Anybody know anything about The Palace Card Club in Hayward? I just discovered today that it's a whole half-block away from the route I take driving home, and so I thought about stopping by one of these days to check it out.

This will be a report on Lucky Chances, Artichoke Joe's, The Palace Card Club, Garden City, and Bay 101; feel free to post questions on this topic if you have any about these rooms and I'll find out the answers for you.

Lucky Chances - Located in Colma less than a mile off of El Camino Real and on 1700 Hillside Blvd, this place caters to a vast amount of cash game and tournament game players. The times I have visited they have had running limit games of 3/6, 6/12, 9/18 (half kill to 15/30), and 20/40 hold'em. They also spread a 4/8 half kill Omaha 8 game(with a 10/20 O8 game if requested), 2/4 and 3/6 7 card Stud($1 ante), and two spread limit hold'em games, the 1/1/2 blind $40 min/$200 max buy-in game($4 to limp) and a 2/3/5 $200 min $500 max buy-in game. Max bet in the $100 max game is $200, so it's closer to NL than spread. They have must move games for some of the higher limits and O8 games to keep the main game alive.
Lucky Chances is in major transition now because they are going to change the way they rake their games. They used to have a half hour rake charge for the larger games, and rake $3+$1 for the jackpot for games 9/18 and lower, but on June 1st all games will become collection games where they take the rake directly from the pot after the flop is placed down. Their method for collecting the rake now is forcing an extra $3 blind on the button in these lower games where the button is allowed a check or raise option like the BB, but it forces the players to put up $3 more every rotation. On June 1st, the new rake will be $3 +$1 for the bad beat jackpot(taken from the SB) on all small stakes games and $4 rake +$1 for BBJ on the higher limit games. Fortunately, all the games now will be available for a jackpot, even the spread limit games! Another change will be that the SL game 1/1/2 will become a $200 max buy-in game and tournaments, so this game might change it's max bet as well.
Tournament starting June 1st will all still be at 10am with the schedule starting on Sunday with a Spread Limit Hold'em game w/ the buyin at 200+25. Monday thru Thursday with also be SL hold'em but the buy in for them will be only 100+20. These tournaments usually have garenteed money, so there usually is a good group of players who attend regularly. At max one rebuy is allowed in these tournaments, and for some, no rebuys allowed. They run single satellite game at all times as long as there are people signed up for one and some Super Satellites for bigger tournaments they hold like Battle of the Bay (June 5th to 11th 2006) Also, this is the only place I have seen in the Bay Area that uses an ante after a few rounds which really makes the tournament fast and lively, but a little too luck based. LC still has the 'Aces Cracked - win a rack' promotion running between 6am to 9am daily(up to $300 max win), so there are games at all times of the day. They have their normal BBJ and Royal Flush jackpot as well and have double jackpot days for O8 and Stud.
Seven flat screen TV's which mostly have sporting events on them, alot of self serve and valet parking, two excellent sitdown restaurants plus food service at the tables makes LC a very nice place to play. On the weekends it can become a bit busy and the waitlist can sometimes stretch over an hour or more, they have far too many Calif. BJ and Pai Gow tables, but they will sometimes bring out more than 30 tables for poker. It's a decent place to play and once the new rake rules go in June 1st, it should become less expensive for the lower limit players.

Artichoke Joe's - Located in San Bruno, Artichoke Joe's has been around for many years. Part restaurant, part bar, part gambling, it's located just minutes from SFO and right next to the train tracks and in easy distance of highway's 280 and 101. At full capacity they probably could have 18-20 cash games going with 3/6, 6/12, 15/30 limit hold'em and 4/8 half kill Omaha 8 a few nights a week(Friday they had 16 tables going). On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights they host a $2K min buy-in NL hold'em cash game, blinds at 5/5/10 and $20 to come in, usually getting three tables up on Fridays. Rake is $3 +$1 for BBJ and high hand jackpots for the lower limit games, and has a per half hour collection($10) for the NL game. They take the SB money for the jackpot and rake the rest after action preflop. Also, the menu is decent and pretty inexpensive compared to food elsewhere in the area.
Tournaments run Sunday-Thurs. Monday starts at 11am and is LHE $20+$8 (1 $20 rebuy, 1 $20 add on) w/ $1K garentee, Tues.11am they hold a LHE $20+5 no rebuy single table structure winner takes all event, the Wed. event at 6:45 is half LHE, half Omaha Hi/Lo $40+$10, $20 rebuys and 1 $40 addon, $1200 garentee, Thurs. 11am brings another LHE $40+$8 no rebuy tourney, and Sunday at 6:45 pm is the NLHE $40+$9, $20 rebuys and 1 $40 add-on w/ a $2500 garentee. These tournaments look to be pretty much a waste of time and definitely rip the players off.
They just started the NL cash games a few months ago because Lucky Chances did not make out their paperwork correctly and lost their grandfathered privileges to host a NL game...and with that they lost a big group of regular customers which Artichoke Joe's gladly took in. In all, Artichoke Joe's is probably my favorite place to play in the Bay Area after enough visits.

