11/11/99 thursday
el cajon, california, is about 15 miles east of san diego. take the 2nd street exit away from downtown, take a left on washington and go straight. washington eventually becomes dehesas street, and after negotiating some truly hair-raising twists and turns along a mountainside, you come to sycuan indian casino. there are large parking lots all around the main building, and convenient shuttle service back and forth. i am advised that they are building an entirely new structure to open some time in the future.
annie adlin is a veteran of the poker industry. she started as a dealer in las vegas 20 years ago, worked for tom bowling at the las vegas hilton, propped for a couple years, and has been at sycuan for the last 7 years, 4 of them as floor. annie also maintains the cardplayer magazine web site, and was the co-author of the you make the call column in the magazine. we hit it off right away. hey! we both love rules! :) besides, as soon as i walk into the room, she presents me with a sycuan baseball cap! :) annie is working on revising and updating the room's rulebook, which comes from a variety of sources, including the hilton's.
the room has 17 tables. they offer 1-3 stud/8; hold 'em from 3/6 to 9/18; 3/6 and 4/8 omaha/8, and something they call 3/6 "hop" with a full kill. this is one rotation of hold 'em, omaha, and crazy pineapple (you are dealt three cards, bet, flop, and you must discard one card before the turn). all three rounds are played high-low with an 8 qualifier. this game was classic california "no fold 'em poker" and i had a ball at this game. "uncle louie" is at the table. he's a white guy, at least 75, graying and balding, and well-dressed in sartorial splendor with a tailored suit, tie, and handker- chief. he plays every hand and every round. he wears glasses, and can barely see the cards. everybody knows him and loves him! so, i won two racks of blues ($1) in two hours. :D
the rake is "flop 'n' drop." at 3/6, the small blind is taken for the jack- pot drop, and the entire big blind is taken for the rake. if there's a flop, they drop 'em. no, folks, i never saw a hand end before the flop in this game....
despite its size, this really is a local cardroom (el cajon is not really a destination resort). boardperson spots me as i'm walking down the stairs, even before i actually set foot into the room. :) it's a pretty friendly place, and many of the staff have years of experience in the business. i was introduced to supervisors ken and gary, and to boardperson carole. all of the seats in this room have high swivel backs, and have wheels. there are small service tables for ashtrays and drinks, and larger service tables for food. seats next to the dealers are no-smoking. for a room with rather low ceilings, smoke was not too much of a problem. cash does not play.
they've got bad beat jackpots, and small buy-in daily tourneys. in november, from noon to 4 pm, they offer a $100 insurance for aces in the hole in hold 'em. if your pocket rockets are beaten, you get $100. they've also got random lottery giveaways and various other promotions. the room was full by 8 pm.
after dinner, they finally got a 6/12 hold 'em game cranked up. i was the little fat white guy in the #9 seat, playing with eight, count 'em, eight asians (only three were maniacs, which was more than enough!). here, the entire small blind went to the rake, and $1 of the big blind went to the jackpot. no flop, no drop. at this game, i finally saw a hand end before the flop....well, maybe even two hands....
the blue chips are standard clay chips. however, the yellow $5 chips are speed chips. here's one hand from the 6/12: after two limpers, one of the maniacs raises in late position. curiously, only one of the limpers calls. the flop is q 7 6 rainbow. limper checks. maniac *faces his rockets* and bets. ***limper calls!*** turn is an offsuit jack. check, bet and call. the river is a 4. limper laughs hysterically and bets, but faces his 5 3 offsuit before the maniac can do anything. i win a stack of yellow and book it. i just might come back for some 3/6 hop tomorrow. :)
11/12/99 friday
first, a couple amendments/corrections about the sycuan cardroom:
i went back yesterday, and tried to change seats after the button had passed. but the dealer wouldn't let me move into the small blind. hey! don't you have the forward moving button rule? he looks at me like i'm a man from mars - he has no idea what i'm talking about. but it's annie adlin to the rescue!
"no, tiger. you made a mistake in your report! we use the dead button rule here!"
hehehehehe....and she even knows why i was mistaken - we saw a dealer do something last night, which would have been right under the forward moving button rule - but the dealer made the mistake last night!!
and i even saw two smokers who were sitting next to the dealer get up from their chairs to smoke their cigarettes. but it turns out that the seats next to the dealers are *not* no-smoking....it was a lot smokier in the room on friday night, but still not as bad as some places i've been.
i want to mention the sycuan's comp system. when you first register, you get a casino id card (lol....i've got some collection of them by now!), and $5 in your account. from then on, when you first sit down in a game, you clock in and you clock out when you are done playing. you get paid $.50 per hour, which can be used for food. but annie told me that poker comps are not good in the gift shop. oh, well.
[ tiger ambles up the road to the Barona Casino ]
stay tuned!!
tiger
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Kenneth R. Churilla