As with the other geographic areas, Rhound has asked that I compile a review of Northern California rooms. California has a load of card rooms and Indian Casinos, so this is nearly an impossible task, but I will do my best to hit the most relevant casinos within an hour's drive of Sacramento. I will also adopt MK's star rating system.

CAPITOL CASINO
The Capitol Casino, near downtown Sacramento, is my normal venue for B&M poker. There is a bar and a restaurant attached, with good but not cheap food. The asian food menu is good, I usually get the war wonton soup.

As for poker, the only game is limit hold'em. 3/6, 4/8, 9/18, and 12/24 games are regularly spread. 12/24 is the biggest limit game in the area. The 3/6 and 4/8 games are played as a half kill. Strangely, the kill brings with it no obligation to post, and can fold pre-flop for no cost if not otherwise in the blind. The blind structure is unique, with the collection taken from a forced $3 live post by the button. $1 live is taken from the small blind to fund the jackpot. EDIT I went to the Capitol on July 27,2006, and there is no longer a forced $3 live post by the button. There is now a standard blind structure. The games are still quite good.

The jackpot consists of Fund A and Fund B. Fund A is paid when aces full of jacks or better is beaten. Fund B is paid when quad eights or better is beaten. Both hole cards in both hands must play. If Fund B is at $100k (which is a cap), then any player who gets pocket aces cracked and goes to showdown will receive $35 from the jackpot fund.

The play at the Capitol ranges from semi-loose to wild. Live stradles are common in the 3/6 game. As of this writing, the Capitol just started Sunday morning NLHE tournaments, $100+50, with some substantial part of the prize pool funding a tournament of champions, the winner of which gets a WSOP ME package. It does not appear to be worthwhile if you are not a regular.

The neighborhood is industrial, and there is security 24 hours at the casino. You can request an escort to your car. There is frequently a Sacramento City police officer there in the evening and overnight hours as well.

Capitol Casino receives 4 stars, and would receive top ranking if it would spread no-limit hold'em and omaha.

LIMELIGHT BAR
The Limelight is located in mid-town Sacramento. It is a restaurant and bar, with a five table cardroom in the rear. The games spread are 3/6 and 4/8 limit holdem, sometimes with a half-kill. There are low buy-in tournaments on an almost daily basis, and an old-school ace to five draw lowball game Wednesday mornings. The players tend to be regulars, and there are several drunk donators on weekend nights. The food is good, but not cheap.

The Limelight receives 3 Stars. There are better places in Sacramento to get your poker fix, but if you want to play some home-game style low limit poker, this will fit the bill nicely.

LUCKY DERBY
The Lucky Derby is another California card room with a restaurant attached and a bar next door. I have not tried the restaurant or the bar, but the surrounding area has a number of places for eats and drink so you have options. They spread 4/8 and 6/12 LHE, with or without a kill, 6/12 limit omaha 8/better with a half-kill, and 100 and 200 buy in spread limit hold'em which serves as a no-limit game (200 max bet). I do not recall the blind structure of the spread limit games. The limit hold'em game features a single big blind, which is dropped as the rake. The Omaha game has a normal structure of $3 small blind, $6 big blind.

The Lucky Derby holds weekly $50 NLHE tournaments on Saturday mornings and $65 NLHE tournaments on Tuesday evenings. The tournamnets are freezeout and utilize alternates with no blind penalty for the first three rounds.

The Lucky Derby has bad beat jackpots for Hold'em and Omaha, which are not nearly as impressive as the jackpots at the Capitol Casino.

The Lucky Derby is located in a strip mall in the Sunrise area of Citrus Heights, not particularly close to any freeway. Parking can be an issue at busy times, and there seems to be tension between the card room and neighboring businesses. There are "No Casino Parking" signs and security guards patroling the parking lot.

The Lucky Derby receives 4 Stars. It's location, parking situation, and well, location prevent it from receiving top marks. For low stakes poker action and variety, it receives high marks.

EDIT: Went to the Derby last night (6/23/2006). The bar next door is closed. The no-limit game is 2/5 blinds 200 max buy-in. There is alot of gamble in that game, and not exactly any world beaters there.

EDIT: Rumor has it that the Omaha/8 game is no longer spread. It was not there the last time I went to the Derby, and a local rounder that I ran into last night (10/4/06) said the game is not spread anymore.

