Name:	PokerWiki
Date:	Tuesday April 10, 2007
Subject:	Caps Saloon Review
Message:	Game Info All games seemed very loose and passive. An occasional aggressive player was able to grab a lot of pots without showing down. Games are generally conducted in Spanish. They understand and will use English if you ask, but the players and dealers all speak fluent Spanish and will generally conduct the game in Spanish. This can cause English-speakers a bit of confusion if you aren't paying attention, since the dealer's constant repetition of "tres" as she leads the action preflop (telling the players it's still three chips to bet, or "tres" in Spanish) sounds just like she's saying "Raise". Rake is $3 for 7-9 players; $2 for fewer than 7 players; no flop, no drop. Rake is taken out of the blinds pre-flop. Blinds: The blind structure is very weird here; I've only seen this at the Marina Club. The small blind posts $1 (or $2 for 4/8 or $3 for 6/12), but there is no big blind at all. Then, the button posts $2 onto the button, which acts as another partial-blind bet. The rake is taken out of the button first, and if the rake is $3, the additional buck is taken out of the small blind. The player who "opens the pot" in the preflop betting (the first one to voluntarily put chips in the pot) is not allowed to raise; they can only call the (nonexistent) big blind amount, since in essense this opening player is the big blind (since there is no big blind). Spread limit rules: The version of spread limit played here is also odd. When they play 3-6 Spread Limit, bets preflop and on the flop are limited to exactly 3 chips (like fixed limit). On the turn and river, bets and raises are spread between 3-6 (like traditional spread limit). Posting: New players do not need to post, and can choose to wait until the button passes before entering the game. Shuffling: Hand shuffled. No machines available. Wait Time On a Saturday night, they had a full table and a wait list of 6 when I came in; they immediately opened the second table and seated us. The offduty dealer then also joined the game to make it an 8-person game. Two hours later, the table was broken when we dropped to fivehanded. Atmosphere Unbelievably downscale. The poker tables are actually in the bar, and the bar itself is closed (closed by the authorities after getting caught serving drinks to minors). The place smells of smoke, even though no smoking is allowed in the building. The tables are stained and rundown. The chairs are standard uncomfortable chairs, though the proprietor has brought in a huge batch of pillows to use for extra padding if you want. The bathrooms were utterly revolting, like a bad bar in a bad part of town might have. The games themselves were full of fairly friendly regulars, although when one guy suffered a bad beat he stomped around enough that I honestly was worried he might try to beat people up. I guess, it really was a bar after all. It has the look and feel of a bar that got closed and is holding poker games solely to earn a little cash while waiting for their liquor license to be restored. Neighborhood: Right in the middle of downtown Salinas, one block from the revitalized city center. A bit office-y, but not particularly scary. Parking: None. Good luck. Find a street space if you can! You cannot park in the big city lot behind the bar; that's reserved for city employees only. Tables and Chairs: 10-player tables with stains and mediocre padding for armrests. Chairs were fixed-leg and not very comfortable.

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