Best Place To Play In Los Angeles?

[banditdad]

I want to play at some B&M in LA area. Low limit up to 6/12. My choices are: Bicycle Club, Hawaiian Gardens, Commerce Club, or Hollywood Park. Any opinions?

[Derringer]

Don't forget The Normandie and Hustler which are close by to Commerce and Bike.

I like the Commerce the best. I think it has the nicer amenities, and there is a slight comp on the hotel rooms there at the Crowne Plaza. The hotel is okay. I have also stayed at the Wyndham Commerce hotel which is just a block away [though I recommend you drive and not walk between the two locations]

Cheers,

Mike

[MtSmalls]

I guess it depends on what you were looking for. I've played the last two times I was out in LA. Once at the Bike once at HP. The biggest advantage to HP is that it is much closer, if you are staying on the west side of downtown (which I always am). its about 5 minutes from the airport.

Both were fine with good games at almost any limit, both were weeknights...

[oddjob]

you should check out the commerce. it's huge. everytime i go there, it makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. it's just so impressive you have to go at least once, so you can come back wishing you had a commerce by you.

i hear the bicylcle is very nice as well, but have yet to make it there. next time i keep thinking.

[onegymrat]

They are all ideal for low-limit play. You will find the best variety of tables at Commerce and Hawaiian Gardens. The Bicycle Casino and Hustler tend to be a bit more comfortable as far as the seats, tables, friendliness of staff.

[banditdad]

[ QUOTE ]
They are all ideal for low-limit play. You will find the best variety of tables at Commerce and Hawaiian Gardens. The Bicycle Casino and Hustler tend to be a bit more comfortable as far as the seats, tables, friendliness of staff.

[/ QUOTE ]

What's the play like at the Hustler for low limit up to about 6/12?

[PokerSlut]

I play almost exclusively no limit nowadays so my opinions are definitely biased towards the way these games are run. That being said, here's my feedback:

Commerce is huge and has a lot of action, but the poker room feels cramped because they pack the floor with tables so much you practically can't move without accidentally hitting the guy behind you. Their rake sucks, the food is both mediocre and expensive compared to other cardrooms in town (a lady sitting next to me ordered a small chef salad and was charged something like $8 for it), and dealers make a lot of rookie mistakes. I have seen dealers there try to push the pot to the wrong player several times, not to mention completely ignoring where the action is supposed to be and skipping live hands before running cards, which seems to happen with alarming regularity there. Also for all their lack of skill, the dealers aren't the friendliest in the world although that might have something to do with the players that tend to congregrate there who seem to relish abusing the dealers and each other. The last time I was there, they accidentally erased my name off the top of a waitlist that had 15+ names on it by the time I discovered the error (when they called someone else for "my" seat). The lady running the board even recognized me and admitted that the list was empty when I got there, yet stuck my name on the bottom anyway. Regarding the action, on a Saturday night they had about a gazillion $100-max NL (2/3 blinds IIRC) and two $200-max NL (3/5 blinds IIRC) tables going, with a couple of people on the list to start up a $500 min table.


On the other hand, I have had nothing but good experiences at the Bicycle. The staff have always been friendly, the dealers are the most competent in L.A. in my experience, the food is decent, and they have good specials that are cheap. If you play in the mid/high limit (I believe) or no limit section (this is where I play) and pick up a player's club card, they will generally comp your food after very little playing time, like an hour or two, and will comp you bottles of water just for sitting down. Also in the top section they have big plasma TVs everywhere you look. The rake is also better (at least for no limit, dunno about other games) than other area cardrooms. As was described in another thread recently, the dealers are also pretty lenient about dropping a rake on chops. The action is loose for the most part, although I have occasionally been stuck at a table of 5-6 sharks who were all preying on the same couple of clueless guys. They spread $100 max (2/3 blinds), $200 max (3/5 blinds), and $500 minimum (5/10 blinds) if there is enough interest on the board. On weekday nights there's typically 2-3 $100 tables and one or two $200 tables going, and sometimes the $500 table will get started up. On weekends there's a bunch of $100 tables (4 last time I was there IIRC) and 2-3 $200 tables, and the $500 table is going unless the action players all bust out unusually early. The player's club card there is REALLY good; you get comped $3/hr in the higher limit and no limit games plus they have a lot of other interesting things like accruing points to play in invite-only low buy-in satellites for major tourneys there.


Hustler has a very nice atmostphere as well, and has by far the best looking waitstaff in any L.A. cardroom. Plus I've found the food to be pretty tasty, although I have heard horror stories about some of the Chinese and/or fish dishes causing digestion problems. The "top section" (it's not really separated from the rest of the floor) spreads a $100 min - $300 max buy-in NL game with 2/5 blinds. Usually there are 1-2 tables going on weekdays and 2-3, and sometimes 4 tables going on weekends. The action there is almost always loose. If you're a real high roller you can sit in the $2k/$4k stud game that Larry Flynt sits in with the likes of Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, and David Oppenheim. Hustler has a player's club card which you can use for food or even better to buy sex toys in the gift shop, but it pays practically nothing so you'd have to spend a LOT of time there to make it worthwhile.

Hollywood Park is probably most convenient if you're staying close to LAX, as it's just a straight shot down Century Blvd. The dealers there are either really good, or really bad; there seems to be no middle ground. But, the floormen are nice, and if you talk to the NL host there, Mike, he will often hook you up with a comp meal. They have a players club card but to be honest I don't have a clue how much they comp per hour. They usually spread a 2-3 $100 max NL tables, and 1-2 $200 max tables, which are located in the low-limit section, and they also run a 5/5 blind PL game (no max buy in) in the high limit section. The action at HP is generally very loose although it seems to come in waves there. They also run a lot of low buy-in daily tournaments both during the day and at night, most of which are multi-rebuy but some of which only allow 1 or 2 rebuys. The atmosphere at Hollywood resembles a high school cafeteria, and the wait staff are like the lunch ladies.

[Derringer]

Interesting post PokerSlut, but I would say that the reverse is the case for the Commerce/Bike comparison you made. My last visit to Commerce was in June.

However, I have heard that the Bike has really cleaned up its act, and that it is no longer a "cut your way in, shoot your way out" type of place. I'll give them a try next time I do L.A.

Cheers,

D

[andyfox]

If I were playing low limit up to 6-12, I'd play at The Bike. Very comfortable room, friendly help, not the tumult and bad vibes that can be present at Commerce. Plus Rick Nebiolo works there. But all the casinos you mention are fairly close to one another, it might be wise to try 'em all and see which you favor.

[PokerSlut]

That's interesting.

I have seen a fight break out and security guards called nearly every time I've been to Commerce. To be fair, I have seen this happen at every other L.A. cardroom as well (except for Caribe I suppose), but not with the regularity I've seen it at Commerce. Then again that might just be some kind of statistical anomaly. There's also the fact that the top section in Bicycle (and in particular the no limit section) is kind of separated from the lower limits such that even if a fight breaks out down there I might not notice it.