FOLSOM LAKE BOWL
The Folsom Lake Bowl is a thriving bowling alley and night spot near downtown Folsom, about 25 minutes from Sacramento. There is a four table card room in the back of the night club. It can be very loud, and the patrons (including some of the players) can get very drunk.

EDIT: The room now has electronic tables. The players are still typical live donks, you get 2x as many hands per hour, no tipping required, and you can now buy in for 200 in the 1/2 game. The game is still very good.

PHOENIX CARD ROOM
I have nothing to report on the Phoenix. MK loves this place, and I have only been once, when I proptly got in a fight with a patron. I will ask that MK write up a review and insert it here.

CACHE CREEK INDIAN CASINO
Cache Creek Casino, like many tribal casinos, is in the middle of nowhere. It is nigh impossible to just accidentally stumble upon this place, 50 minutes west of Sacramento. The place is in the style of a modern casino resort, with headline acts, spa treatment, and of course a large casino. Before a recent expansion, the poker room was actually a poker room, small, long waits, and a pleasant place to play. No Longer. The poker room is now located on the casino floor, seperated from the slot machines by a rope barrier. It is loud. It is in a high traffic location. It is not a good thing.

Cache Creek spreads 3/6 and 4/8 LHE with a full kill. There was a 1/2 $100 max NLHE game and a 2/5 $500 max NLHE game the last time I was there, but due to the terrible location of the poker room, I do not frequent this casino.

EDIT There was a 2/4 200 max buy in game NLHE here as of July 10, 2006. However, they do not let you rebuy until you drop below $100. Fuggin Weak.

EDIT I was there tonight (3/30/07) and the casino opened a new poker room. It is no longer on the main casino floor, it is non-smoking, 28 tables, and done up very nicely. There is a bar right next to the room, so players can get alcohol if they desire, but no alcohol service at the tables. Half of my table was making trips to the bar, and the game was good. They still spread the same games. They have added a 5/10 1000 min no cap game. The room is going through some growing pains, but all in all this is now a very enjoyable place to play. According to the floor, they are going to add a tournament schedule some time in April, and will include some SNGs. According to one of the dealers, the dealers are going through training to deal a variety of games and the room will accomodate whatever people want to play. Looks promising.

Cache Creek receives 5 Stars. There are top notch restaurants, decent bars, a hotel, headline acts, and a lot of other reasons to go to Cache Creek. With the new room opening, this really completes the picture of a top notch place to play poker.

COLUSA INDIAN CASINO
Located one hour north of Sacramento, Colusa Casino used to be a favorite of mine. The games were good, the rake reasonable, and the people pleasant. Not any longer.

Colusa spreads a 3/6 and 4/8 full kill limit game, and a 2/4 $100 max NLHE game. The rake recently increased from 10% $3 max to a full $4 ($5 at NLHE). Part of the rake is dropped even if there is no flop. Colusa Casino also had one of the last 7CS games left in northern California, but that has died now as well. Due to the unbeatable rake, I cannot recommend this casino.

Colusa also holds a NLHE tournament every Saturday afternoon, $68 buy-in (when pre-purchasing rebuy and add-on, which makes perfect sense since bonus chips are awarded for doing so). The blind structure is so bad that this tournament is simply a crapshoot. After the first break, blinds jump from 400/800 to 1k/2k. Nuff said.

Erik Lindgren got his poker career start at Colusa Casino. I suspect that if he were still there, he would long for the good old days. Colusa Casino receives no Stars.

THUNDER VALLEY INDIAN CASINO
Many of you, driving along Interstate 80, will notice the billboards for Thunder Valley, the largest, nicest, best run casino in the area, and be tempted to stop. Keep on going, my friends, Thunder Valley has no poker room. There have been rumors of a grand poker room being included in the next expansion, something like the Commerce, with dozens of tables and a variety of games and limits. The Sacramento area could really use such a place. Unless and until that happens, there is no reason to go there.

JACKSON RANCHERIA
The Jackson Rancheria is a top notch spot to play. It is the only casino in the area to allow 18 year olds.

The Jackson Rancheria is located an hour from Sacramento in the wine country of the Sierra Nevada foothills near the town of Jackson. It has a large attached hotel and conference center. It is out of the way, but the drive is pleasant enough.

