment. In addition, if you are driving, valet parking is available for $2 or $5, depending on where you would like your car parked, as well as a full car wash option.

If you do not want to stay at the commerce hotel or are unable to book a room, there are many hotel options in the surrounding area. Be careful to read reviews as some of the neighborhoods around the city of commerce are not the best. With that said, depending on day of the week and time of the year, you may be able to find a very good deal on rooms at other properties. You may lose some convenience, but you will likely save a decent amount of money.

Commerce casino

Casino details

Stats

Contact information

Official

Address: 6131 telegraph road, commerce, CA 90040, USA

Phone (323) 721-2100

Poker

Phone (714) 879-2100

Casino hours

Poker

Amenities

Restaurants

Casino games available

Poker games available

More commerce

Commerce casino review

Commerce casino is located just minutes from downtown los angeles, off the 5 freeway, washington exit at 6131 east telegraph road in commerce, california.

Commerce offers the largest card room in the world with a license for 270 tables and there are currently 243 in action 24/7. There are two poker rooms; the lower limit room is on the lower level and the high limit games are played in a room closer to the hotel.

The hotel offers 194 rooms spread over 9 floors. There is also a spa and pool as well as several small eateries in the hotel. The casino is open 24 hours and has three dining venues plus 24/7 tableside dining.

California games that look just like what you would play in las vegas (except the action is against other players, rather than the house) are spread throughout the venue on over 80 tables.

The poker rooms are host to a variety of big events including their signature L.A. Poker classic.

On any given day about 10,000 people visit commerce casino, a 21+, non-smoking casino card room (smoking is allowed outside and in designated non-gaming smoking rooms).

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Gaming at commerce casino

Commerce casino offers more baccarat tables than any other california casino. Play EZ baccarat, blackjack, pai gow poker, 3-card poker, pai gow tiles, ultimate texas hold’em plus much more.

The games look and play just like what you will find in vegas except rather than playing against the house dealer, players tale turns dealing and play against each other - this moves the games to a category of "games of skill" rather than games of chance and they are perfectly legal in california.

The casino is open 24 hours a day. If you are unfamiliar with a game one of the staff will be glad to give you pointers. Ask about their "gambling school" where you can learn all the games for free using funny money before you dive into the real action.

Poker at commerce casino

Commerce casino poker room

The commerce casino is the largest poker room in the world with more than 240 total gaming tables, over 160 of which are dedicated to poker. The card room is located directly off the 5 freeway in the city of commerce, roughly 8-10 miles southeast of downtown LA. The facility initially opened in 1983 and has since expanded several times including adding a hotel in 2001. The commerce now rivals a mid-size las vegas casino in size and amenities including multiple dining options. The crowne plaza hotel, attached directly to the casino, is an award-winning property featuring 200 deluxe rooms, a spa, pool, entertainment and more.

The commerce offers all games allowed in california including pai gow poker and tiles, pan, blackjack and baccarat variations and, of course, poker. Poker variants offered include NL and limit hold'em, 7-card stud, omaha, lowball, mexican poker, pineapple and mixed games. The commerce also hosts daily tournaments and several major tournament series including the LA poker classic (a WPT event held in jan-feb), the WPT celebrity invitational, the california state poker championship and the heavenly hold'em series.

The casino is divided into several areas, all of which are cavernous. Players used to smaller ( month 16-28 mont 28 - month 16 2014 organizer full name poker tournament title

Dining & restaurants

Wood dragon restaurant

Commerce casino offers a variety of dining options to suit suit taste. The asian cuisine at the wood dragon represents some of the best oriental fare on offer in the L.A. Area. Modern and traditional dishes populate the menu in an environment that offers fusion of modern flare and traditional asian decor to set the mood. Experience a little bit of asia right in your own backyard.

General

Hours

sunday	11:00am / 11:00pm
monday	11:00am / 11:00pm
tuesday	11:00am / 11:00pm
wednesday	11:00am / 11:00pm
thursday	11:00am / 11:00pm
friday	11:00am / 11:00pm
saturday	11:00am / 11:00pm

Arena sports bar & grill

The arena sports bar & grill at commerce casino offers international variety with a selection of common and extraordinary dishes from around the world. Check this place out if you like a sports bar vibe for the vibrancy and energy. You can find a quieter corner as well and just enjoy your dinner and drinks while you enjoy the antics and interactions of others. Open every night until 2am, except mondays when dining closes at midnight. If you like the vibe of a sports bar featuring a large selection of dishes from around the world, there’s no better place for you than the arena sports bar & grill.

General

Hours

sunday	11:00am / 2:00am
monday	11:00am / 12:00am
tuesday	11:00am / 2:00am
wednesday	11:00am / 2:00am
thursday	11:00am / 2:00am
friday	11:00am / 2:00am
saturday	11:00am / 2:00am

The commerce café

The commerce café is open twenty four hours a day, seven days a week come rain or shine. Stop in for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or anything in between to sample wholesome fare from burgers and dogs, to burritos, hot and cold sandwiches and a variety of asian offerings. There's plenty of comfortable seating or you can take-away to your table or room. Burgers and more are available around the clock right at your table.

General

Hours

sunday	12:00am / 12:00am
monday	12:00am / 12:00am
tuesday	12:00am / 12:00am
wednesday	12:00am / 12:00am
thursday	12:00am / 12:00am
friday	12:00am / 12:00am
saturday	12:00am / 12:00am

Commerce casino hotels

Crowne plaza hotel los angeles commerce casino

Property location
with a stay at crowne plaza hotel los angeles commerce casino in commerce, you'll be in the business district and close to citadel outlets and the bicycle casino. This casino hotel is within the vicinity of california state university-los angeles and lake legg.

Rooms
make yourself at home in one of the 194 air-conditioned rooms featuring flat-screen televisions. Complimentary wireless internet access keeps you connected, and satellite programming is available for your entertainment. Bathrooms have bathtubs or showers and hair dryers. Conveniences include phones, as well as safes and desks.

Rec, spa, premium amenities
relax at the full-service spa, where you can enjoy massages, body treatments, and facials. After enjoying recreational amenities such as a spa tub and a 24-hour fitness center, a lucky night at the casino is the perfect end to the day. Additional amenities include complimentary wireless internet access, concierge services, and gift shops/newsstands.

Dining
enjoy a meal at one of the hotel's dining establishments, which include 2 restaurants and a coffee shop/café. From your room, you can also access room service (during limited hours). Quench your thirst with your favorite drink at a bar/lounge. Cooked-to-order breakfasts are available daily for a fee.

Business, other amenities
featured amenities include a 24-hour business center, a computer station, and express check-in. Planning an event in commerce? This hotel has facilities measuring 20000 square feet (1800 square meters), including meeting rooms. Free self parking is available onsite.

Commerce casino spas & health clubs

Meridian day spa

Meridian day spa at commerce casino is not simply a luxurious retreat for the ladies, it's a men and women's day spa with a variety of services. Among the services is tableside massage for those long poker games that seem to never break.

Pampering should be part of your routine and science has proven that massage offers benefits to your mind, body, and overall well-being.

The prices at meridian day spa are reasonable and the services are performed by qualified professionals. Please see the web page for specific packages and an a la carte menu. Massage therapy is no longer only available to the privileged few, it is available to everyone.

Commerce casino & hotel los angeles

Updated by casinosavenue on 09/20/2016

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Presentation of the commerce casino & hotel los angeles

Situated not far from los angeles, the crowne plaza hôtel los angeles & commerce casino welcomes you in a complex casino & hotel in two buildings: the crowne plaza hotel and the commerce casino.

You will be able there to enjoy a great gaming experience in a casino that has the biggest poker room of the world! Traditional games are to be found in this casino like poker, baccarat, blackjack and more.

Texas hold’em poker, caribbean stud poker, pai gow poker and other poker variants are waiting for you, poker tournaments are regularly held during the year. Unfortunately, the venue doesn’t offer slot machines.

As for entertainment, besides casino gaming, you could attend the MMA or boxing fights that happen in the rooms dedicated for that during competitions or championships.

You could stay at the luxurious and comfortable hotel rooms of the hotel crowne plaza **** and enjoy the many infrastructures conceived to fulfill your stay: spa, swimming pool, beauty salon, shops as well as various animations and entertainments.

The restaurants and bars offers the buffet las vegas, sandwiches at the snack-bar new york or various drinks and cocktails at the tropical.The commerce casino entry is reserved for people of more than 21 years old that have a valid ID.

The city

Commerce is a city of about 12,990 people and is located in the southern part of california. It is ideally placed in the heart of the biggest city of west coast, los angeles.

You will be able to measure the american excessiveness when you will see the big buildings, the large streets and big cars, etc.

The best thing to do in the area is to visit the most popular quarters like bel-air, beverly hills, santa monica, and hollywood will plunge you in the american wonder.

Los angeles boasts awesome and world-class beaches such as malibu, newport beach and santa monica beach.

Between attraction parks such as disneyland and six flags, bars and nightclubs which can be found in the sunset boulevard and the hollywood boulevard, los angeles has it all to make you spend memorable and unforgettable moments in the 'city of angels'.

Presentation of the commerce casino & hotel los angeles

Situated not far from los angeles, the crowne plaza hôtel los angeles & commerce casino welcomes you…

Situated not far from los angeles, the crowne plaza hôtel los angeles & commerce casino welcomes you in a complex casino & hotel in two buildings: the crowne plaza hotel and the commerce casino.

