California Grand Casino

From PokerWiki

Exterior of the casino, seen from the parking lot.

Also has two blackjack tables and one pai gow table. Located next to the town of Martinez near the Benicia Bridge. Just off I-680 at the Concord Ave exit (note: do not take the Pacheco Blvd exit! You can't get to the casino from there.)

[edit] Games

Limit hold 'em: 3/6, 6/12, 12/24. Blind structure for 3/6 is 2/2/3 (button posts $2, small blind posts $2, big blind posts $3). Blinds for 6/12 are 2/4/6. For 12/24 it's 3/6/12 (played with $3 chips). All blinds are live.

As of January 2009, 12-24 has been replaced with 15-30. The Blinds are 5/10/15.

No-limit hold 'em: Buyin min $100 max $200, blinds of 2/2/3, like the Limit Hold 'em.

Omaha/8: 4/8 with a half kill. Only 1 table of Omaha runs, though, so the wait list for Omaha can be very long.

Rake: For all games, $4 per hand (includes the jackpot rake) for 7-10 players, $3 if only 6 players, $2 if 5 players, or $1 for 3-4 players. Rake is taken on the flop. At 15-30, $5 rake for 7-10 players regardless of whether there's a flop.

A dollar chip

Game Character: 3/6 and 6/12 both seemed pretty loose and aggressive the few times I've been there.

Posting: New players are not required to post. No-limit and 6/12 + 15/30 limit are must move. You do not get to complete your orbit.

Shuffling: Standard Shufflemaster shuffling machines on all tables.

Wait TIme: Varies from time to time, but waits seemed to be no longer than 15-30 minutes for a limit seat. Wait was notably longer for a no-limit seat, probably due to the fewer number of tables being spread, and the wait was positively monstrous (90 minutes to two hours) for an Omaha seat.

The main part of the poker room.

[edit] Tournaments

• Sunday 10:30am, NLHE tournament, $50+$5 buyin, no rebuys. $500 added. Signups start at 8:30am, or 8am for seated players. 5 tables max.

[edit] Jackpots and Promotions

California Grand has a large number of different jackpots to be won:

• Big Bad Beat Jackpot Hold 'Em: Quad 8's or better beaten (both hole cards must play in both hands). Usually at $100K.
• Small Bad Beat Jackpot Hold 'Em: Aces full of Jacks or better beaten by quads or better (both hole cards must play in both hands). Usually at $5K. Not payable if the hand wins the Big Bad Beat (you only win one jackpot, not both).
• Hold 'Em Royal Flush Jackpot: Tallied by suit. Reset at $50 whenever it is hit, and increases by $50 each day it isn't hit. Usually around $200 or so for any given suit. Both hole cards must play.
• Omaha Bad Beat Jackpot: Quad jacks or better, beaten. $5000 prize: $2.5K to losing hand, $2.5K split among other players.
• Omaha Royal Flush Jackpot: Tallied by suit. Reset at $25 whenever it is hit, and increases by $25 each day it isn't hit. Usually around $200 or so for any given suit.
• Hold 'Em High Hand Jackpot: Every four hour period, the high hand in Hold 'Em for that four-hour period wins $100. If you get a reasonably decent hand (a high full hour or better), the dealer calls it out to the floorman, who marks it on the "best hand so far this period" markerboard. Every four hours, they find the player who had the best hand that period and give them $100. Must be present to win.

Promotions: The California Grand is one of the few casinos that offer chip promotions these days. Their flyer says they offer "$30 gets $40" for 3/6 holdem and 4/8 Omaha from 8am-10am daily, and the "first ten players get $120 for $100" at 6/12 starting at 9am daily and at 12/24 starting at 10am daily. I'd call first to make sure they still do it before counting on it, but the flyer was pretty recent -- and the ad they run in Card Player magazine lists a special "new player promotion" where $20 gets you $50 in chips. You can see the same coupon at their website (below).

[edit] Atmosphere

This is one cool card room. It's in a converted hotel that's over a hundred years old. It's kind of like a big victorian house, and you walk in the front door. The sunken living room area is now the bar, done up in a nice old-fashioned style. The poker tables are divided into two rooms, the parlor type area, and the area that probably used to be a big hotel room or something. Very nice place to play poker. They claim to be the home of the "longest continuous poker action in history", since they are located inside the former Woodford Hotel which began offering poker to clientele in 1854, and apparently poker has been played in the building ever since.

They are planning on moving in late 2006 to a much bigger building just a block or so away. They've already bought the building and are in the process of renovating it. As of October 2007, they have not moved.

Neighborhood: Commercial area, somewhat remote but not very scary. Next to a 24-hour restaurant, a new car dealership, etc.

A plaque at the entrance to the California Grand states that it was also part of the Pony Express network in 1860.

Parking: Very few spaces (40?), next to the casino and behind it. Don't park at the bowling alley next door. If you can't find a space, go inside and ask the brush about where else you can park -- apparently, there's a restaurant nearby you can park at. Or, due to the parking crunch, they also offer "Free Valet Parking" Mon-Sat, 10am-11pm, and Sun 2pm-10pm.

Tables and Chairs: Large 10-player tables. Felt is nice, soft felt with good padding. Metal frame, fixed-leg chairs.

[edit] Service and Comps

They have a "player's menu" from 2:30pm-4am that offers a reasonable selection of meals cheaply ($2-$4), though the emphasis is extremely heavy on Oriental food, with a small selection of "oh yeah, we got a hamburger if you want" American food tacked on as an afterthought. Sodas come in cold cans and aren't cheap ($1.50 each?). I picked up a flyer (Jan 2006) that says they also have "Free Hot Dogs Monday nights, 5pm-8pm".

They also say they offer "free breakfast and lunch" for seated players, though the free lunch is available "Mon-Fri only". The free breakfast is available 8am-10am daily. You must play 2 hours to get a free meal, and apparently you can only get one free meal per day.

[edit] Links and Notes

• Official California Grand Website
• Nearest competitor is probably the Oaks in Emeryville.
• MarkT visited sporadically through 2006.