Poker Ambassador
Not all cardrooms are open 24/7!
By Randall Rapp

There’s one thing about bouncing around from one poker room to another: You never know for sure who’s open for business at any given time (unless of course, they have all their information printed in our handy Cardroom Directory)! Your faithful Ambassador got a taste of this on his recent poker playing adventure.

Limelight Card Room, Café & Bar
Sacramento

First, though, was a quick trip to Sacramento to check out the Limelight, a medium-sized cardroom on Alhambra Blvd. It was early Friday afternoon and they had several tables open for business. I was able to get a seat in a $3/6 game fairly quickly (they were also spreading $1/3 no-limit with a $100 to $200 buy-in). It was a fun table to be at with lots of action and friendly banter.

The Limelight has a great ambiance, with brick walls and low ceilings. The lighting seems dark when you first come in, but when you sit down to play you notice that the tables are very well lit. Several large, flat-screen televisions are on the walls. I was personally gratified to find that the TV by my table was showing live action of the United States versus Russia Davis Cup final (ambassadors are well known to be tennis aficionados). They also have a nice, covered, outdoor patio.

After a couple of hours watching my chips reproduce, I had a small pizza delivered to the table. Very tasty. They have their own restaurant and a nice bar as part of the facility. After taking all the chips I could in good conscience, it was time to move on.

Poker Room Radio
Sacramento

I came to Sacramento spe­cifically for my second appearance on Poker Room Radio (ESPN 1320 AM). Your Ambassador had a great time chatting with hosts Tara Pascale and Lou Gallagher (my new best friend in the whole world … or so he says). They’ve made big changes at PRR (see article on page 1), and from this vantage point they seem to be working out well. Be sure to check them out on Friday nights at 8:00 p.m., or on Saturdays at 7:00 p.m. on the Bay Area’s KNEW 910 AM.

California Grand Casino
Pacheco

Saturday morning it was off to the California Grand. It seems like everyone I tell about this casino in Pacheco immediately wants to know where there could be a cardroom along the Pacheco Pass (you know, that stretch of highway between Gilroy and Los Banos). No, I say, Pacheco is a small town in the East Bay, right near the intersection of Highway 4 and Interstate 680, sort of between Martinez and Pleasant Hill. Blink and you miss it!

Yet, for a small town, they have a nice, big cardroom that was doing a lot of business on Saturday morning. I had heard that it could be tough to find parking, but I got a spot about 50 feet from the door. What’s the big deal?

The poker room is down a few steps from the main entrance, giving the room a “pit” sort of feel. The ceilings are of a high, A-frame style creating a lot of personality.

After a short wait, they found a chair for me in their $2/2/3 no-limit game with a $100 to $200 buy-in. I went for the short buy, just to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid and start blowing the whole Ambassador bankroll in one stop.

Right away, I noticed two things: they use a three blind structure with a $2 small blind, $3 big blind, and another $2 on the button. I’ve run into the three-blind system before and have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it does get the pot started a bit quicker and make for a little more action. On the other hand, it does require you to put more money in the middle whether you want to or not.

The other thing I noticed as I sat down was that they were putting 10 players at a table. I run into 10 at a table all the time in tournaments, it seems to be the accepted thing to do, but live games usually stick to a maximum of nine. Once again, mixed feelings. At a busy cardroom, they can accommodate more players without using more tables (which politicians seem to think of as bad, but that’s a topic for another day). More players at the table means more action, not a bad thing. However, it’s nice to have a little elbow room too, but I must admit I don’t remember feeling squeezed in.

In addition to the no-limit game, the Cal. Grand was also offering $3/6, $6/12 and $12/24. They had a nice player’s menu too, but I was still full from breakfast and it was time to move ahead!

Pastime Cardroom
Benicia

A drive over the bridge took me to the Pastime Cardroom, near the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park. Benicia was the site of California’s third seat of government, and served as the state capitol for 13 months during 1853 and 1854. The area also seems to be a haven for antique stores, so maybe it’s a good thing Mrs. A wasn’t along on this adventure!

Coming up to the door of the Pastime, it looks to be a very typical downtown bar. Walking in, it still looks to be a very typical downtown bar, only off in the back you can see the poker tables.

Unfortunately, arriving at about 2:00 p.m. on a Saturday, the back of the bar was dark. Checking with the bartender, I discovered that they don’t start up the poker until 7:00 p.m. and none of the poker folks were around. If only those hours were published somewhere….

Nineteenth Hole
Antioch

After heading back south over the bridge, it was off to Antioch and the Nineteenth Hole. Located in the corner of a strip mall, this is another cardroom attached to a bar which was full up with customers. However, the poker area was vacant. It turns out they don’t start playing poker here until 5:30 p.m. on Saturdays (1:30 p.m. on Sundays). Missed another one!

Kelly’s Casino
Antioch

Fortunately, there’s another cardroom right there in Antioch that is open 24/7. I made it to Kelly’s where they were playing a brisk $2/6 spread limit game. This is one of those cardrooms tucked away in an industrial area, but once you see it you know it’s different from the surroundings. In addition to the casino, they have a nicely appointed bar and restaurant.

The interesting thing about their spread limit game is the block of four chips glued together that travels around the table with each pot. It’s sort of a semi-kill concept that I found interesting. If you win a pot, you put the block back out automatically, in effect raising the big blind to $4. The player under the gun must then call the $4, raise, or fold.

Maybe I just liked this game, and maybe all the planets were just aligned properly, but I didn’t seem able to do anything wrong. Full boats, inside straights, nut flushes … the cards just kept on coming. When the time came to leave, I almost felt bad about the stack of chips I took to the cage … almost.

Bay 101 Casino
San Jose

Sunday morning had me headed south to San Jose and an always welcome stop at the Bay 101. Driving up to this place always has me thinking one word: “classy.” The arches, columns, and color of the structure make it very nice and welcoming.

The selection of games played is also impressive: everything from $3/6 to $20/40, spread-limit games up to $10/200, and Omaha. Sometimes the wait time at Bay 101 can be daunting, but I got a seat in a $3/6 game fairly quickly. Things weren’t exactly going my way, so I took the opportunity to switch to a $6/12 table after a while. The poker gods still weren’t smiling on me this time as I seemed to consistently get good hands that always turned out to be second best.

Once the chips I started out with had been consumed by the table, I got up to leave, then decided to get a bite to eat at Sutter’s Restaurant inside the casino. It has a nice bar, too, so I took a seat there and treated myself to an excellent French dip sandwich.

Garden City Casino
San Jose

One last stop before the drive home—Garden City. This is another big cardroom where they’ve been doing some remodeling, and the flow of the room does seem to be improved. I understand that they are also currently working on a new coffee shop and lounge.

The poker area here is on a slightly lower level from where you come in, giving a great view of the action from a raised rail. And plenty of action there is! They were playing $3/6 to $8/16 Hold’em, $5/200 spread-limit, plus Omaha and Seven-Card Stud. I was hoping to get into the Stud game, because I don’t see it that often, but the waiting list didn’t seem to move much at all while I was there. I guess the players in the game knew they had a bit of a rare bird going and didn’t want to let it go.

I was soon called for a $3/6 game, but before I could even get settled in they called me for $6/12 and I made the switch. Ah, now I had my mojo back! In the three hours I was there my chips just kept on growing. It got to the point that I was winning so many pots no one wanted to play whenever I entered the action. Which, of course, just makes it easier to take down pots with nothing at all. There’s nothing like ending a journey on a positive note.