As for entertainment, besides casino gaming, you could attend the MMA or boxing fights that happen in the rooms dedicated for that during competitions or championships.

The city

Commerce is a city of about 12,990 people and is located in the southern part of california. It is i…

Commerce is a city of about 12,990 people and is located in the southern part of california. It is ideally placed in the heart of the biggest city of west coast, los angeles.

You will be able to measure the american excessiveness when you will see the big buildings, the large streets and big cars, etc.

The best thing to do in the area is to visit the most popular quarters like bel-air, beverly hills, santa monica, and hollywood will plunge you in the american wonder.

Los angeles boasts awesome and world-class beaches such as malibu, newport beach and santa monica beach.

The best casinos in los angeles

You won't find slots, but you will find plenty of poker and blackjack tables at the best casinos in los angeles

Casinos in los angeles are kind of an odd entity. For starters, you'll probably see the word "gaming" used far more often than "gambling." that's because with the exception of those on tribal land—think day trip destinations like san manuel, morongo, pechanga—california casinos are limited to table games like poker and blackjack. So you won't find slot machines and certainly not roulette or craps. Instead of las vegas-like skyscrapers and bachelor party hangouts, los angeles casinos are more like catering hall-sized rooms that all seem to be clustered in south and southeast L.A. That said, almost all of these local casinos have undergone or are in the process of major renovations that signal a shift from poker enthusiast clubs to glitzy cocktail-filled nightlife destinations. It's not quite vegas, but you'll find plenty of places to try your luck—ahem, we mean skill—with these best casinos in los angeles.

The best casinos in los angeles

The bicycle hotel and casino

This bell gardens card room has been open since 1984, but in late 2015 the venue expanded into a seven-story, 70-room, 29-suite hotel stocked with a gastropub, cocktail lounge, spa, pool deck and private cabanas. The new VIP card rooms have that vegas club-chic aesthetic—think crystals, white chairs and blue lights—while the existing colossal card room (there are more than 200 tables) has more of a banquet hall vibe, with poker games that start at $10 buy-ins.

Hollywood park casino

Once the home of a historic horseracing track, hollywood park is due for a major overhaul in the coming years thanks to plans for a mixed-use development, entertainment complex and the under-construction football stadium for the rams. That wave of revitalization has hit the casino, too; a mid-2016 renovation has created a swanky new space with a proper restaurant, lounge, 125 card tables and an increase in high-limit play. It's a welcome change from the old gray, neon-clad building next door.

The gardens casino

Hawaiian gardens casino literally used to be housed inside of a tent. But a 2016 renovation has turned "the gardens" into a rather agreeable and comfortable card club, with 225 card tables as well as a restaurant, bar and VIP lounge.

Commerce casino

With more than 240 tables for various card games, commerce casino is actually the largest card room on earth—suck it, vegas. The on-site hotel and poker and blackjack tables aren't prticularly swanky, but a recent addition—the late-night, playboy-themed lounge, the lucky rabbit party pit—has attempted to sex up the casino.

Hustler casino

Yes, it's that hustler, scantily clad blackjack dealers and all. This card room from larry flynt has the pornography entrepreneur's name all over it. While most will stick to low-stakes poker and blackjack, high-rolling tournaments come through a couple of times a year. Flynt also owns the nearby lucky lady casino, which is due for a massive renovation by 2020.

San manuel indian bingo & casino

You don't need to trek all the way out to vegas to feed some slots. San manuel is the closest casino to L.A. That allows slot machines, as well as bingo. You won't, however, find roulette or craps, per gambling legislation. The casino features a number of in-house restaurants, lounges and entertainment spaces.

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California casinos for 18-year-olds

Casinos nearest to albany, new york

Even though the legal age to gamble in california is 18, don't be surprised if you show up at a casino, money in hand, and are asked to leave if you're under 21. Some casinos don't allow patrons under 21 to enter because alcohol is being served. Before you travel to a casino, make sure you know ahead of time what the legal age is for entry. But there are casinos in california in which 18-year-olds can access some or all of the gambling areas.

Barona resort & casino

In the san diego community of lakeside, you'll find barona casino--which claims to have the certified "loosest" video poker, blackjack and roulette in the city (better odds for the player). The casino floor has more than 2,000 slot and video poker machines as well as all the traditional casino games. There's also rapid baccarat, where you have your own gaming terminal, and a twist on blackjack called super fun 21. Barona has overnight accommodations, a full-service spa and several restaurants. Those age 18 can gamble at barona because alcohol is not served on the casino floor. Alcohol is served, however, in the resort's restaurants and in the hotel, so you must be 21 to book a room.

Barona resort & casino 1932 wildcat canyon rd. Lakeside, CA 92040 (888) 722-7662 barona.Com

Gold country casino & hotel

This casino is in the northern california city of oroville, known as the city of gold because of its proximity to gold mines. Since alcohol is served on the casino floor, 18-year-olds cannot gamble there. However, the poker rooms and the bingo hall are located in a separate area where 18-year-olds are allowed to play. The poker parlor offers games of texas hold'em and omaha, plus bounty and no-limit tournaments where you could win as much as $10,000. The casino's bingo parlor features traditional paper games and electronic bingo; you can win up to $1,000. Gold country has an 87-room hotel, four dining establishments and vegas-style shows, including its popular all-male revue "HUNKS the show."

Gold country casino & hotel 4020 olive highway oroville, CA 95966 (800) 334-9400 goldcountrycasino.Com

Sycuan casino

In the southern california community of el cajon (30 minutes east of san diego), sycuan casino welcomes 18-year-olds to the casino floor to play any game. Enjoy video poker and slots, poker rooms and 63 tables with games like three-card poker, caribbean stud and pai gow. You can bet on the horses and play bingo, too. Sycuan has resort accommodations located about two miles from the casino with golf, a full-service spa and dining. Become a club sycuan member and you'll get a free buffet, and each time you gamble you'll earn points for rewards like instant cash back.

Sycuan casino 5469 casino way el cajon, CA 92019 (800) 279-2826 sycuancasino.Com

Eagle mountain casino

This casino in central california serves no alcohol anywhere on the premises, so 18-year-olds can gamble throughout the casino. Eagle mountain casino is in porterville, about halfway between bakersfield and fresno. With slot jackpots in the millions, you can try your luck at one of the casino's 1,400 slot machines. Hit the tables and enjoy all the traditional casino games; some tables have only a $5 minimum. The casino does not have accommodations, but there are several hotels nearby. Eagle mountain has two restaurants and a food court, plus concert events throughout the year.

How to pick a winning slot machine and win (almost) every time!

In this article, I am going to show you how to win at slots.

First, we start with some practical tips on how to choose a winning slot machine. Then, once you have all the slots tips you need, you can move on the real key to win at slots:

Find loose slot machines to play online.

This article is going to change the way you play slots. And the chances are that is what you need — because winning at slots requires time, dedication, and the right mindset.

So, are you ready to learn how to win at slots?

If you play slots for fun, there are no rules to follow. You only need a slot app like slotomania and enjoy their instant play games.

If you want to win at online slots in freeplay or demo mode, download slotomania, choose a slot machine game from their collection and play, play, play. You'll get enough progressive machine games and loose slots to enjoy your gambling experience for free.

Things change when your goal is to win real money at slots when you play online.

That's when this article becomes useful. Because here is where you learn how to pick a winning slot machine and increase your chances of winning money online!

Get a new no deposit bonus and play slots online.

Register a free account and spin the reels to win!

1. Choose winning slots with the highest payouts

When you go online to play and win money at slots, you need to know how to pick the right slot machine games.

Most beginners start to play casino games thinking that all slots are more or less the same thing, only with different graphics.

If you want to know how to win at slots, you need a machine that pays out more than the other ones. And to know which one is an excellent slot to play, you need to care about the return to player (RTP) percentage.

The return to player (or RTP) is a percentage of all the wagered money that a slot pays back to its players.

It is not the amount of money you'll get back when you wager on real money slots, and it doesn't indicate whether you have fewer chances to hit a bonus round or not — but it gives you a great indication on whether a machine pays enough for you to play on it or not.

How to find the RTP of a slot machine

The quickest option is to search for it online.

Use google, bing, yandex, or whichever search engine you prefer.

Many casino news websites that publish content around casino games have entire sections dedicated to the RTP percentage of the casino slot games they review.

You find them on pokernews, as well. Every review includes a section dedicated to the payout of each type of slot with easy-to-understand info about the games with frequent payouts.

If this is your first time on our site, check some related articles like these list of games. By choosing slots with a high RTP, you'll improve your chances instantly.

Also, you check the slot itself. The RTP number is always mentioned somewhere. Usually, you find it in the settings of the slot game or the 'help' section.

So, how to pick a winning slot machine and how to use the RTP to know how much slot machines pay?

The RTP is calculated on a scale from 1 to 100. Most slots have an RTP between 92-97 per cent.

Always choose an online slot machine game with an RTP of 96 per cent or above. This is the best slots strategy to follow every time you play — since a high payback percentage indicates that you have a better chance to win. Good option.

High RTP slot to play: devil's delight

Devil's delight is a slot by netent that's set in the underworld.

It features everything you'd associate with hell:

Devils

Soul reapers

Graves

The number 666

Pitchforks

Skeletons

Flames

Is anything missing from the list?

