Where do the celebs play?

[Oblivious]

So Im watching E!, and apparently Ben Afleck plays holdem more often than Jlo would prefer, and according to the gossip columnists, he loses WAY too much money. They said he plays in Vegas by the way. So that made me wonder... of all the LA and vegas cardrooms where do the celebrities tend to play? and in what games? Id love to sit down at 10/20 table (I play 1/2 online) with a bunch of tilted, filthy rich, hollywood stars. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[daryn]

affleck played at foxwoods a little while ago, i heard he dumped a lot of money in the pot limit game

[whalekock]

I play at the Hustler in Gardena. A couple months ago, James Woods was a Friday night regular at one of the 6/12 hold em games. I also heard Ben Affleck was there a couple times(never saw him, can't confirm). Also Tom Green and Tony Hawk were there one time about a year ago. Oh and Jerry Buss is a regular at Larry's 2000/4000 stud game. The place is posh compared to the other card rooms in So Cal.

[Losing all]

Tom Green is a real shark. I hear he once lost only 78BB's in a 3 hour stint.

[Oblivious]

Im considering UC Irvine for grad school, and one reason for that is its proximity to LA cardrooms. So Ill prolly play at Hustler if I go there in a couple years.

[ThingDo]

Affleck plays Blackjack and Hold 'em in Tunica quite often. My friend ( a jack dealer at the shoe ) told me that Mr. Affleck gave him a $1,000 tip... only to have Mrs. Affleck take the chip away from him. Nice.... apparently a big ass isn't all that matters anymore.... what has the world come to?

[Roy Hobbs]

I've played with Norm Macdonald at both Commerce in LA and the Mirage in Vegas.

RH

[Runner Runner]

Ben Affleck must be the kind of guy who tries to find a game where ever he goes. J Lo was shooting a movie up here in Winnipeg and sure enough Affleck was at our casino playing holdem. It's just a low limit room with 10-20 being the biggest game and they sat him in my 3-6 game for a half hour while he was waiting to get in the 10-20. Of course he was treating it like play money and raising preflop with any 2 cards. It was funny to hear the banter between him and this old guy who didn't know who he was. On the turn the board was J T 4 8, Affleck bets, the old guy says "Who's betting...you, I'll call your bluff.", Affleck says "Oh, it's a bluff" Old guy: "Ya, you're betting king queen" Affleck: "What if the ace comes on the river" Old guy: "Well then I'll fold" The river brings an ace, and Affleck bets, The old guy thinks for a bit and calls, Affleck shows J6o, old guy takes it down with QJ.Affleck: "Well played". Later, he loosened up the normally tight 10-20 to the point where I saw a couple hands where every player saw the flop and Affleck dragged one down with 73offsuit. I could tell he knew how to play, but would probably only try to play well at much higher limits.

[Big Al]

I've played against Jerry Buss in the 20/40 game at Oceans 11 in Oceanside. He shows up there every once in a while, usually with a hot piece of a$$ in tow.

[Martin Aigner]

A couple of years ago I played with Steve Guttenberg at the Horseshoe in a 15/30 game, if I recall it right. Very nice guy. Wouldn´t espect too many celebs there though.

Best regards

Martin Aigner

[Scooterdoo]

"The place is posh compared to the other card rooms in So Cal"

Really. I played at Hustler a few weeks ago in a 4-8 game and was surprised how sleazy it was. I was expecting it to be a lot nicer. I was planning on trying Hollywood, Bicycle or Commerce. Are you saying that they are not as nice as Hustler?

BTW, I read that Ben Affleck plays at the Hollywood Casino.

[Lazymeatball]

Steve Guttenberg is still a celebrity?

[Duke]

I like it much more than Commerce or any of the other LA area casinos. I actually like it a bit more than the Bellagio, and don't like the Mirage much.

~D

[Scooterdoo]

Better than the Bellagio? Really? I'm heading to the Bellagio next week and heard is was really nice a classy. Is it no nicer than Hustler?

[Gabe]

Hustler is nicer.

[onegymrat]

I've seen Jack Black play 15/30 at Commerce, both BenLo and Lou Diamond Philips (20/40) at the Bike, and my only visit to the Bellagio's poker room last summer I saw James Woods and the guy from "Alias" (waiting for seats). What was much more impressive was seeing all the top pros (Chan, Vahedi, Hansen, etc.) playing 300/600 at the Bike after busting out of a tournament. BTW, be careful with the 10/20 live, a bit different than 1/2 online. Good luck.

[Ted Geisel]

There was a celebrity game taped at the Palms last weekend in Las Vegas.

Look for it on the Bravo Channel.....

[Michael Davis]

Of course, as someone who just moved to LA for graduate school my opinion may or may not hold water, but it should be obvious that the proximity of poker rooms should be the absolute least of your reasons for choosing a graduate school.

-Mike

[RollaJ]

[ QUOTE ]
There was a celebrity game taped at the Palms last weekend in Las Vegas

[/ QUOTE ]

They werent real celebs

[daryn]

i'm not sure this is true. many grad schools are essentially the same, don't kid yourself. if you enjoy poker and need to work, do it!

[J.A.Sucker]

You are completely wrong. This is actually true for undergrad institutions, where the curriculum is essentially the same across the board. I know people at Harvard who used the same textbooks as people at Oklahoma St. In grad school, the things you learn are generally so specialized that it DOES make a difference. While there may be a handful of similar schools, it's not the homogenous picture that you paint. That said, among the California schools, there's generally something that will meet one's needs, and there's always a card room nearby.

