Palace Card Club



Located on west side of Mission Blvd. Also has two tables of Double Hand Poker

Games
Limit hold 'em: 3/6, 4/8 w/half kill. They occasionally spread 6/12 and often take a wait list for it.

No-limit hold 'em: Spread every day starting at noon. $100 min buy-in, no max buy-in. $1-$2-$2 blinds, $5 to go, can be killed from any position. The button often kills it for $5, making it $10 to go (note the kill amount is half the to go amount). Can be double killed for $10, making it $20 to go. The NL game has a separate Floor Person and board behind the main brush and accepts call-ins to join the waiting list.

Omaha/8: 4/8 with half kill. Spread on Tuesday nights @ 7:00 pm.

Rake: $3 + $1 jackpot for 3/6 (7-9 players; only $2 + $1 for 5-6 players). $4 + $1 jackpot for 4/8.

On 6/21/08 I played for several hours at a $1-$2-$2-$5 NL table with no rake and a $7 per half hour table charge, which was timed to dealer changes.

Game Character: 3/6 and 4/8 are generally loose, and range from passive to aggressive. Five or more to a flop is typical. 6/21/08 The game I played in had fewer limped pots. Players talked looser than they were playing.



Wait Time: Due to the limited size of the room and its clientele, the wait can be anything from zero (seat open) to two hours if the table is full. The cardroom normally hits full capacity by 6pm, but the wait is normally not too long. The wait may be longer on Friday nights.

Tournaments

 * Daily No Limit Tournaments @ 9:30am.

Mon-Tue, Thu-Fri $50+$15 + $40 rebuy

Wed, Sat, Sun $50+$15 (no rebuys)

Jackpots and Promotions

 * Bad Beat Jackpot: Quad 7's or better beaten, both hole cards in losing and winning hand must play. Jackpot is currently at $100,000, as are both backup jackpots.  Last won in 2008

Atmosphere
Combination of card room and diner; the serving counter faces the card tables. Friendly local poker games, full of people who know each other and play together regularly. They had a special promotion on New Years Eve where they gave away TV's in a drawing for all seated players.

You buy chips at the brush before sitting down, but cash in at the cage.

Neighborhood: kind of semi-industrial. May not be the nicest part of town, but there are rumors of the club moving soon.

Parking: You can no longer park in any of the local businesses' lots. Instead, park in the municipal (four-story) parking garage two blocks north on Mission (corner of Mission & B), and the Palace now offers a 24 hour free shuttle from that garage to the card room (though, it's only two blocks, so you could walk it if it's nice out). The shuttle driver waits in the garage to drive you to the club. The shuttle driver will also return each customer to their car. (The Municipal parking garage is located 2 blocks north of The Palace on Mission & B Street.) The shuttle is a white Toyota Prius Hybrid that says A&F private security and you will be driven to the palace be sure you tip the driver

Tables and Chairs: Somewhat small 9-seat tables with "astroturf" felt that's kinda slick and plasticky. All tables have Shufflemaster shuffling machines. Fabulous chairs: fully-adjustable swivel leather office chairs.

Service and Comps
Occasionally, diner waitresses will come by and take orders; you can order sandwiches and drinks and have them delivered to your table.

Links and Notes

 * Nearest competitor is probably the Oaks in Emeryville, about 20 miles away, or possibly Bay 101 to the south about the same distance.
 * Visited by MarkT in Jan and Oct 2006.