TRIP REPORT
Jackson Rancheria opened a new poker room in summer 2006. I went on a Saturday night in September, and I can report htat the room is very nice. It is downstars in the back of the main casino, near the main cage. There are roughly 15 tables, mostly 1/2 100 max NLHE. There are a handful of limit games, and there was a 2/5 200 max NLHE game and a 4/8 LO8 game. They hold regular tournaments in the mornings.

The service leaves something to be desired, but all in all a nice room.

The Jackson Rancheria is a dry reservation - no alcohol is is served nor is it permitted. The Jackson Rancheria receives 5 Stars.

DEUCES WILD
Deuces Wild is a recently renovated cardroom in Auburn, on Bowman Road on the east side of town. There is at least one tournament every day, and the cash games spread vary by the day of the week. There is a jackpot for each game spread. Additionally, there is a $100 bonus for quad deuces. I visited 10/5/06.

For cash games, 2/3 200 max NLHE is spread daily. 5/10 LO8 full kill is spread Monday and Wednesday afternoons. 5/10 no max NLHE is spread Tuesday and Saturday evenings. If there is enough interest, a 5/10 no max pot limit dealer's choice game is spread on Thursday nights. The owner, Phil, told me that it should go regularly this winter. That is by far the biggest dealer's choice game in the area that I know of. The Tahoe game is only 3/5 blinds.

The place is nice, and if you are headed up to Reno from the Bay Area, stop in and see what kind of action is there. You might like it so much that you never make it over the hill.

As long as the action holds up, this is a great place to play. 4.5 stars.

Happy to oblige sir!!

THE PHOENIX CASINO
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First off, there is no NLHE at the phoenix, so if your lookin for NL, the phoenix is not the place. They have about 6 or so poker tables, and they spread 4/8 and 4/8 with a 1/2 kill, and [size=18]10/20 with a full kill which is the biggest limit game in the area[/size (dontcha think if capitol had the biggest limit game in the area, i'da been playin there?) . which they sometimes bump up to 20/40 with a full kill if the right crowd is there, at which time it becomes a truly respectable card game. The action ot the phoenix is ridiculous in both the 4/8 and the 10/20, there are a number of regulars there that just sit there and drink, and donate donate donate to the game, and note even care. The food is pretty good, and is comped. There is a bar there where the drinks are pretty bad but are really cheap, but its INSIDE the casino, and its not uncommon for strippers from the club down the street to hang out at the bar and get soused, and bitch about thier jobs and thier boyfriends not lovin' em and stuff like that, and that kinda stuff is always tite.

They have two jackpots, one is like 6666 beaten and i have seen that one pay out up tp 50k, and i have to say, that one hits a hell of a lot more often than i ever wouldve thought. They have a high hand bonus of 100 if it holds for 24 hours, and a small jackpot of aces full of tens beaten, and that pays from like 2k-8k. The folks are pretty nice at the phoenix, although i must say some of em at the 4/8 game are kinda ghetto and some are pretty obnoxious (I am not surprised that emmasdad got into a fight there, because if theres any room where a fight would breakout, its that one)...The Phoenix is a dive, im not gonna pretend that it isnt- but i think has the feel of an old school card room the likes of which you dont see that often anymore, where people sit there and drink and dont take things too seriously, the dealers sit down and get wasted with the players and fire off thier paychecks and cuss up a storm when they fail to give a bad beat (why do dealers always play so bad??) and the floormen always try to accomidate you, and stuff like that. I have had more fun playing poker at the phoenix than i have in any other poker room i have played in.

In addition to all this, if you tellem Rich sent you will undoubtedly get a swift kick in the nuts. The Phoenix gets 4 1/2 stars, only because they dont spread big enough limits, nor do they spread enough different games to get 5 stars (they spread only limit holdem there)

Happy fishing ED

Edited to include report on new Cache Creek poker room relocation and FLB electronic tables.

Also, none of the Sacramento card rooms have started no limit games yet. I have no idea why not, since the law now allows it.

I don't think I'm going back to Cache Creek for NL poker. At the NL200 game they raked $5 + $1 for the BBJ which I don't think they increase past $25K, although I really didn't look into it. I thought the Aces cracked gets $100 and getting $2500 for the quads dueces, then 3's, then 4's, and so on, was pretty sweet too, but a rake that takes a full buyin off the table in 33 hands is worth it.

The rake for 3/6 and 4/8 LHE was still $3+$1 though...and they said the NL500 max game raked the same as the NL200 game...I assume the big NL1000 min game rakes the same as well.