The slot also features a separate soul reaper bonus game. There, you need to guess the sins of the characters on the screen. Every time you guess the right one — you receive points that help you win more cash.

This loose video slot has five reels and 20 paylines. And despite the sinful name, devil's delight is generous – RTP in this game reaches 97,6 per cent!

2. Determine the volatility of slots

Another critical factor to consider to pick a winning slot machine is the game's volatility.

Many games and gambling news sites refer to the games' volatility as their 'variance.' if you like, you can consider this as the risk level.

The volatility of a slot machine game measures the risk involved in playing a particular slot for the real money. One of my favourite tips for playing slots is to consider it the 'risk factor' of the game you are about to play. That's because volatility determines how you win at slots.

Low volatility slots: your odds of winning at these slots are high, and it's easier to strike winning combinations when you spin the reels. However, you should know that low volatility slots offer smaller wins — so your winning combinations might not be worth as much as you would like them to.

High volatility slots: the odds of winning at these games are smaller, but the wins pay more. With the right bankroll, tips for playing slots, and strategy, these games can be a lot more rewarding.

Both options are quite popular online since people play both types. Every useful casino guide gives you plenty of choices to find the right online slots game for you — with welcome bonus codes to try them for free before you invest your money in them.

Pick the slot machine time that feels right for you. But keep this in mind:

To play high volatility slots, you need to be patient, have enough money to invest in a lengthy online gaming session, and have read enough casino blog posts to know all the secrets of slots optimal play.

Otherwise, low volatility slots may be a better option for you.

High volatility slots are a bit riskier, too. You never know how much time and money you need to invest in hitting a lucky spin and celebrating yet another day of winning money on slots.

How to find the volatility of a slot machine game

Casino sites don't make the variance of the games as accessible as the RTP numbers — and that's in part because they don't want to help you improve your odds.

An easy way to choose games with the right variance is to use "google operators and let the world's largest search engine do the work for you.

You have seen some progressive slots with random jackpots, and the mega moolah game caught your eye. The most effective way to find the variance of this game is to:

Open www.Google.Com

Type "mega moolah" variance in the search bar

Analyse the search results

Alternatively, you can explore the games and try to figure out their variance yourself. If you play the slot long enough, you should be able to see how often the game pays out and what kind of winnings you get.

If successes are rare but significant, you are onto a high volatility game. If you win often, but the wins are nerve-wracking and small, you just found a low-volatility game.

An excellent welcome bonus, a deposit bonus, and free spins are an excellent way to do this and discover the games' volatility by playing. These options help you learn more about the games and give you useful info that might help you understand how to win at slots in the long run.

High volatility slot to play: king of atlantis

King of atlantis is a high volatility slot by IGT. The game plays on five reels and 40 paylines.

The symbols featured in this game include seashells, gold rings, gem-encrusted crowns, mermaids, dolphins, and the almighty god of the sea – poseidon.

This high volatility slot machine doesn't have many bonus games or features (even if you bet the maximum). The only 'special feature' you get, is a round of eight free spins that activates when a trident symbol lands next to poseidon.

Low volatility slot to try: hotline

Hotline is one of netent's most popular slots these days.

Beating the slot requires you to travel back in time to the '80s, wear some clothes you'd not be proud of today, and use your ability to solve a police case. Somehow based on the cult TV series miami vice, beating the slot needs you to help two detectives to catch a jewellery thief.

The slot runs on a classic random number generator and features all the classic features netent players love so much. Wilds, expanding wilds, re-spins, free spins - you name it. Also, there is a unique bonus bet where you can choose one, two, or all three reels. It increases your chances of getting expanding wilds.

As pay table of this slot suggests, hotline is a low volatility game where wins are more frequent (but small in size). If this is what you are looking for, pick this slot machine, enjoy the game, and relax.

3. Don't go with the obvious option

No matter how impressive an online casino is, you need to do some research before you start to spin reels on slots.

All casino sites (like all poker sites, let's face it) want your credit card and your money. They offer free spins or deposit bonus codes to get you on their platform and then have you play as much as possible. In other words, they want your money.

If you can afford to play real money on slots, that's great, as long as the site you agree to play on and where you look for the next loose machine to try is a legitimate and regulated online casino.

Regulators like the united kingdom gambling commission (UKGC), the malta gaming authority (MGA) work hard to eliminate dangerous companies from the online gambling industry. Their licensing systems are your best allies to be sure to play slot machine games on legitimate sites, use audited random number generators, and pay out winnings to the players.

An important factor to consider when you want to know how to pick a winning slot machine is to see if the site you wish to register on holds a license by the UKGC and/or the MGA. Regardless of the casino bonus they offer you or the insane fixed maximum amount of free spins they promise.

You should never play online poker or pick slot machines on unlicensed casino sites.

You find a full list of all the online casinos allowed in your country on this page.

A loose slot to play: himalayas: roof of the world

How did I find this slot? I scrolled down to the bottom of the slots page at one of my favourite online casinos. And then, I just decided to pick a slot machine I had never seen before.

Not all games make it to online casinos' front pages — especially those that have a combination of volatility and RTP that plays in favour of the players and that come from underdog developers. And himalayas: roof of the world comes from barcrest, a provider that isn't often in the spotlight.

Also, himalayas: roof of the world offers good odds of winning on slots!. The game features an RTP of 97,75 per cent, which is above average. Combine that to medium volatility — and you know how to pick a winning slot machine.

4. Make higher bets

Every collection of slot machines tips or casino strategies tells you that you can't win a progressive jackpot with a minimum bet. And that's correct.

Top wins are always connected to the fixed maximum bets. You can forget your dream to become a multi-millionaire with just 0.01. In slots, like in video poker, the higher the bet — the more you can win. And, at the same time, the smaller the bet. The smaller the wins.

So, yes: your bet determines how to win at slots.

Slot machine payouts are proportional to what you wager in the game. If your slot machine strategy is to play small bets, don't change it. Just don't expect to score unreasonably huge wins.

As you understand now, betting more money helps to win more on line slots. But it also put your slot machine strategy in danger and makes you risk to lose all your bankroll much faster.

That's why higher denomination slots are also riskier than lower denomination slots. People play them in the same way and following the same slot tips. But the big wins happen only on the high denomination slots, which are also the game where you can risk to lose a lot of money.

Keep in mind this, especially if you love playing slots with progressive jackpots. Jackpot slots can be costly . Many games give you access to the top wins only when you bet the maximum — and that is why a correct slot strategy and bankroll strategy are essential to winning at slots.

Risk is always an essential factor in gambling. And you decide how risky you want to play yourself. Never play more money than you can afford to lose and never underestimate the risks of gambling addiction — even then you play fun slot machine games.

One expensive slot to play with maximum bets: space wars

Space wars is another online slot by netent. This online game is based on a popular slot you can play in all the casinos in las vegas and atlantic city.

When you play space wars for real money, you can choose to bet anywhere from 0.4 (minimum bet) to 20 (maximum bet) per spin. The currency depends on your location.

This game does not feature a progressive jackpot, so you don't really need to bet max every time you spin. Start with smaller bets and go up. You'll see the difference in payouts.

Space wars is a fast-paced video slot with five reels, four rows, and 40 paylines. The RTP is 96,8 per cent.

5. Trust other players

This is one of those slot tips that you should not apply to many other casino games. While it may be valid for video poker, it's one you should not follow if you play online poker.

But when it comes to playing slots. Yes, you can trust your fellow slot players and look how people play.

If a slot doesn't pay, the other players will call it out. Fast.

That's why you should use the information available on every casino blog and casino sites to your advantage. Browse through forums, spend some time on reddit, and read what las vegas and atlantic city players say about each game.

You can also join facebook groups and ask for help there. In other words, take advantage of your internet connection before the casino takes advantage of you.

A classic slot people play and love: gonzo's quest

Released in 2010, gonzo's quest still didn't let go of its place as one of the top slot machines online. That's quite an achievement, I'd say.

This popular slot game features five reels, 20 paylines, and an adventurer (gonzalo 'gonzo' pizzarro) looking for the lost city of gold.

Players love this little guy and follow his adventures. Gonzo's quest is one of the top-rated slot machines of all time by players, casinos, and casino critics alike.

6. Avoid branded slots

Branded slots are fantastic to play. We can play with all our favourite heroes and spin the reels feeling part of the movies, TV series, and shows we love.

While these games are a lot of fun, branded slots are also the 'bait' a lot of online casinos use to attract us, the players.

Remember the point about 'not going for the obvious choice'? If you are a huge game of thrones fan, how likely is it that you would go straight for the game of thrones games when you see them on the list?

You don't need to be a psychologist, a consumed marketer, or casino operator to realise that. Fortunately, you don't need to be a hardcore gambler to know how to pick a winning slot machine either. That's what this article is for!

Developers with slots that feature popular brands paid a pretty penny to use the name. So, they won't let you go low with the bets. And those games will not be the easiest ones to beat either.

While the casino and the developer have invested a lot on the names you see on the screen, you are the one who can make it worth the investment. Or not.

Slot to play instead of the branded ones: pamplona

What's so attractive about branded slots? Well-known name and faces. The stories behind the games and the characters we all know and love.

Can you have all that in a non-branded slot?

Take the pamplona slot machine, for example.

This IGT slot is all about spain, bulls, and matadors. A unique tradition turned into an exciting slot game.

