Marina Club Casino Review
Open from noon until 6am or so, every day (occasionally open 24 hours if enough players are still around at 6).
4 tables.
204 Carmel Avenue, Marina CA. Right on a very busy street that acts as one of the business streets in the small town of Marina. Literally across the street (the other side of Carmel Ave) from Mortimer's Card Room.
Games
Spread-limit hold 'em: $2-6 spread.
No-limit hold 'em: $40-100 buyin, $1/$2 blinds.
This is a very small card club that serves the low-rollers along this stretch of the coast. Offers the only true spread-limit game in Northern California. Higher-limit players play across the street at Mortimer's Card Room. Usually, this place is busiers than Mortimer's, by a bit. Certainly, it's friendlier, probably because the stakes are lower.
Game Info
2-6 was quite loose with typically 5-6 players seeing every flop.
100 NL was wild and crazy with lots of bluffing and moving all in with low pairs, etc.
Rake:
* Spread limit: $3 for 7-9 players, $2 for 5-6 players, $1.50 for 2-4 players, no flop, no drop.
* No limit: 7-9 players, $5 each player each half hour time charge, 2-6 players, $4 each player each half hour time charge.
A weird backwards blind structure at the 2-6: The small blind posts $1, and the button posts $2. The dealer then takes both blinds (if there are 7 or more players) as the rake, places it on the drop box, and waits to see if a flop ensues. If it does, the rake goes down the hole.
Because the big blind doesn't exist, the first person to open the pot must place a bet equal to the big blind ($2) and cannot raise it ("you can't raise yourself!" said the regulars to me when I tried). This is highly unusual: I've only seen this blind and betting pattern at Cap's Saloon and nowhere else.
You can also straddle from any position except the button, by placing a bet equal to half of your intended straddle amount (remember this is spread limit, so you can straddle any amount from $4 to $8 total, which means you put out anywhere from $2 to $4) out prior to the deal.
Posting: New players do not need to post.
Shuffling: Hand shuffled. No machines available.
Wait Time
Can take quite a while since there's only four tables, or can be instantaneous.
Tournaments
* Sundays, 11:00am. NLHE. $40+$10 buyin, one $40 rebuy, one $40 addon.
Jackpots
* Bad beat jackpot, any quads beaten qualifies. Current value on Feb 11 2006: $1620.
Atmosphere
Also connected to a bar, like Mortimer's Card Room, but without the dingy "backroom" aspect. This looked more like an adjoining business that had a door between the two put in. They were doing remodeling of the room while I was there, but except for a general air of clutter and "this is more someone's home than a business", it was fine.
A lot of regulars who all know each other. Very friendly folks who are more than willing to explain things to you if you ask. The dealers didn't seem completely on the ball, but I guess you can't have everything.
Neighborhood: Sort of a "hangout/dive" area on a busy corner just south of downtown Marina. Doesn't look particularly attractive, or particularly safe.
Parking: Don't know; I parked across the street at Mortimer's. Didn't see any special parking for the Marina Club, though.
Tables and Chairs: Standard 9-player tables, standard fixed-leg chairs that aren't very comfortable. Both were a bit worn out, but OK.
Service and Comps
No service, but the bar is right next door. At dinner time, someone goes and gets a few boxes of pizza and plops them on an empty table for everyone to share, for free.
Artist/Author: PokerWiki April 10, 2007 | |
