San Diego Cardrooms

[Pylos]

As far as I can tell I think I have rounded up all of the poker rooms near San Diego:

The Big Guys: Viejas, Sycuan, Barona, Harah’s

Little Guys: Oceans 11, Lucky Lady, Village Club, Palomar Club

I’ve played in tournaments at Viejas and sat a few times in their 3/6, which didn’t seem all that soft to me at the time. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with any of the smaller card rooms that I listed here and if they are worth checking out. How soft are the games and how many people are seeing a flop, etc? Are there any I am missing and which one is your favorite?

Also, I was wondering if any 2+2’ers live near the SDSU area. I’ve been looking for a few poker buddies to go to tournaments and talk about micro games online with. My good friend who would discuss strategy with over lunch just moved out of town and it would be nice to meet up with some people that had poker on the brain as much as myself.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

Well I lived near SDSU for about three years, up to the end of 2001, and I practically lived at the lucky lady. Games weren't as easy as some places, but I liked the management and the room, and heck, it was close. Games during all business hours tended to be beatable, if not the easiest in town. Very few tourists, all locals, all played often, so they generally read hands better than say a vegas tourist.

Viejas tended to be HARDER during the day but softer on weekend nights. Viejas daytime limit games were not worth playing in, as with the drop in california the game has GOT to be loose or don't play, and viejas daytime was tight old man city.

I played little in any other rooms there.

al

[scott8]

Oceans 11 should be the #1 for big guys.

[jedi]

Ocean's 11 is bigger than most of the Big Guys.

Where is Palomar Club exactly?

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

I'll be the third to tell you Ocean's Eleven should be at the top of your big guys list. If you're 21, this is where you should be playing unless you're significantly closer to another room.

[Johnny Richter]

I've only been to Barona once, but i thought i remembered them having a small poker room? I'm in north orange county and havn't made a trip down to oceans yet. I'm wondering if i should make it down there. If i'm driving an hour for poker though, i really like morongo's new room.

[Pylos]

Well, Ocean's 11 looks like a great place, too bad it's so far from where I live (SDSU). In fact, whenever I play live, I usually stick to 2/4 and I'm not sure any other cardroom in San Diego offers 2/4 besides Oceans.

What is the general concensious on playing a live level that is a bit out of reach of your BR? I consider most live games to be extreamly ultra loose compared to .50/1 Party that I 4 table. Is walking into a 3/6 with a buyin of $180 ludicrious when I only have $800 for a total bankroll (considering I usually do well at 1/2 and 2/4 live consistantly at the Bike and Commerce in LA)?

Also, jedi:
Palomar Club
2724 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92104
Phone: (619) 280-5828

[Al_Capone_Junior]

If you don't play higher than 8-16 kill and you live near SDSU there is little reason to go to ocean's 11, in fact the whole time I lived in SD I never bothered. Most of that was probably because I lived three minutes from lucky lady and 20 from viejas, and everything else was FAR with HELLA traffic in comparison.

Palomar club was OK once in a while. Only two tables, usually 3-6 and 3-6 kill was what was there back in '01.

Bankroll wise, at the lucky lady I typically bought into 3-6 kill or 4-8 kill with two racks, and two racks more if need be. 8-16 same thing, but $2 chips instead of $1. That's because the games at the LL were quite aggressive and quite loose, a great combination for having big swings. With only $800 you can take shots, but may need to back off and built it back up in you lose a couple hunj.

al

[Pylos]

Sounds good Al, I'll be living near College and Montezuma in 2 weeks so I'll give Lucky Lady a shot a few nights that I'm feeling like live action.

Going to work on building my bankroll online up to about $1k before stepping into the 3/6, but I only play live for kicks anyway.

[Spaded]

I live about 5 mins away from SDSU, but i go to UCSD [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]. I do go to Viejas a lot and it's not a bad place. The 3/6 is what i play and i've been hitting zero cards recently, dropping 400 bucks, from +200 to -200, and having 8 of my last 9 sessions as losing sessions (yes, i keep detailed records!). People there notice when you don't play many cards, often they act surprised when you finally get something and start playing, and they let the whole table know. Lots of regulars there, including 2 SDSU guys who actually got jobs there as dealers! I did go to sycuan once on a weekday at 1pm, only 2 tables were active! Viejas has at least 2 tables of 3/6 going during daylight hours, sometimes up to 6 or more of them, and that's just 3/6 holdem! They have nice bonuses, like "rack attack" where they bingo ball a table and put a rack of chips in the next pot. Sodas are free and their fries are damn good.

We could meet up there i guess, i have summer school but it's no big deal, so i have tons of time until mid september to do poker stuff. I've kind of gotten lazy about poker over the last month, so having a poker buddy will probably help keep me focussed on world domination thru poker.