In a way, it is a 'brand' because pamplona's running of the bulls' festival is known worldwide. And it's more known than some actual brands, to be honest.

But to use this theme, developers didn't have to pay as they do for the brands. Thus, the payouts are way better.

The slot has five reels and 1024 paylines. Matador symbol acts as a wild and bull is a scatter. Three scatters can trigger the el toro bonus where you can choose your option of free spins.

7. Take advantage of free spins

How to win at slots with free spins when there are hundreds of hidden terms and conditions for withdrawals?

The wagering requirements can take the fun out of playing slots with free spins. No arguing there. But there are still free spins bonuses that can be worth your while.

The wager-free bonus offers.

On a limited number of online casinos you get wager free spins with no deposit on registration (yes, no deposit is required to play). And with no strings attached to them.

There is no cap on winnings, you can cash out anything you want, anytime you want, and there are no wagering requirements. How good is that?

Slot to play with free spins: pyramid quest for immortality

From pamplona to egypt. You can travel the world with slots. And the right free spins welcome bonus!

The pyramid: quest for immortality slot features five reels, 720 paylines, and an RTP of 96.4%. This game takes you to ancient egypt and brings you to explore the hidden and mystical world of pharaohs, gods. And pyramids, of course.

So, how to beat slot machines?

First and foremost, the best way to beat the slots is not to continue asking the wrong questions and stop looking for simple hacks or slots tips tho beat the casino.

If you want better odds to win on slots, you need to:

Choose the slots that have high payouts

Choose the slots with the correct volatility level

Choose the slot with the highest return to player

Read reviews of the slots on casino sites, forum, and reddit

Play on a licensed online casino site

While this might not be enough for you to beat slot machines and pick the winning slot machine every time you play, it will help you win more often and - more importantly - enjoy playing slots a lot more!

How do you pick a winning slot machine?

To pick a winning slot machine and get better odds to win when you spin the reels, you need to choose games that offer the right combination of betting limits, volatility, return-to-player, and wagering requirements (in case you play with a bonus).

What casino game has the best chance of winning?

In general, blackjack is the casino game with the best odds. In terms of slots, the best choice is to pick a game that offers a return-to-player over 97% like the slot devil's delight (RTP: 97.7%).

The slot machines you find on regulated casino sites are not rigged as their random number generator (RNG) is subject to frequent audits by state-owned gambling authorities. The same controls do not apply to unlicensed casinos — and that's why you should never play your games there.

_{This article was first published on july 14, 2018. Last update: january 10, 2020}

The promotion presented on this page was available at the time of writing. With some casino promotions changing on daily basis, we suggest you to check on the site if it still available. Also, please do not forget to read the terms and conditions in full before you accept a bonus.

CASINOS in VIETNAM - 2020 up-to-date list - casinosavenue

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Aristo international club casino & hotel

Welcome to the aristo international hotel & casino resort located in lao cai, vietnam. Open 24/7 and located on the ground floor, the casino welcomes you with about 150 s …

028 yet kieu st, kim tan ward 00000 lao cai

Corona resort and casino

Long beach, ganh dau phu quoc phu quoc

Eastin hotel & club 21 casino ho chi minh

253 nguyen van troi street, - ho chi minh

First hotel & club 9 casino ho chi minh

18 hoang viet street, tan binh district, - ho chi minh city

Grand hotel & grand club casino ho chi minh

8 DONG KHOI STREET, DISTRICT 1 - ho chi minh

Hotel equatorial & OV club casino ho chi minh

242 tran binh trong, district 5, - ho chi minh

International tourist club casino & new world saigon hotel ho chi minh

The international tourist club is located in the annex wing of new world hotel saigon in hô chi minh. In the international tourist club you will have access to progressiv …

76 le lai street, district 1, 00000, ho chi minh,

Majestic saigon & M club casino ho chi minh

1 dong khoi street, district 1, - ho chi minh

Palazzo club casino ho chi minh

The palazzo club is located in the 1st floor of the sheraton saigon hotel in ho chi minh, vietnam. Exclusively electronic, the casino owns about 100 gaming machines and i …

Sheraton hotel, 1st floor, 80 dong du, 00000, ho chi minh,

Renaissance riverside hotel & club royale casino ho chi minh

8-15 ton duc thang street, district 1 - ho chi minh

Rex hotel & galaxy saigon club casino ho chi minh

141 nguyen hue blvd, - ho chi minh city

Royal international casino & hotel halong

The royal international gaming club, hotel and spa resort welcomes you in halong bay, vietnam for a nice and relaxing stay. The gaming club of the resort has about 70 slo …

Ha long rd, quảng ninh, 8433, ha long,

The grand ho tram strip casino & hotel ba ria vung tau

The grand ho tram strip casino & hotel is a beach-side location in ba ria vung tau. At only two hours by car from ho chi minh city, this is a 5-star integrated resort. Th …

Ven bien, phuoc thuan, xuyên moc, bà ria, 64, ba ra vung tau,

Vegas club casino & caravelle hotel ho chi minh

Caravelle hotel that reminds of poetic pictures full of romance is the most prestigious place at ho chi minh-ville. Among its guests, the place counts the former american …

19-23 lam son square, district1, 00000, ho chi minh,

Vietnam is a country located in southeast asia, on the extreme part of the indochinese peninsula. The waters of the pacific ocean, the south china sea and the gulf of thailand bath its coasts. Its population exceeds 91 million inhabitants and its capital is hanoi.

There are 13 active casinos on the vietnamese territory. They are mainly found in ho chi minh city, like the palazzo club, which provides 100 slot machines and numerous gaming tables in addition to 470 hotel rooms, 6 restaurants and lounges. The others are also located in sumptuous hotels such as first, eastin, equatorial or majestic.

The historical and cultural heritage in vietnam is immensely rich. There are many monuments and buildings to visit. Among them, there are the mausoleum of minh mang in hué, the tomb of khai djnh in thua thien-hue or the temple po nagar cham in nha trang.

The vietnamese towns and villages have a special and very pleasant atmosphere. The old quarter of hanoi or the ancient city of hoi an, are exotic and plunge the visitor into a new world. Those cities are surrounded by a beautiful nature characterized in the dong hoi caves, phong nha-ke national park or the beautiful halong bay.

As for the culinary specialties, the dishes not to be missed are the soup pho bo, the noodles or the sandwich banh mi

Commerce casino

Recommended online casinos

Has anyone ever been in the huge poker clubs in los angeles like commerce casino ? I am told that california state law permits games of skill like poker.

I wonder how airtight the law is. Operators are always manipulating the law so that slot machines are technically bingo games. Will the california law permit variations of blackjack and baccarat that are manipulated enough so that they become "games of skill". I wonder if you could add a side bet that is skill based so that the core game doesn't change very much.

I am intrigued by the possibility that someone could open a high limit baccarat variation game in LA or san francisco. You already have large asian populations, and both cities have steady streams of jets arriving non-stop from asia.

Nevada is making an average of roughly $100 million per month on the 235 baccarat games and the 127 mini or midi baccarat games. In the last year it has been the only game that has been growing in nevada.

Even a landmark hotel like the 395 room 1928 beverly wilshire hotel which was the setting for the movie pretty woman could be the setting for a 50 table baccarat casino. I think that california could equal the revenue in las vegas on baccarat with a few elite settings. I base this on the number of asians living in or visiting major california cities. Taxes on $100 million/month in revenue would make a small chink in the california tax shortfall.

I can't imagine who would object.

Another option would be to convert one of those hotels on century BLVD near LAX. LAX does roughly 17 million international passengers a year (2nd in the country behind JFK). Hilton has a 1200 room hotel on century blvd (a little smaller than the 3000 room hotel in las vegas). It could accomodate baccarat players.

I can't imagine who would object.

Every existing card room in the state would object, claiming a saturation of the market. Availability of licenses is determined locally, which is why the relatively conservative city of los angeles does not have any leagal card rooms. All the nearby locations, like commerce casino, the bicycle club, hollywood park casino (about 10 minutes or less from LAX), hustler, normandie, hawaiian gardens, etc. Are in nearby cities (kind of like a reverse clark county / boulder city arrangement) whose city council's typically responded to a need for revenue.

All the "card rooms" in the los angeles area offer mini - baccarat, blackjack, and even pai gow poker and pai gow tiles, just like the native american casinos. However, they are specifically restricted from offering slot machines (machines are not "card based", and are exclusive to the native american joints via an compact with the governor).

Known as "california games", to differentiate them from the vegas style, player vs. The house set up. Rule modifications (mainly the player banking option mentioned in a previous post) are required to meet the state's "card based game" requirement. Here is a list of the "california" offerings from the commerce website:

• no bust blackjack
• 21st century baccarat
• super pan 9 (also called “pan 9” or “super 9”)
• 13 card poker (also called chinese poker)
• pai gow poker (also called double-hand poker)
• joker’s wild pai gow poker
• pai gow tiles
• 3 card poker
• EZ baccarat
• caribbean stud

Games come and go with a fairly high frequency. 6:5 is ubiquitous. There were several attempts at "craps" variants, but no one can seem to come up with successful game that uses actual dice, but relies on "card like" play to determine the outcome.

I can only speak for the commerce casino but I've seen some very high stakes games there. Its not unusual for one of the baccarat tables to have 7-10 thousand in action, particularly in the evenings.

