Poker table with cards

California Grand Casino: Poker Games with the Best Jackpots!

California Grand Casino: Poker Games with the Best Jackpots!

If you want to go after some really big jackpots, you want to play poker games at California Grand Casino!

Check out all of our chances to win, and note that the jackpots increase daily, so the excitement is always building! Take advantage of the great chip bonuses we offer; get more chances to play with these awesome bonuses. Note that 1st 10 players only eligible for $20 bonus.

Play Poker Anytime at 14 Tables.

Wow! California Grand Casino is open 24 hours a day, year-round with 14 tables dedicated to poker! It’s always the perfect time to play at California Grand Casino!

learning the game

Rules, Rules, Rules

Rules, Rules, Rules..Know Them!

Happy New Year poker fans! I hope your 2014 was fruitful and you rang in 2015 in style!

I’m usually not a fan of New Years’ resolutions, but this is the perfect time to make a promise to yourself to improve your poker game. Many people are hesitant to spend time improving their game. Some of the most common reasons I hear include:

1. Not having enough time
2. Thinking that improving one’s game is only for serious players
3. I’m just a casual player so why bother?
4. Simply not knowing how to go about it

Well let me solve those for you right now. You’re reading this article so you do have enough time. Everyone can benefit from improving their game. I’m going to show you a simple way to improve poker game fundamentals that will make you a better player by the time you’re done reading this post. Do we have a deal? Good.

Here are three words that will make you a better, more skilled player:

KNOW YOUR RULES!

Well thanks a lot captain obvious, how is that going to make me a better player? Let me explain. Knowing your rules means a lot more than simply knowing the rules of poker. Poker is not a black and white game. Poker is almost entirely played in the gray area. We seldom have all the information we need to make the most informed strategic decisions when playing a game of poker. Situations change and your decisions change with them. Rules are no different. Have you ever taken the time to read the rules of the game at your local casino? Any good casino will have them readily available. The California Grand Casino has fliers with all of the games, rules, and information available at the side of the information desk, as well as official copies that are laminated and chained to the right side of the main cage. If you’ve taken a look, it can be a bit overwhelming. Rules and interpretations of those rules vary from casino to casino, and rules even change at the same casino over time. The price you pay for not knowing the rules specific to your game at your casino can be steep. You might get away with making an easily correctable mistake, or it may end up costing you your whole stack! Here are a few quick examples of the types of rules that can vary from casino to casino, that you want to make sure you know before you sit down at the table.

Raising/String Bets

This is important in Limit, and even more critical in No-Limit. The things you want to make sure you know are:

1. Is there a betting line and how is it used to enforce bets?
2. How much do you need to put in the pot for it to be considered a raise? (Limit: Half of a raise or more? No-Limit: all of the raise? A specific percent of the raise facing you?)
3. Are you allowed to declare raise and then put out the call first while maintaining your ability to raise whatever amount you want?
4. How many raises cap the action (Limit only)?
5. Is it the responsibility of the players or the dealer to call a string bet?

Seat Changes

Where you sit at the table in relation to the other players is extremely important. If you don’t know why, I wrote about it here. You need to know if there is a seat change list (and how it works), if there are seat change buttons, if players cut for a seat, or if it’s simply first to request it or lock it up. Don’t be shy, speak up and ask a dealer, floor-person, or even a regular player.

Lobbying

The last thing you want to do is lose your seat in a game or lose a couple chips because you aren’t clear about what the lobbying rules are. Some places take a lobbying fee from your stack. Some places allow you to miss three orbits (the button moving around the table and returning to the same spot is considered one orbit), while others give you a set time limit (ask the floor-person if you need longer and they may cut you some slack). Be sure to know how it works where you play.

Tournaments

Some rules are different in tournaments than they are in cash games. Find out before you sit down or it could cost you dearly. In some tournaments, if you are on your phone or not in your seat when the cards are dealt to you, your hand is dead. Don’t let that happen to you. Swearing and other unseemly behavior can cause you to miss an entire orbit or sit out for a period of time as a penalty. Thankfully you would never do such a thing, but just in case…I thought I’d mention it.

Knowing the rules of the game is such a simple thing and yet many people don’t take the extra time needed to make sure they understand how things work where they’re playing. Always ask someone about the rules when playing somewhere new and be sure that you know the rules inside and out wherever you play regularly. You’ll avoid costly mistakes and that helps improve your bottom line.

Until next time, see you at the tables!

Promotions

Learn To Play Event

Learn To Play Poker With 97.3 The Game’s John Lund – October 9th

Right now is the best time to be a poker player. Poker fever is running high. Poker is among the most popular card games in the world. New players are entering into the game every day in large numbers. As a result the coverage of poker on television in books and online-gaming brings more players to the game everyday. This is among the reasons why we are seeing casinos and cardrooms popping up throughout the state of California and all over the country for that matter. But how does one learn to play poker and get up to speed quickly so that you feel comfortable playing in a cardroom or casino with real people of all ages at varying levels of skill all vying to win some cold hard cash? Let’s face it Youtube training videos can only take you so far.

Well now here’s your chance. California Grand Casino located in Pacheco along with 95.7 The Game’s John Lund are hosting a free Learn to Play Poker session on Thursday October 9th from 6p-8p. We are going to teach the first 20 players who sign up how to play the game of poker. It’s easy it’s fun and there’s no risk!

