500 Club

Games
Limit hold 'em: 3/6 with a full kill.

No-limit spread-limit hold 'em:
 * Saturday nights at 7pm, 4-200 spread, 2/4 blinds, 20-200 buyin.
 * Friday and Sunday nights, 10-200 spread, 5/10 blinds, 50-200 buyin.

Omaha/8: 4/8, on Monday nights only.

Interesting little poker room in the back of a bar/restaurant that seems very friendly.

Rake: The rake on 3/6 is $4+$1 jackpot for 7-9 players, $3+$1 for 5-6 players, $2+$0 for 2-4 players. The rake is taken from the pot before the flop, but the jackpot rake is taken after the flop (because the $4 rake sucks up both blinds preflop).

Blinds on all games were standard: 1/3 for the 3/6.

Posting: New players need not post.

Shuffling: Shufflemaster machines are standard on all tables.



Game Character: The 3/6 FK game was surprisingly tight for a small-town friendly game. Half the pots were heads-up after the flop, and most had only 3-4 people max seeing the flop. Mildly passive, but a few bursts of aggression here and there. The players were there to kill time, have fun, and gamble - but most of them clearly knew the basics of strategy. Random snatches of table talk had people critiquing whether they should have raised out of position with AJ, or whether to smooth call a preflop raise.

Wait Time: Ranges dramatically, since the number of tables is so small. Wait can be zero if there's a seat open at the limit(s) you want, or can be an hour if there's not.

Tournaments
1. Free roll tournament on Sundays for the top 40 players with the most hours played for the week, $1100 pool. 2. Another free roll tournament for weekly freeroll tournament winners (Top 3 places from each week I believe), $8000 pool. Interval unknown.

Jackpots and Promotions

 * Mega Bad Beat Jackpot: Quads or better beaten
 * Regular Bad Beat Jackpot: AAATT or better full house beaten by quads or better
 * Mini Bad Beat Jackpot: AAATT or better full house beaten by a better full house

Morning promo: buy in for $40, receive $70 in chips before 10am (must play 3 hrs or bust out).

Atmosphere
The 500 Club is an interesting bar/restaurant/casino on the main corner of downtown in the quaint town of Clovis. All of its components are small, but everyone in it seemed ultra-friendly and happy. The bar can seat about 20 patrons. The restaurant has about 7 tables, total. And the casino in the back has 4 poker tables (one of which looks like it's probably never used) and two 21st Century Blackjack tables, that are constantly in some small amount of use. Walk in past the bar and restaurant tables. When you get to the restrooms, turn left and there is a door with a small sign that says "Cardroom". They answer the phone "The World Famous 500 Club, how can I help you?", but when I asked what they were famous for, the answer was "We're the only 500 Club there is!". Said with a grin, of course.

Clearly, this is a room of friendly open people ready to play a little poker with friends or strangers, whoever shows up. Food can be ordered from the bar or restaurant and will be served at the table by a waitress from the bar - who has her own wait station inside the poker room where she can type in orders and such.

The building is a cool "main building in small city downtown" type of building: stone edifice, big doors, etc. The atmosphere inside is neat in the bar, but more utilitarian in the poker room. A few TVs hung on the wall are tuned to sports games for players' enjoyment.

Neighborhood: Smack dab in the middle of downtown Clovis. There's a sign over the main street that says "Clovis: Gateway to the Sierras", and the whole downtown is done in a nostalgic 1940's style. Very safe and kinda cool to just wander.

Parking: Not sure whether the club has its own parking; I just parked on the downtown city street right outside and walked in.

Tables and Chairs: Standard 9-player tables, though the felt and vinyl bumpers are worn from use. Still perfectly serviceable, though. The chairs are a motley collection of random chairs, from fixed-leg padded chairs to fully-adjustable wheeled office chairs. Looks like they just picked up clearance chairs at some warehouse and set them up.

Service and Comps
A waitress station is right in the room, and you can order full meals, snacks, or drinks, at any time, to be served at the table.

No chip runners, but the cashier's cage is right there in the poker room. You buy and sell chips at the cage from the floorman, who also acts as cashier. Also, the staff often play at the tables to fill them up.

Links

 * Nearest competitor is probably Club One in Fresno.

Visited by wiki authors

 * Visited by MarkT in May 2006.