On another note: commerce is (I believe) unique in that in their pai gow games the joker plays as a wild card. Its for this reason that you want to bank as often as possible since if the joker falls in the bank it automatically creates at least a pair.

Is it still the case that many of the dealers are actors employed by the banking syndicate?

I think years ago the feds proved that the bicycle casino was secretly owned by the people who banked the games.

The bike casino banks the commerce games, the commerce banks the bike games. Im not sure who banks hollywood park's games (the casino near LAX) but I am sure it's one of the other casinos.

No banking of live poker, of course, it's player against player with the casinos collecting a rake or fee for use of the table, and for jackpots.

The casino licenses are controlled by the state.

There has been legislation proposed to freeze the number of "card casinos" in exchange for a few of the major card casinos to be allowed to offer vegas gaming including slots and video poker and non banked gaming. But it failed whe presented to voters.

Bicycle casino used to be owned by uncle sam when the casino was seized after a money laundering and tax conviction. Then it was sold to a group of private investors.

Commerce casino poker room

Overview

Part of commerce casino

The casino is divided into several areas, all of which are cavernous. Players used to smaller ( 6131 telegraph road, commerce, CA 90040, USA

Contact

Hours of operation

Commerce poker jobs in commerce all commerce poker dealer jobs

Review poker room

$1700. Pot is raised from the cutoff to $70 (seat 7 from above), I call, BB alaska calls. (pot

$220) flop comes out 6 8 J, one spade two hearts. Cutoff c-bets $100, I call (thinking I might be able to steal this on the turn if a spade hits and I semi-bluff), alaska calls. (pot

$520) turn 4 of hearts. Not the card I was expecting, but when it is checked to me a throw out a bet to see where I am. I bet $150 (I’m still debating the bet size, my thinking was that by checking I was leaving the door open for one of them to bluff me out on the river, but I was pretty sure a large bet would be called by any heart. My plan was to check behind on the river and fold to any bet if a heart hits; on a non-heart river I would call if the tilty guy bet, but probably not if alaska bet.) anyway, the original raiser min-raises me to $300, I am getting a pretty good price and I think it is likely he has a pair with the nut draw so I call. River is a 6! He bets out $560 and I raise all in to around $1300, he calls and I take down his kqhearts for a nice pot.
I play q10diamonds and flop top two, I bet flop and turn and get called by philipino guy in both spots. I check the river hoping he will bluff at it with a missed heart draw, unfortunately he checks and shows AQ. I think I could have made another value bet and gotten paid off there, oops.
I raise to $80 with KK in late position, 4 calls including the philipino guy, seat 7 and alaska. (

$340) flop comes out 2 4 9 rainbow. Checked to me and I bet $260. This is where it gets interesting. Philipino guy goes all in for $1600+, alaska folds, seat 7 calls all in $1150. WTF? I tank for a while. I am pretty sure seat 7 has a set, but it is less than $1k to match his bet. The other guys bet screams flush draw, but the flop is rainbow. I try to convince myself he might have JJ or 1010 and if I beat him I get the side pot of around $1k, but that just doesn’t fit. They call the clock on me and I lay it down. They turn over 3 5 offsuit and 2 4 offsuit (seat 7), lol. Turn 6, river 2, LOL!
I get some revenge on alaska later winning around $800 off him in a few smaller pots before I need to hit the road, but he has gotten the best of me so far. Overall it was a fun day of poker, it always surprises me how action packed the cash games are at commerce. I hope to get back up and play some 10/20 again soon. Any 2+2ers at that table?
Total for the trip: tourneys -$885, cash +$1120.
Cliffs: donked off my chips in tourney and sats. Erased losses and turned small profit in cash games. Déjà vu twice in one day.

I had planned on playing the 6-handed $545 tournament. Matt savage and I exchanged emails and I wanted to stop by to see him and get in some poker. Unfortunately, I'm an idiot and didn't check the starting time. Don't know why I assumed it was a 7pm start. I did get there at 2:50pm thinking I would spend the afternoon playing some satellites. It turns out that there was 10 more minutes to get in as an alternate. I would get the full starting stack of 4k and the next two 40 min levels were 100/200 and 100/200 25. Hmmm, not great, but with an avg stack still at 5.5k it wouldn't be horrible. Okay, I decided to give it a shot. I didn't have my players card with me and the guy who dealt with them had already closed shop but the staff was very helpful and got me my seat in minutes.
I managed to stay out of trouble for the first few orbits and won most small pots I played.
Hand 1:
my first major hand was with the blinds still at 100/200. Me on button with A8. Folds to me and I raise to 500 with a 4k starting stack. SB who has 1800 or so pushes. I insta-call. He has K9. Flop comes with a K and 8. River is 8 and I'm in business.
For a fairly major 6-handed tournament loaded with aggressive pros my table turned out to be great. There was a young pro two seats to my left who was somewhat aggressive. Actually he talked a lot and represented through his words that he was the real deal and very aggressive. In reality he was fairly predictable and not very aggressive at all. Most pots were heads-up and there wasn't much post-flop aggression or pf 3-betting. About an hour in makisim karandeyev sits to my left. He's young, friendly guy who tells us all that he just won the NL event #11, but is actually a limit specialist.
Hand 2:
I'm in the BB with KT at 100/200 25 and around 5.5k. UTG makes it 600, button calls, SB calls, I call.
Flop T84 with two clubs. SB makes it 1500, I push. Folds to SB who calls with JT. He has me covered by a bit. My hand holds and I'm in business with a great stack.
Hand 3:
still 100/200 25 and I'm at 11k. I make it 700 with ajs. BB who has about 10k takes a while to decide. It seems to me that he is seriously thinking about raising. I put him on a hand like 99/TT/JJ/AQ. He calls.
Flop comes K rag/rag. He immediately leads out for 1200. I have no part of the flop, but the timing of his bet really raises alarms to me. I really feel he has a hand like JJ and is testing the waters. A raise here or a call and then bet or raise on the turn will very likely get me the pot. However, I'm torn because I would have to risk about half of my stack and I have a very healthy stack right now and don't want to bluff it away. I decide to just let it go, but do regret the wimpy play. Any thoughts?
Hand 4:
pretty standard. My stack and blinds are about the same as above. I raise with TT. Aggressive young guy (AYG) across the table calls as does a short stack to my right. Flop comes KT9. AYG checks, shortie puts his last 300 in and we both call. AYG checks in the dark which sucks. Turn comes an 8 so I really can't slowplay any more. I fire about 2/3rds of pot and he folds. Pretty standard.
3-bet city
I lose about 3-4k of my stack through blinds/antes and PF raises with hands like AT, AJ, kqs, etc., and either missing/continuation bet/fold to raises or more often then not, having my buddy to the left, makisim, 3 betting me. This happens 3 times and while I do want to look him up at some point, I decide that I'll wait for a better opportunity so am forced to fold each time, until:
hand 5:
150/300 25, stack: 9k. I limp with kts from UTG+1 (is it possible to be in early position 6 handed?). This is my first limp of the day when first in. Everyone comes along except the UTG who already folded. Flop comes T92 rainbow. SB makes it 500 into a 1600ish pot. Checked to me and I make it 2k. Makisim asks me my stack size and takes quite a bit of time deciding what to do. He eventually makes it 4k. Hmmm. Very weird bet. He either got a bit worried and thinks that this weird bet will screw with me or he really has a strong hand and wants me to come along. I think quite a bit about it and decide that he doesn't have much, but what a stupid bet. Why do it? Very tough spot. Given our history I just can't lay it down and really am convinced I have him and he's just making another move, given that I've shown no resistance to his other raises. He probably pegs me as weak (is it right?) given what he's seen, so I push my last 6.5k. When he doesn't immediately call I'm pretty sure I'm good.
After about a minute he calls with. QT. What the f*&^&ck? I RR the original raiser, then push over the top of him. He still has over 20-25 BB with about 7-8k left. What could I possibly have given the way I've been playing? I haven't shown down one hand that was out of line. Of course he rivered the Q and sent me packing. No hard feelings. I hope you add to your trophy case with my chips. Here's the proud event #11 winner:

Time to do my own sucking!
It's too early to leave so I put down my $120 and play a one-table satellite. We get 1500 in chips and the blinds move up very 15 mins. Pretty standard group of players, a few guys who think they know how to play BUT. Very few really understand hand values in these things. It amazes me the hands that people fold or consider folding in this tournament.
I win a small pot on the first hand with aqs and then go card dead for a while. I stay at around 1800 as blinds move up to 150/300 -- I'm just getting no opportunities to make a move. I keep my stack steady by simply pushing blind from the SB and button when folded to me. Then I go on a crazy run.
I'm UTG with the blinds about to eat me alive so will play a very wide range of hands. Still 6 people left. My first card is an A and I push without looking at the 2nd. The SB open folds 88 without hesitating. Pretty weird if you ask me given how broad my range is in this situation. I guess if he thinks I play like everyone else it makes some sense. Unfortunately my second card was also an A, but I probably would have done the same thing if I knew. I proceed to get KK, JJ, AK, 88 over the next bunch of hands and knock out two players to take a large lead. I do suck out on a guy when I called his short-stack all-in with 88 when he had JJ and I flopped trips. However, that hand wouldn't have killed me, but this hand.
PAY-BACK HAND
we're now 3-handed. An attractive asian female who is fairly good has about the exact same stack as me. We are both at 6.5k or so and one guy between us had 3k. Nobody mentions a deal and I'm in no mood to offer one. Blinds are now 400-800. I have ah7h and auto push. The SB folds and the asian female goes into the tank. She says she loves her two cards and is having a hard time folding them. I assume she has kqs and don't really feel like flipping right now so I hope she folds. She is seriously thinking about folding and I'm pretty sure she will. She has done this routine countless times before.
To my surprise she calls. To my SURPRISE she show ajs. What just happened? She almost didn't call me? With 3 handed action and blinds at 400-800? You gotta be kidding me. Of course, the flop comes with 3 hearts and I suck out.
A few people make mention that I was caught stealing. A7s in that situation is like trip A's. So now I have 12k or so vs. 3k for my opponent. If he asked for a deal I would have probably given him 200-300, but he doesn't. He makes some mention of catching up with me and then chopping. I take him out in about 3 hands and take the entire 1060. Boy, I sure earned that one! I feel bad because I started to talk to some of the other players and completely forgot to tip the dealer. They must think I'm a complete schmuck. When I come back next week I'll try to make up for it.
I must close by mentioning how impressed I was with the tournament. It really felt like I was in the amazon room of the WSOP. The tables were packed between the featured tournament, a variety of one-table satellites, the daily multi-table satellites and the final table from the previous day. The staff was extremely efficient, the dealers were great and the food, as always, was first rate. I'll be back for a few more tournament and will be sure to report back.