To make Learn to Play Poker at Cal Grand fun for all we are offering some fabulous door prizes to the first 20 people who sign up. Some of the prizes include Raiders tickets, Stanford football tickets, movie theater tickets, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk tickets, and more. Free food and non-alcoholic drinks are included plus the first 20 players to sign up will receive a coupon for $100 in FREE Match Play chips to be used at a future visit-pretty good deal right?

It takes knowledge, skill and practice to become a good poker player. But we all had to start somewhere: the beginning. It can be intimidating for some to walk into a casino or cardroom with rusty poker skills from days gone by or even worse little playing experience. Understandable! Poker instruction from a dealer is one of the very best and quickest ways to pick up the game or fine-tune your strategy. At Cal Grand you will have the unique opportunity to be taught by one of our most popular players and trainers David Okimoto or Oki as we affectionately refer to him (also our resident Blog Writer so check out his recent stories about becoming a professional poker player).

The key is to take that first step to learning the basics of poker. Then test your ability by playing a variety of poker formats such as Hold’Em or Omaha, or eventually tournaments. This will speed up and help improve your poker game. Cal Grand offers a weekly Sunday Texas Hold’em tournament starting at 10:30 and a High Hands starting at 8am.

We hope to see you Thursday October 9th from 6p-8p at our Learn to Play Poker night at California Grand Casino. Come watch the National Division Playoff games on anyone of our 22 big screen TV’s, enjoy some free food and drinks, and discover why poker is one of the most popular card games in the world.

And remember,the first 20 to sign up at the California Grand Casino will receive a seat at the Learn to Play Poker table. Not interested in Poker? Check out the bay areas best Baccarat, Pai Gow, and Hot Action Blackjack tables!

Promotions

High Hand Promotion

California Grand Casino is Blowing Up Sundays with our New High Hand Explosion poker promotion. Whether you play limit or no-limit you don’t want to miss this Texas Hold’em Showdown at the California Grand Casino in Pacheco; where we will be giving away a total of $1000 from 8a-8p every Sunday!

Here’s how it works: We’re going to pay off the first $100 high hand at 11am. Then kick the prize up to $200 from 11am to 1pm! After that we give away $100 EVERY HOUR from 1pm to 6 pm for the best qualifying high hand each period. Then we’ll cap it all off with a $200 high hand paid at 8pm! So if you make a high hand between 11am and 6pm it only has to hold up for an hour at most to win at least $100! And if you don’t win the first one there’s another chance to win the next hour. We’re paying EIGHT prizes over a twelve-hour period! We want you to win! If no one makes a qualifying high hand during any time period Cal Grand will add that money to the next time period making the high hand payout even bigger! Bottom line: someone is guaranteed to win that money so why not you?

And there’s way more fun happening this summer at the Grand. Be sure to check in early for our Sunday no-limit hold-em tournament. We add $500 to the prize pool. For a $50 buy-in (plus $5 entry fee) you can win up to $1500! The tournament maxes out at 50 entrants and pays the top 10 finishers so be sure to get there early to assure you get a seat. If you make the final table you’re getting paid! Sign-ups start at 8 am for cash game players and 8:30 am for everyone else. After the tournament be sure to check out the Hold?em action and see if you can pick up some quick cash during the High Hand Explosion.

Your table is waiting! Come on down. Learn more about Poker at the Cal Grand.

Promotions

$100 Free Match Play!

$100 Free Match Play Promotion Rocks!

I’ve been in marketing and advertising for over 20 years here in the San Francisco Bay Area. During this time I have conceptualized created and launched many ad campaigns and promotions for various clients including Safeway, Pepsi, Macy’s, the Fairmont Hotel, the San Francisco Ballet, and the San Francisco Port Authority to name a few. None of these previous promotions quite captured the excitement and enthusiasm that surrounds California Grand Casino’s recently launched Match Play promotion. Why? Simple. We are giving away a $100 in Match Play and Food to NEW PLAYERS just for stepping through the doors of California Grand Casino. Customers simply need to be a new player (over 21 of course!) bring their poker face to the table and get ready to get their game on.

New customers receive 4 FREE $10 Match Play Chips and $10 for food on each of their first two visits.  With our Match Play chips, we match your bets and you get the winnings.

California Grand Casino’s Match Play promotion is a hit! In the week since we’ve launched Match Play we’ve had players from all over the East Bay venture in and check out California Grand Casino for the first time. Little did they know Cal Grand Casino (as we are affectionately known) opened its doors back in 1854. We are the oldest continuously operating cardroom west of the Mississippi River. So if you like to play cards if $100 in FREE Match Play Chips and Food sounds good to you then pay us a visit.

Jack Straus 1982 poker champion has said he’d bust his own grandmother if she were in a pot with him. Some Cal Grand players can be intense like Jack Straus but not everyone takes poker quite so seriously. We have all levels of poker playing at Cal Grand-from novice to intermediate to advanced. The good news: There is money to be made here. Just three weeks ago one of our Cal Grand players won the Regular Bad Beat Jackpot of $96,200. It’s anyone’s pot! Including yours.

Come pay us a visit and be sure to ask the front desk about our Match Play new player promotion.