Name:	PokerWiki
Date:	Tuesday April 10, 2007
Subject:	101 Casino Review
Message:	On the north side of the city, in a vaguely business-parky sort of area. The casino itself literally faces US 101. Games Limit hold 'em: 3/6, 4/8, 6/12 with a kill to 10/20, and 10/20. Omaha/8: 4/8 with half kill. Only spread on Tue & Thur evenings. No-limit hold 'em: 40-100 buyin 1/1/2 blinds. 100-300 buyin 1/5/10 blinds. A nice card club with an attached bar and pool hall. They are preparing to raze the building and replace it with a much more modern, updated casino. Game Info The rake on 3/6 is $3+$1 jackpot for 7-9 players, $2+$1 for 2-6 players. The rake is taken from the pot after the flop. On 6/12, the rake is $4+$1 jackpot for 7-9 players, $3+$1 for 6 players, $2+1 for 2-5 players. On no limit, they use a time charge of $6 per player per half hour ($5 for 6-player games, $4 for 5 or fewer players). No flop, no drop. Chopping is allowed. If a player chooses to leave the table (and take their chips, to leave the game), they are not allowed to re-enter the game for at least 30 minutes. This is to enforce the intent behind the table stakes rule. They also have 21st Century Blackjack and Pai Gow. Blackjack starts running at noon every day, pai gow at 8 pm. Blinds on all games were a bit odd: standard small and big blinds (e.g. 1 and 3 for the 3/6 game, 2 and 4 for the 4/8 game), but in all games the button acts as an additional $1 live blind. They consider this button fee to be the "jackpot fee". Posting: New players need not post. Shuffling: Shufflemaster machines are standard on all but one table (one table is hand-shuffled; this one is in the overflow area and rarely used). A dollar chip A dollar chip [edit] Wait Time Not too long, even on a Saturday afternoon. Can be long (orinfinite) waits for rarely-spread games like Omaha or 10/20 or 6/12. 3/6 and 4/8 are always running. 10/20 runs some evenings, Omaha runs Tues and Thrusday, but they will take names for a wait list for those games at any time. The no-limit games run whenever there's interest for whatever level is desired; when I was there on a Saturday, there was one table of 100-300, but no 40-100 running. [edit] Tournaments     * Tuesday, 7:00 pm: NLHE $40+$10, $2000 guaranteed. No rebuys.     * Thursday, 7:00 pm: NLHE $40+$10, $2000 guaranteed. No rebuys.     * Sunday, 5:00 pm: NLHE $15+$5, $500 guaranteed. Unlimited $10 rebuys, 1x$10 ao. Jackpots and Promotions     * Bad Beat Jackpot: Quads or better beaten = $21,000 (May 06)     * Royal Flush Bonus: progressive by suit, only one hole card need play. Ranged from $125 to $1000.     * High Hand Bonus: 4am-8am only, Mon-Fri. Highest hand in that 4-hour period wins $100. Must be at least aces full to qualify.     * Bargain Buyin: every Mon-Fri from 8am-8:30am, get $60 in chips for $40 (must play for 2 hours to qualify) Atmosphere Nice place with acceptable decor and efficient, capable employees. You can tell the building was built in the 1960's, since in general it just looks dated (both inside and outside), but it's still OK. Their plans to renovate in 2006 are merited, though. The building is built with extra insulation to shield patrons from the noise of the highway outside, and it does a great job: you actually forget you're right on US 101. The players seemed relatively happy and friendly. Relatively spacious, with two of the poker tables in a separate "overflow room" where they also have the blackjack tables. They used that for the separate 1-table WSOP satellite they held while I was there, despite having room on the main floor, specifically to keep it separate-feeling, which is a good idea. Connected bar and pool hall have separating doors so you don't feel like you're in "just part of the bar"; instead you're in the casino, which shares the building with the bar, a much different design philosophy. The main poker room contains 4 televisions of varying sizes, and a single waiting table where you can eat and watch TV while you wait for a table (but it only has two chairs, so if someone else has the table, you're out of luck). The casino was formerly called "Sonoma Joe's", and some of the building still says it. The overall effect is a casino under renovation, but it's still a decent place to play. Neighborhood: An interesting part of town, this casino is situated in what is essentially a medium-scale office park. Right next door is a Quality Inn hotel where out-of-town business guests can stay. Seems very safe, and relatively upscale as far as poker-room-surroundings go. Parking: Right now lots of parking, about 100 spaces. Tables and Chairs: Standard 9-player tables. Nice felt and padding. Chairs are extra nice, low-backed wheeled padded chairs. Service and Comps Sodas are $2 but offer free refills. Full menu available from the connected restaurant/bar. No discount to seated players. Prices seemed on the highish side, but not outrageous. Didn't try the food, so I can't comment on quality. Every day also offers a daily special of some kind, starting at 6pm. Food service only available from 7am - midnight (or until 3am on Fri and Sat nights). Service was relatively prompt and cheerful.

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