[Ted Geisel]

Really, I must havwe been misinformed ... I was told Affleck and Schwimmer played, damn someone who said they watched it on Saturday lied to me ... imagine that.

(The RJ also ran an item on it in Norm's Monday column, guess you can't trust the print media either.)

[jumpthru]

I will be most likely attending undergrad school in Califorina...possily san louis obisbo...is there poker rooms everywhere throughout california, or just around LA? LA is about 200 miles away from san louis, so it would be quit a drive on the weekend...

Also, what is the legal age in cali? A friend of mine said that the casino he plays at it is 18...is that the norm?

Thanks.

[Oblivious]

[ QUOTE ]
BTW, be careful with the 10/20 live, a bit different than 1/2 online. Good luck.

[/ QUOTE ]

I certainly realize this, but I think I might be able to hold my own at a table full of fishy celebs with money burning holes in their pockets regarless of the limit.


As far as gradschool goes... location is one of my main considerations. Sure I have requirements of the institution, like they have to give me some sort of assistanship so I can teach math and afford to live, but theres no way im going to the middle of kansas or some nonsense cuz the school has a unique class or two. Im getting a phd in math by the way, and from what I understand, Im going to have to be in charge of the bulk of my own work (with faculty guidence of course). Its just that the sunny beaches, the card rooms, and all the blond hotties make the UC system sound pretty good to me. /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[J.A.Sucker]

There are poker rooms spread throughout the state. Up till a few years ago, just about every town had a small room nearby, mostly spreading small games. Now, however, these rooms have been closing up shop (though I'm not sure why). The real 2 centers of poker in CA now are LA and the Bay area, which each have several rooms with good games. I'm not sure about SLO, but I assume that there's a 5/10 or below game within 30 min drive, somewhere. The casinos are all 21 and up, unless you're talking about indian casinos, which are 18, I think. Personally, I think you should be more concerned about getting laid in undergrad, especially at a place with high talent, like Cal-Poly-SLO should have. Find a home game with your college buddies and play that on Tuesdays; it's how I met some of my best friends in college.

[Lazymeatball]

I was playing the $2-4 game at Foxwoods last night when I saw James Woods playing the $5-10 blinds Pot limit game at the table next to mine. He quit around 4 or 5 am and I think he lost a modearate amount, but not as much as that blonde kid from Amherst who lost around $2500 with his KQ on a Q high flop, with an A on the turn to some guy with AQ.

According to www.imdb.com (http://www.imdb.com)
[ QUOTE ]
Woods grew up in Warwick, R.I. He graduated from Pilgrim High School there in 1965 near the top of his class and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Mass. He dropped out to pursue his acting career shortly before his scheduled graduation in 1969.

[/ QUOTE ]

So he must have been visiting family or something.

[CrackerZack]

He was there 3 weeks ago when I was there also. His parents live right over the border according to the brush.

[daryn]

what border? i assume NY?

[CrackerZack]

RI. I was told his parents live in Naga-something or other about 15 minutes away.

[cottonmather0]

I was playing 4/8 once at Bellagio a couple years ago and ended up sitting across the table from Todd Bridges - aka Willis Jackson from Diff'rent Strokes. He wasn't the greatest player in the world, but he wasn't the worst, either.

That was also around the time that they were filming Ocean's 11 in the casino there. I didn't see him play cards, but I did see Brad Pitt and George Clooney walking through the casino and the regulars in the poker room said that they had been in the poker room earlier in the week.

Quite a trip, that was.

[Mangatang]

What you talkin about, Willis?

[cottonmather0]

I thought the same thing - I wanted to say that every time he raised, but I refrained because I figured he probably heard that joke many times a day. (but it's damn funny, esp at poker!)

He was also a pretty nice guy. Very talkative and very friendly.

[warlockjd]

I'm sure you Bellagio regulars have seen a ton of celebs. I was playing 4-8 a few months ago, and Alex Rodriguez, the baseball player was at the table behind me losing several racks playing 15-30.

[Duke]

I think the bellagio is too bright, the tables are very cramped, and the locals suck in terms of their personalities. That said, I'll be playing there when I move back to vegas, as it's the nicest room there.

I like it dark when I play cards, since I don't wear sunglasses. If I played in a casino that was too bright all the time, I would definitely have to start looking like a choad and wearing them.

~D

[CrackerZack]

he was at the palms this last week also playing blackjack. Also at the table was vlade divac. And my friend who is in vegas for a month (lucky bastard), playing $25/hand which is over his head but he wanted to sit with those 2.

[mmanne]

Maybe you're talking about Narragansett, RI? It's about 45 min from Foxwoods?

RI. I was told his parents live in Naga-something or other about 15 minutes away.

[cottonmather0]

Amen, my brother- the locals at Bellagio mostly suck. A bunch of old men who think everyone else is either an idiot tourist or someone who "reads too many damn books."

Of course, they're mainly correct, esp the part about the idiot tourists. That's why I go there, after all.

[tiltboy]

[ QUOTE ]
many grad schools are essentially the same, don't kid yourself.

[/ QUOTE ]
Really? And how many have you been to?

[daryn]

are you trying to refute my statement? if so, please do, instead of asking me a question.