The Palace Card Club - Located in downtown Hayward right off of Mission Blvd. and Highway 92, The Palace is a small cardroom that boasts of about 6-7 poker tables and a couple Calif. BJ tables. The place must have been either an office or a home to the building's previous owners because it has a normal wooden house door for entry, two clothes closets on the same side of the opening, and turf carpeting which needed to be cleaned in 2003. They run 3/6, 4/8, 6/12(if requested), and a 1/2/2 $5 to go NL game with a minimum $100 buyin no max buyin. The NL game starts at noon every day and you can call up the day before to sign up for the game. They sometimes have two table running and also will seat 11 players at the same table. Mon., Tues., and Wed. they host a 4/8 half kill Omaha 8 game.
Their rake for their games is different than I've seen anywhere else. For example, in the 3/6 limit game, the button is moved, the blinds are placed, and then the dealer takes the $3 rake and the $1 BBJ rake BEFORE PREFLOP ACTION. So, if you are UTG, you can enter the pot, but there is no money in it. They also rake even if there is no flop. There is a Big Blind button that is moved as well hand to hand to indicated who is already in the pot. Parking around the area is pretty easy and safe because they have a shuttle that will take you to the city parking garage which is a very short distance away or security will walk to your car with you. They have a snackbar that gives service throughout the night, and if you mention the ad on their website, at http://www.palacecardclub.com/promotions.html, they will provide you with certain promotions like $50 for $25 at LLHE and free rake at the NL game. This place definitely has the look of a rundown card room, but seems pretty nice and decent enough, and definitely safe. High limit phone for singups is 510-582-1967, ask for Kenny, NL supervisor.

Garden City - Located right off of Highway 280 in N. San Jose. They usually have 20+ tables running hold'em and stud. The spread 2/4, 3/6, 6/12, 8/16(half kill), 20/40 limit HE, Spread LHE 3-100 $30 min/$100 max buy(1/3 blinds), and 1/4/8 Stud Hi/Lo($1 ante). The rake for the LLHE is $4 take from the pot, and a half hour fee for 20/40. Without a flop rake is only $1. The Spread Limit game has only been around for a few months, and is pretty juicy. Wait lists get busy on the weekend, tons of parking around the area, excellent staff and many TV's for sports viewing enjoyment. The restaurant inside is pretty high priced but excellent, and the casino part has it's only cooking area and serves a full menu which is quite good. Right next door is Harry's Hofbrau which is good for a cafeteria style meat and gives alot of choices. The room is probably more homey than Bay 101, and so people get more comfortable there. There are also Pai gow tiles, Pai gow, and Calif. BJ there taking up some space. Games are nine handed, they havea new set of rules on cellphone use(cellphone use seems to be outlawed at any table in the Bay area), and there are alot of regulars. NO HHJ or BBJ.
Tournament poker is held in the mornings now since they were getting overrun at night. Mon. and Fri. they run a SLHE tournament $50+$10 w/ rebuys($40) and an add-on($40). Wed. and Thurs. is SLHE $30+$10 w/ rebuys($40) and 1 add-on($40). Tuesday night GC runs a LHE tourney $30+$10 w/ 1 rebuy ($40). All tournaments pay off top nine finishers. These tournaments usually gather about 90-140 people and start at 10:15am.