Following are the winners of events 14-16 of the commerce california state poker championships. Congratulations to all the winners!
Tomorrow, friday the 19th, is SUPER SATELLITE DAY. Win a seat to saturday's main event. The satellite fee is $190. Satellite's are being held at 11:30am and 6:30pm.
The entry fee for the main event is $1580 and the starting time is 2pm on saturday the 20th.
The complete schedule can be found here:

Http://commercecasino.Com/tournamentdetails.Aspx?Tournamentid=4
event 14
1stplacejonathan samuels, santa barbara, CA$26,344
2ndplacemax nguyen, fountain vly, CA$13,267
3rdplaceadrian kuan, canada$10,350
4thplaceluis sanchez, la habra hts, CA$7,998
5thplacejames mordue, los angeles, CA$6,586
6thplacealan myerson, sherman, oaks, CA$5,175
7thplacejohn lukin, redondo beach, CA$3,952
8thplacerichard munro, bell canyon, CA$2,823
9thplaceunknown$2,352
10thplacemichael kent, los angeles, CA$1,976
event 15
1stplace mehdi bodala, woodland hills, CA$16,866
2ndplacereza payvar, irvine, CA$8,493
3rdplacepaul lui, irvine, CA$6,626
4thplacealberto zaga, mexico$5,120
5thplacejohn sarno, santa fe spgs, CA$4,217
6thplacequang vo, fountain valley, CA$3,313
7thplacetroy grogan, bellevue, WARNINGS rseshoe-bossier city. This year was a special year for me as it was my 30th. (I still feel like I’m 24ish.) as I take an inventory of my life at 30, I see that I am very blessed. I’m married to a wonderfully beautiful and incredible wife. I’ve got a miraculously healthy 3 year old baby boy. My wife and I are both healthy, physically and spiritually, and we’re financially stable despite a tumultuous year in real-estate in 2008.
I haven’t been to a casino in a long while, nor have I been playing much online. It got too big for a while and I decided to pull the plug on it. I still get my fix from time to time online, but the serious study of the game and the dependence on the extra income I’ve cut out. (the income has been sorely missed.) there is no more 18 tabling for me and I’ve forgotten more about poker than most average people will ever learn. I’m down to 2 or 3 tables and only playing once every 2 to 3 weeks or so. My bb/100 has skyrocketed though, so that is one positive. Oh, and despite my best efforts in the 2nd half of 2008, I spent all of my bankroll on paying down my wife’s car, vacations and other miscellaneous crap.
We arrived at the HSBC a few minutes before 7pm and had to rush to check in and unload our bags in order to join our friends at sushiko at the louisiana boardwalk. The LA boardwalk is in walking distance of the HSBC, but unfortunately, sushiko is at the other end of this massive outdoor mall, so we drove. The food was good but it took 2 hrs to get it. We ordered a “boat,” which consisted of an assortment of sashimi (raw fish), nigirisushi (raw fish over rice) and 2 norimaki (rolls.) my wife and her friend were expecting more rolls, but they obviously weren’t listening to the waitress when she said twice that the “boat” only contained 2 rolls. The “boat” is an actual 2’x 8” wooden boat that docks in the middle of your table. They have “ships” also, but the “boat” handily served 4. The food was an A-, service was a B and the environment was a solid A, less a 15 point deduction for our long wait. Overall, I’d count the experience as a good one B+ after a curve bonus due to the fact that I had good friends around me to carry the 2 hour delay.
When we finally returned to the HSBC around 10pm everyone made a break for their favorite money pits. Several fell victim to the one armed bandits, others decided to try their luck at craps. Of the 4 couples that celebrated my birthday at the HSBC, only 1 couple came away a winner at the craps tables. As for me, I wisely made my way down to my favorite sweet-spot, the exquisite HSBC poker room. I’ve been to 3 rooms in tunica, 5 in biloxi, 2 in vicksburg and the el dorado poker room across the river in shreveport and IMO the HSBC’s room is at the top of the list. It's a bit smaller than the others, but it’s always clean, the dealers are well trained, polite and professional; there are flatties everywhere; the service is great and you can get seated exceptionally fast at your game of choice. On this night, I was put on the list for the $1/3 NL game and immediately agreed to sit at a $4/8 limit game. Within 10 minutes my name was called and I was playing america’s new favorite game, the unlimited version of texas hold thems.
I tried an old game of spot the sucker and it was just like riding a bike. The loud mouth at the end of the table was telling everyone that “he doesn’t want none of this!” he proceeded to turn over a rivered gut-shot ftw. He was playing every hand and betting hard and talking big when he had it or else he was keeping quiet and betting small when he didn’t. Luckily, 2 very capable regulars got up and left the table soon after I sat down, they were replaced by 2 rednecks wearing matching stihl hats. The 2 new additions quickly proved very profitable for me as I proceeded to bust the loud-mouth and one of the rednecks in successive hands. I could say that it was my egggggspurt poker playing and mental prowess that allowed me to take their money, but the truth is that I flopped 2 consecutive flushes with suited connectors in late position and they both blew up in turn on the flop. I only had to sweat the bare ace against the loud mouth and the redneck blew up w/ top pair top kicker from the blinds in a multi-way limped pot. About the time that I got my tiny mound of chips stacked and a text message out to mr_taterhead about how EZ poker is, my wife walked up to tell me that she’s done gambling and that she’s ready for me to come upstairs. “WOWIE, WOWIE, WOWIE. Sorry boys, I hate to hit-n-run, but when the wife says she’s ready, it’s time to gogogogogoogogo!!” I quickly cashed in my $350 win and headed upstairs to cash in my favorite birthday present of all time!
We rejoined mr_taterhead and our other pals the next morning for a late breakfast at the HSBC’s ever enjoyable buffet. With full bellies the guys headed back into the casino for a try at winning some of our money back from the craps tables. The other wives took what little money was left from the destruction that was the night before and tried to throw that away at the LA boardwalk mall. My wife had latched on like a michael vick pit-bull to a large bite of my prior night’s poker winnings, I'm sure that the GAP appreciated it. I gave most of the red-necks money back to the casino, and then luckily my wife called and said that they were all done shopping. If the truth be told, I left there with what I came with and my wife was all the richer for my good fortune at poker. AH, the good life!

First of all, huuuuuuuuge thanks to scot and kyle at tworags and dave and everyone else at the commerce casino for making this happen. It was a great time, and very much appreciated. One of my favorite parts of traveling for poker is going to different sporting events around the world. So the deal was that the commerce had arranged for a limo to pick us up and drive us to and from the game, and we had VIP tickets for the commerce's box. Myself, thayer, vivek, and ray ended up going.
The limo was set to pick us up at 7 at the casino. We had a little trouble finding the driver but we still managed to get to the staples center in time for tipoff. As we're walking around the side of the stadium to the VIP entrance we get a little taste of hollywood. Some perfect 10 blonde girl is walking up to the gate and paparazzi are going crazy snapping photos of her. Unfortunately I never got a good enough look to see who she was, but it was definitely one of those things you just don't really see anywhere else. So we get up to the booth and find scot, and meet dave from the commerce (thanks again guys). The booth is pretty cool, and there's lots of free food and drink so I'm quite happy with it. The first half of the game is probably the biggest annihilation I have ever seen in professional basketball. LA was pressing hard on defense and atlanta couldn't hold on to the ball for 10 seconds at a time. It took a string of miracle threes before the end of the half for atlanta to not finish down 40. When coach was teaching them to beat the press during timeout, they must have been as distracted by this as I was:

Anyways around half time norm mcdonald came up to the booth and he was a lot of fun to hang out with, definitely a funny guy in person. Here's a shot of everyone in the booth:
and another shot of the laker girls just because. Unfortunately, we were a bit too high up and I didn't quite have enough zoom on my camera to get a real good shot. This time they're wearing the traditional laker gold.

