Oaks Review
Oaks Review
Hours, Tables, Location
Open 24/7. 25 tables, plus additional "no-bust blackjack" and "double hand poker" tables.
4097 San Pablo Ave, Emeryville CA, cross streets 40th and San Pablo, next to Oakland. Phone: 510-653-4456. May be reached using public transportation via the MacArthur BART station and 57 bus across 40th street, or the free Emery-go-Round.
Games
Limit hold 'em: 1/2, 2/4, 3/6, 6/12, 15/30 (with optional overs). Tuesdays and Fridays also have a 30/60 game.
NLHE: Illegal in Emeryville.
Omaha/8: 4/8 with a half kill, 9/18 with a one-third kill on Thursday nights.
7-Stud: 2/4 (50 cent ante), 4/8
Lowball: Occasionally a 10/20 game.
Pan: $2 most mornings, $5 and $20 also available (with doubles) if there is interest.
Rake:
* Hold 'em 1/2: $2 + $1 jackpot per hand ($1+1 6-handed, $1 5-handed).
* All other hold 'em games below 15/30: $3 + $1 jackpot per hand ($2+1 6-handed, $1 5-handed).
* Hold 'em games at 15/30 and above: time payment taken on the half hour. 15/30 time collection $6 per half hour PLUS $1 jackpot drop ($4 time with five or fewer; can be requested at 6). 30/60 time collection $8 per half hour PLUS $1 jackpot drop ($5 time with five or fewer; can be requested at 6). No jackpot drop 5-handed.
* Omaha/8: 4/8: $4 + $1 jackpot.
* Stud 2/4: $2 + $1 jackpot per hand ($1+1 6-handed, $1 4-handed).
* Stud 4/8: $3 + $1 jackpot per hand ($2+1 6-handed, $1+1 5-handed, $1 4-handed).
Game Review
Probably the lowest live table in the Bay Area with absolutely horrible players.
1/2, 2/4: Ridiculously loose, but it has to be. The rake eats up a good chunk of these pots. The $1/2 game seems particularly pointless, although as one offduty dealer told me in coversation, it's essentially people "killing time, having a little fun, and hoping to hit the jackpot". 3/6: Fairly loose and fairly passive.
Definitely, there is no other casino in the Bay Area that offers a live 1/2 game. The 1/2 here is actually played with 50-cent chips, and the small blind is truly only 50 cents!
Posting: New players (or returning players who missed a blind) can choose to "buy the button" by posting both the small and big blinds in position after the button, in which case neither of the normal blinds posts anything. Otherwise, standard posting rules apply.
Shuffling: Standard ShuffleMaster shuffling machines on all tables. Except on tables in the upstairs back rooms(April 2006) which they open to handle overflow for tournaments and weekends.
Dealers are pretty friendly, but an equal number are non-talkers and a few are a little bit incompetent at reading the board and how hole cards relate to the board... (missed straights and flushes) but this is rare.
A dollar chip
A dollar chip
Wait Time
Varies from time to time and game to game, but waits seemed somewhat reasonable when I was there on a Saturday afternoon. About 15 minutes for a table at any given game.
Tournaments
* Wednesday 6:35pm: Limit Hold'em, $50 + $15 buyin, 1 $50 rebuy, 1 $50 addon.
* Sundays, 1:20pm, NLHE, $100 + $25 buyin, 1 rebuy.
* occasional others as well...
Jackpots
* Bad Beat Jackpot: Aces full of Tens or better beaten by quads or better (both hole cards must play in both hands). Always at $15K (they have too much jackpot money backed up) $7500 for loser(who got "bad beat"), $3750 for winner, $3750 split among other players dealt in hand. For Omaha, the qualifier is Quad 8's or better beaten.
Atmosphere
Very nice casino: possibly the nicest in the Bay Area. High ceilings, clean and open and well-lit. A few strategically-placed TVs hung on the walls. A few separate rooms of tables in addition to the large main room.
Neighborhood: While an open and well-travel area, vehicle break-ins and drug sales occur with a non-neglible frequency. Vehicles have been compromised even in the supervised lots.
Parking: They have their own parking lot next to the casino with about 40-50 spaces, and a security guard at the entrance to watch it (and, presumably, watch you as you enter or leave the casino). They also offer Valet Parking: pull into the lot and drive straight ahead to the back where the valets are. If the lot is full, a large overflow Oaks lot is right across the street with another 100 spaces or so.
Tables and Chairs: 10-player tables. Comfortable chairs, nice tables. Definitely upscale. Cool looking chips with foil stamping in their center.
Bay 101 is a nicer Bay Area cardroom than the Oaks. Oaks can get really dirty, all sorts of garbage under the tables, especially on weekends. Chairs stained. But they have been upgrading the tables (nice new felt compared to the worn, faded old tables) and TVs the past year. Good mix of people from all walks of life. Also students from nearby UC Berkeley. Emeryville is an up-and-coming town, lots of new commercial and real-estate developments (loft-conversions and condos). Pixar headquarters is right up the block. Area looks scarier than it really is, but you must still exercise caution, as with any area around a cardroom.
Artist/Author: poker.wikia.com/wiki/Oaks April 1, 2007 | |