BAy 101 - Located right off of Highway 101(you can see it from the freeway) and Highway 880, this is the best place in the Bay Area to find a game at any time because they spread a variety of games. Usually they have available 2/4, 3/6, 6/12, 8/16, 20/40, 40/80, 100/200 LHE, Seven Card Stud 4/8 ($1 ante), and 4/8 half kill Omaha HI/Lo. The Omaha game and some higher limit games have must move tables to keep the main game going. The rake for small games is $4 for a full table, and for stud and Omaha is $5 for FR. At the higher limits, there is a collection every half hour starting at $9 for 40/80 FR and $12 for 100/200 FR. NO BBJ's or high hand jackpots offered, but they probably have more choices at any time of day than any other casino in the Bay Area. On a Wednesday alone, they had 22 FR tables open, and it wasn't even considered busy(no waitlists at the time.)
They have 8 huge flatscreens bracket to the walls for sports viewing, an excellent food menu for the players, plus a large snack bar and a restaurant in the center of the building. Security is pretty tight here and the parking area is immense. The weekends can provide a long list, so if you don't arrive at the best times you could be waiting for a while, sometimes up to 2+ hours. The building is enormous, made with large buttresses in a wide open space with vaulted ceilings; not very homey and comforting. The staff is pretty courteous and quick as well.
For tournaments, Bay 101 has the best lineup of tournaments around in the Bay Area and holds the largest events in Northern California with Shooting Stars(WPT events) and the Bay 101 Open. The weekday tournaments run daily in May and change constantly, althought the starting time is always 9:45am. Mon. and Fri. they run a $100 + $20 SLHE no rebuys or add-ons. Tues. and Thurs. they run a $40+$20 SLHE event w/ $20 rebuys and 1 $20 add-on. Wed. is a $40+$20 SLHE tourney with $40 rebuys, Sat. has a $95 +$30 SLHE tourney w/ $100 rebuys and 1 $100 add-on, and Sunday has the only LHE event for the whole week, and $60+$20 tourney with 1 $60 rebuy. All these tournaments pay the top ten places, and if you make it to the final table, you gain points for qualifiers to larger tournaments(why the rake is so large, part of it goes into freerolls for the best tournament players). As of 6/1/06, they have also started to offer Spread limit games; one a 4-100 spread game(min bet $4, max $100), blinds are $2 OTB/ $2 SB/ $4 BB. Min buy in is $40, max is $100. Also, they offer a 5-200 SL game, blinds $2/$3/$5, min buyin $50, max $200. The 5-200 SL game is the one I have seen most often, my buddy played in the smaller SL game on the weekend once. Players are pretty weak right now...constantly pushing stacks around with every hand and seeing flops with all types of hands.

Overall, I would probably rank Artichoke Joe's as the nicest rake and blinds while saying Garden City is the friendliest, although I have spent the most time at GC. Once Lucky Chances changes it's rake June 1st, things might be different. If you have any questions about these places, feel free to post your question on this link.

Dan ok now you have me a little intrigued. I am going to visit my mom for memorial day and was thinking about playing at palace. Whats the dirt sir?

Oaks -- sucks. only limit poker. fun if wasted

Casino San Pablo -- sucks, period. $40 NLHE tourney weekends @ 10am I think? played it once, was extremely gay.

Cal Grand -- awesome, although when you get drunk and loud they restrict you to one drink/hr. right next to a wendy's and t-bell plus their wonton soup is good. I have no idea what the guy who reviewed it earlier was talking about re: NLHE. The 2-2-3 game is always rocking when I'm there, maybe that's because of me though. I've grown stacks of up to $2500 on the 200 buyin, and lost that much in the same amount of time too.

Palace -- uncapped NLHE is a good game, the structure is 1-1-2 or something like that but can be killed to 10 or 20 from any position for 5/10, respectively. so the game plays pretty big, common buyins are $1k. the play is a cut above Cal Grand, but still beatable if you behave (big "if"). BE WARNED: THEY DO NOT SERVE ALCOHOL. to get boozed up you have to hit up the mexican restuarant across the street (good food there actually) or the bar down the street. apparently they're moving buildings sometimes soon so hopefully they'll pick up a liquor license.


Lucky Chances & Bay 101 -- extremely gay now that they have laws preventing bets larger than $200. Goodbye NL. Bay 101 is pretty nice room though. Tasty eggrolls.



Is anyone else disappointed in the recent switch of the hot action blackjack (played to 22, no bust) to a more vegas-ish blackjack where youplay to 21, can split/double and shit? I preferred the old way

Added information about Lucky Chances Spread Limit game. They changed the maximum buy in from $100 to $200 for the 1/1/2 game with a limp of $4.

Also, at Lucky Chance: the Spread Limit game there that is a $500 max bet can be bought into for any amount. I talked to someone who plays that game regularly, and she said that people buy in for $5K amounts all the time. The max bet and raise is $500 though, and the min is $10.