So all-in-all it was a great night. VIP treatment, basketball, free beer, laker girls, and celebrities. What more could you ask for? Back on the grind with the $1500 LAPC event tomorrow.
Mike

Last thurs night around 9p, I headed down to the commerce casino to update my LA card room comparison chart and check out the low stakes NL games there. Some of you might not be familiar with the world’s largest poker casino (ok, world’s largest LIVE poker casino) so here’s a quick tour.
The commerce casino/crowne plaza hotel complex is located directly off the 5 freeway about 7-8 miles southeast of downtown los angeles. The 5 freeway is a major LA thoroughfare and traffic can be brutal midday, but at 9 pm, it’s a breeze. You can’t miss the casino from the highway—both the casino and the attached hotel are well-lit with excellent signage.
In the satellite image below, you can see the commerce’s proximity to the freeway and massive parking lot. The hotel part of the complex is the curved building on the left of the property; the main casino comprises the rectangular portion. If you look carefully in the upper right of the parking lot, you can see a N/S tennis court that was built well before the hotel was built. Senior management at the commerce took their tennis seriously in their younger years!

"past the chariot. "
as you can see, there’s plenty of free parking on the property, but since I’m lazy I opted to valet (about $2 not including tip). As you enter from the valet, you’re confronted with two oversized statues. I never really understood the roman/egyptian theme, but they look great and definitely give the sense of las vegas grandeur.

The high stakes room
directly behind the statues is the high stakes room where all the big games ($10/20+ NL, $20/40 limit, etc.) run. There’s a large multi-screen monitor in a corner of the room, but for now, all the waitlists are managed by hand. I think commerce is probably moving toward an automated system at some point. The low stakes NL waiting list is automated and there are a number of new flat screen monitors located strategically throughout the other areas of the casino. But for now, it’s white boards and markers in the high stakes and main room.
The main room
continuing the tour, from the high stakes room, you go through a california games room (blackjack variants, pai gow, etc.) to the main room of the casino where all the middle stakes games are spread. It’s a huge open room with several food court type restaurants around the perimeter. Like the high stakes room, waitlists are kept by hand but there’s a sign up board at all four sides of the room (yes, it’s that big) and there’s floor staff manning the boards and directing players to seats. As a result, there’s rarely a problem finding or getting into the game you’re looking for.

I did a quick walk around to see what kind of action was running. Check this out for a thursday night…
7 tables of 1/2 $40
7 tables of 2/3 $100
9 tables of 3/5 $200
8 tables of 5/10 $400
6 tables of $10/20 $600-no max
3 tables of $20/40 $2000-no max
1 table of $100/200 $30k-no max (note: commerce usually has $50/$100 NL with a $5k minimum)
that’s over 40 tables of NL! By comparison, the bellagio has 40 tables IN TOTAL. Of course, the commerce spreads all sorts of other games—limit, stud, a MONSTER mixed game ($300/$600 usually and sometimes $400/$800) and a few omaha games. There are over 240 tables in the casino and I’m guessing about 160 or so are dedicated to poker. They also run daily tournaments and recently began running $40 sit n gos using lightning poker electronic tables. More on those later.
”excuse me, which way to the mini-ballers?”
checking my bankroll, I realized I was a little light for the $100/$200 NL and made a mental note to put 60-100 dimes in my backpack for my next trip. I’m rolled for $5/10 but, in a rare show of discipline, resisted the urge to grab four stacks of $5 chips and find a seat. Instead, I stuck to the task at hand, namely checking out the low stakes NL action.
Commerce spreads its low stakes NL in its tournament room, located on the 2nd floor in the tournament & banquet area. The room is directly above the high stakes area and is accessible by a wide staircase, which spirals above the aforementioned statues. I’m pretty sure this staircase is the steepest staircase on earth not associated with a mayan ruin or pharaoh’s tomb. There’s probably room here to continue the metaphor with some reference to bloody sacrifice, but I’m not a virgin and don’t even know one, so let’s leave it that it’s a climb to get to the room.
I think the 2nd floor location cuts down on the number of low stakes NL and limit tables commerce spreads. Both hawaiian gardens and ocean’s 11 had more small NL games running, but they were right off the main floor in both casinos and tough to miss. Then again, those guys didn’t have nearly as many of the larger games that commerce has. Whatever. This place is huge and there's plenty of action for anyone.
The room itself is what you’d expect of a hotel ballroom, high ceilings and chandeliers, with the inclusion of 30 or so tables and a snack bar. To the far right of the room is the cashier and brush area, and there are two lightning electronic poker tables against the far wall. In the low stakes NL room (seen below courtesy of my lousy cell phone camera), waitlists are kept via an electronic system. There are several other monitors not in use; presumably, these are used for tournaments. The staff does a nice job keeping the lists moving, although I did have to wait about 20 minutes (4th on the list) to get seated in $40 NL.

”I had pot odds!
As with other rooms in the area, small stakes NL at the commerce tends to be more social than competitive. That’s not to say the players don’t take it seriously—they do. It’s just that the tension, personality clashes and other drama you sometimes experience at higher limits is pretty much non-existent at these levels. Players tend to shrug off bad beats and etiquette faux pas and move on without lingering resentment.
Despite the good intentions of some players, the play tends to range from awkward to poor. Most players have an understanding of what beats what but the insight typically stops there. Of course, players make vocal references to position, draws and odds but more often than not that thinking, as expressed, is WAY off base. That’s not to say that the players aren’t experienced—it’s obvious that many play A LOT. But the references to odds and, specifically pot odds, are often well off the mark and the resulting decisions and stacks reflect it. In short, for a player with solid fundamentals, there’s plenty of equity sloshing around in these games.
It’s interesting how quickly you can assess the table just by listening and watching. Players at this level have no qualms about thinking out loud and recapping their thought process or what they folded after the hand is completed. Of course, in a game of limited information, it’s always best to keep your thinking to yourself for at least two reasons. First, you should avoid giving anyone any edge on how you might play, and second, as lincoln once said “better to keep you mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.” in any event, just by watching a few hands and listening to the color commentary, you can get a quick sense of who’s got an idea of what they’re doing.

"pot odds" is the default rationale for any action in these games whether it’s calling pre-flop or on the flop. Surprisingly, everyone seems to nod in agreement when it happens. I’m not a tank tapper, but I’ll be honest, I’ll throw an “O rly?’ glance around when someone attempts to validate a bonehead play with “I had pot odds!” I honestly think that the typical low stakes NL player really has no idea what his/her odds are in various situations.
My table
my table was pretty standard for so cal baby NL—mostly younger guys (mid-20s), one or two guys in their 30s and a couple of asian women…and me, a grey-haired exec—clean shaven, no tats, no surfer brand t-shirt—standing out like angelina jolie at a refugee camp.
To my immediate left was a former dealer turned tattoo technician, a skill he proudly noted he learned in prison using a tattoo gun made from a walkman, guitar string and pencil. He was a nice enough guy, but you have to wonder about someone who discusses his prison stint with a total stranger within 15 minutes or so of introduction. In the off chance I ever end up in prison and get out, I can pretty much guarantee that I’m going out of my way to keep the topic OUT of random conversations. My tablemates will just have to speculate on how I learned to make moonshine and tie a nifty corn row, thank you very much.
In any event, I’m in seat 1, he’s on my left and very active, calling pretty much any raise and limping into any pot. To his left, is a disinterested asian kid wearing headphones and reading a magazine. To his left is a guy who looked like ferris bueller after a few more days off. Seat 5 was an older asian man. To his left, an older asian woman, no relation. Seat 7 was younger guy with tats and sideways baseball hat who stood up every time and was visibly excited each time he made a monster hand.
Landlord79 wrote some thoughts on his favorite live tells here. Landlord79's forum post. Here’s mine. When your opponent stands up, insta-calls flop and turn bets each time (as in the instant his opponent said “I bet…” he shouts “call!” whether it’s his turn to act or not), shoves the river and then shows down monsters each time—two flopped sets and a flopped straight…that’s a good tell to note.
Like all of commerce's tables, the tables in the low stakes room all have auto-shufflers which keeps play moving. On the other hand, the game is social so there’s more chit-chat, commentary, cell phone play, etc. Than in the higher stakes games. To their credit, the dealers and chip runners keep the games moving; I counted 29 hands in the first hour and 31 in the second and, over the two hour period, only saw two hands surrendered without a flop. That’s pretty much standard for what I’ve seen elsewhere in similar games (hollywood park: 33 hands/hr; ocean’s 34; HG 32; etc.). I also noticed that almost all the hands make it to the river. Unlike that larger games where a stiff turn bet will often end the hand, hands here go the whole way. Figure 2-3 hands an hour to NOT make it to the river.
Finally, some hands
I only stayed for a couple of hours but here are some hands that are indicative of the quality of play. I tend to play a TAG style which is markedly different than the prevailing table style—I’d routinely be one of the only players not in the hand. These guys, though, don’t drive all the way from pomona to FOLD, so you see some real gems.
Hand 1
older asian woman in EP raises to $15 pre-flop. Note: the blinds in this game are $1/$2. Tattoo guy next to me, the small blind, states “you’re not going to steal my button.” and calls. She’s at least five seats from him and stealing here never, but he’s defending.
Flop…225 rainbow. Check. Check.
8 on turn. Asian woman checks but pulls a stack of chips from her rack. Tat guy bets $15 and asian woman calls instantly.
T on the river. Check. Check.
TG's t8o > asian woman’s aqs.
Ok, let’s recap…7.5x raise pre-flop. No continuation bet by asian woman but she’s insta-calling a half pot bet on the turn with A high. And then TG checks his two pair when checked to. Nifty stuff.
Hand 2
multi-way limped pot. 9[c]9x4[c] flop.
Checked around.
J on the turn. Tat guy (again the small blind) min bets. Formerly disinterested asian kid in headphones (the big blind) is suddenly interested and calls. Everybody else folds.
J on river. Min bet. Call.
97o = 92o. Split pot.
Hand 3, in which edmond dips into the luckbox
limped to me on the button with A[h]J[h]. I raise to $8 and everyone folds around to asian woman, who calls. The pot ≈ $20.
Flop is qxx with one heart. AW checks to me and I bet $15 with my A high backdoor straight and backdoor flush draw. She labors, commenting “you so tight! I know you have big pair!” well, yes, ma’am…thank you…please fold, though. No such luck. She calls.
6[h] on the turn. She checks to me again. I figure she didn’t like her hand much on the flop so I move in for my last $20 with 9 good outs, maybe more. No laboring now, she insta-calls. WTF, you turn a set, lady?
I’m resigned to calling for the chip runner when the lovely 2[h] spins off giving me the nut flush. Asian woman triumphantly tables qto and says “I have queen! If you have three queens you win!” I have no idea what she’s talking about, but show my flush and stack my chips.
At this point, the conversation somehow segues to tat guy commenting that 69o is his favorite hand, and when the other woman at the table gives him a disgusted look like he’s a prepubescent teen, he insists that his birthday was june 9th. She’s skeptical and because I’m one to stir things up a bit, I suggest he could confirm it with his driver’s license. "uh, I don't have one." no, of course you don’t.
Hand 4
as I mentioned in my ocean’s 11 and hawaiian gardens reviews of low stakes games, when players get short, the games play similar to the early stage of a re-buy tournament. For example, a few hands later, AW raised in early position to $10 or so. Short stack in the blind shoves for $20 and change. Folded back to AW, she calls without hesitation. Shover shows a4o; AW shows qjo. A high, all goot.
Hand 5
A few hands later tat guy pushes a T high flop for $200 (into a $30 pot) with two players still to act. One caller but tat boy’s Q[c]T[c] held.
Hand 6, the hand of the night
ferris limps UTG. Asian man to his left raises to $10. One caller to tat guy in the small blind, who again announces “you’re not stealing my blind.” and re-raises to $20. Ferris now re-raises $40, leaving $10 behind. Asian man concludes “I have pot odds.” and calls. Folded back to tat guy who now shoves putting ferris in for his last tenner. Ferris instantly calls, of course, and turns over AA.
There is perhaps no more transparent play in poker than the EP limp and subsequent re-raise. That is, at all levels, almost always AA, KK or AK…with AA, by far, the most prevalent. Yet by for some reason, both asian guy and tat boy concluded that they needed to play in the face of that action.
AA > tat guy’s 99 > asian guy’s k9s for $250 or so.
AG mucked his k9s and had no obligation to show, but without prompting by any player, the dealer retrieved the cards and opened them for the table, a pretty gross mistake. The asian guy complained a little but no one else at the table seemed at all fazed by it. In a higher stakes game, guys would’ve been calling for the floor and howling like someone killed their dog.
At this point, asian guy stated that “I can’t win at these levels.” and vacated his seat. He’s played about 5-6 hands in similar fashion and reloaded twice. What’s amazing is that no one said anything about his k9s play and when a new player went to take the seat, two players warned him (seriously) that that was the “bad beat” seat.
Hand 7, in which edmond again dips into the luckbox
limped to me, I have T[s]9[s] on DB and call.
K[h]J[c]7[h] flop. $4 bet by some EP player. One other caller to me; I call with my double gutter.
8x on turn. EP better checks and other player bets $4 again. $20 pot at this point with all indications suggesting that my opponents are chasing flushes. I raise another $20 and get one caller.
2[h] on river and min-better pushes for his last $12. Gross. I’m convinced he hit his flush given his play to the river but call the $12 in what had turned into a $60 pot.
Instead, he shows A[h]J[s] and looks startled that he didn't scoop the pot. 2PTK no good on that board, sir.
Despite the play, it’s common to see guys sitting relatively deep in a short period of time. I had $100 or so. Tat guy, despite every effort to stack off with marginal hands, had $160 to my left. Ferris had $240 or so and at least two others were sitting 2x buy-ins.
Hand 8
there is a pre-flop raise to $10 or so with two callers.
786 rainbow flop and three players, including a new older guy sitting in the “bad beat” seat, get all-in for a $300 pot. Q turn, J river. Let’s see the hands, fellas.
TT > 55 > K9 with the old guy showing the K9.
As he packs up to leave, a couple of people at the table again comment on the “bad beat” seat and how “old guys always get it in with draws.” ouch.
Lightning poker tables
toward the end of my session, the floor initiated a new sit-n-go on one of the two lightning poker tables commerce recently installed. These are 10-seat electronic tables which can be use for cash games or single table tournaments. At present, commerce runs $40 sit n gos ($34 for the prize poll and $6 for the house) and starts the tournament whenever 10 people sign up. Note: on the board, it’s referenced as a $40 mixed game. You can see one in action below.
Players seemed to like the tables, commenting that the play was “fast” and “sit n gos are fun”. Players start with 500 chips and 10/20 initial blinds and level times increase every 10 minutes. Top spots pay in the tournament 60%/40% and the tournaments run about 40-45 minutes. Basically, you’re playing to heads up, chopping for 80% and playing for the balance.
I didn’t play it, but I’m guessing that a player with a good understanding of sit n go fundamentals could beat the game fairly regularly. Imagine party $5 + $1 sit n gos paying to two spots with worse players.
You can read the commerce’s press release or some more info on the tables here.
Commerce press release on lightning poker tables
beating the game
despite the rake ($3 + 50c jackpot fee), I believe the low stakes NL is a beatable game for a fundamentally sound player. Any time guys are putting capital at risk without thinking and, when they do think, do so OUT LOUD despite a known premium on information, it’s a beatable game. I finished the night up $40 ($20/hour or 20BB over 65 hands or so) without ever being really challenged.
The real challenge, of course, is to maintain discipline and play the opposite style of the table. In general, these games range from very loose passive to moderately loose aggressive without any moderation for hand value. I believe a player that adopts a tight, aggressive style—raising premium hands in position and betting those hands HARD can be a winner in the game.
Of course, it’s very seductive when 6-7 people limp or limp/min-raise/call to get sucked into limping with your 97o. The problem is, of course, that you rarely hit the flop hard enough to have real confidence from the flop and you can end up chasing draws and burning up chips.
Back again for more
on saturday night, I headed back down to the casino with a friend to get a quick look at the $2/3 100 max buy-in game. This game is spread in the main room and, on sat night, there were about 10 tables running. I was seated within 15 minutes.
Hands per hour tend to be a little higher in this game as players have a better handle on the game and fewer hands make it to the river. Figure about 35+ hands/hour with maybe 3-4 not seeing a flop and 5 or so not making it to the river.
The players at my table for this bigger game were somewhat more knowledgeable with 1-2 solid players, 3-4 ok players and the balance sort of mediocre. I was the swing man of the group, alternating between solid and mediocre throughout the session.
I finished the two hour session even despite stacking off early with AK on an A high flop versus a turned set of jacks by a short stack and then 4-betting AK into a pair of kings (oops!). I recovered nicely in the second hour getting paid on the last two hands before our table broke with AA v 66 on a low flop and then a set of 6s v TP2K.
There was definitely better play at this table—no ridiculous overbets (other than my 4-bet referenced above), players betting their good hands, more thoughtful reads of the flop. But there was still flashes of dead money including the following:
3-bet all-in and call for $60+ on aqx flop. Players showed 77 and kqo. What?
4-bet all-in and call by the nut flush for $60+ into a $150 pot on a 2[h]25[h]88[h] board. Winner showed an 8, obv.
River re-raise all-in with k9s on AT936 board with three clubs. Winner called $100 with a3o without the slightest hesitation.
”ok, who ordered the banana splits?”
tom wolfe, the author, once described a dinner with hunter S. Thompson in which the gonzo journalist pulled a marine air horn from a bag and set it off stunning a crowded restaurant. Wolfe recounted another dinner where thompson ordered two banana splits and two banana daiquiris for his entree. After polishing them off, thompson called for the waitress and looped his finger in the air. “do it again.” he downed another round to the disbelief of wolfe’s wife-to-be and ended the evening, as he did many others, ejected from the premises in a drunken stupor.
When you were at dinner with the doctor, it was an event and, there was really no explanation other than “well, what do you expect? It's hunter.” so it is with low stakes NL in southern california. You’ll repeatedly see behavior and plays that are at best, unusual and, at worst, worthy of open criticism and calls for the floor at higher stakes. But in low stakes NL, even the most egregious poker or social gaffe merits at best a resigned shrug and call for more chips. If you can handle the odd and often deviant behavior, there’s always entertainment and value!
Afterword
1) for those of you who are curious, apparently all you need to rig a homemade tattoo gun is a pencil, a guitar string and old walkman. I was skeptical of tat guy's claim, but a quick search of youtube shows that he wasn’t kidding. The assembler uses an electric toothbrush in the following video but you get the idea.

2) tom wolfe’s excellent piece on hunter S. Thompson can be found here.

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