Comstock Card Club



On Eleventh Ave (the main drag of Tracy), about three miles east of I-205.

The Comstock has 4 poker tables, plus 1 21st Century Blackjack table that can be pressed into service as an emergency poker table if demand warrants. It is also used to play 21CB when people want to play it.

Games
Limit Hold'em: 3/6, 3/6 with a full kill, 4/8, 4/8 half-kill, 4/8 full-kill, and occasionally other limits. In general, only one or two of these games are going (e.g. only 3/6 and 3/6 kill). They usually maintain a must move list which they don't strictly enforce: when a seat opens at the main table, they go down the list and ask if each player wants to move to the new seat.

NLHE: 2/3/5 blinds 100-300 buyin. Game usually runs Friday, Saturday, Sunday afer the tourney and Monday. With enough interest the game runs on Thursday as well.

This is a small card club that services the regulars in Tracy. It's only 30 miles from Oakland, though, so for a larger selection of games, players often go to the Oaks.

3/6 and 4/8 are both very loose and moderately aggressive with lots of action.

Rake is $4 (includes $1 jackpot) at 3/6 for 5-9 players ($2, no jackpot, for under 5 players). No flop, no drop. Rake is taken as a separate "button fee" (the player with the button puts four dollars on it). What's odd is that there are no blinds in the game; only the button pays any money pre-flop, and that money is taken straight into the drop slot, usually preflop. This changes the flavor of the game significantly from a standard hold 'em game, and it can be tricky to get the hang of.

Posting: New players do not need to post, and can choose to wait until after the button passes their position before they are dealt in.

Shuffling: Hand shuffled. No machines available.



Wait Time varies based on time of day and game population, though even on a busy Saturday night, the wait for a seat at 3/6 was only five minutes. They will open up the blackjack table and turn it into an overflow poker table if need be, which usually satisfies demand.

Tournaments
Two tournaments a week:


 * Saturday and Sunday at 12 noon (sign-ups start at 11am). Limit HE,  $40 buyin start with 1000 in chips, $20 rebuy first two rounds for additional 1000 chips (first 2 rounds are limit, after the first 2 rounds the game changes to no limit).  42 max people. Top 6 are usually paid out with first place running around $870 or so.

Jackpots
Two Bad Beat jackpots: Any Quads or better, beaten (both hole cards in both beaten and beater hands must play). This jackpot is $60,000 and climbing.

There is also a "small jackpot" which is Aces Full of Tens beat which is set at $10,000. All bad beats are paid out in these increments: 60% losing hand, 20% winning hand, and 20% table share (split amongst other players on table who were dealt in for the hand).

Atmosphere
Tiny little storefront with a big neon sign in the window "Comstock Card Club". One main door leads directly outside, and a security guard is sometimes posted right outside the door. Overall, the locals were quite friendly and happy to see a different face for a change. At one point, the owner ("Joe!") came in and sat down - he's apparently a regular at his own club, and is well known and liked.

In front is a comfy sofa and chair to relax in while waiting for a seat, if there's a wait.

Neighborhood: A kind of rundown part of town that's a bit scary at night unless you're a local - I guess that's why they need a security guard at the door. Lots of surrounding restaurants.

Parking: An extremely well-lit parking lot with 20 spaces is next door (on north side), with a closed circuit TV that watches it (and the TV is visible from the card tables; another sign the neighborhood may not be the greatest). A city parking lot is literally across the street with another 20 spaces.

Tables and Chairs: Fairly worn 9-player tables with slick "astroturf"-style felt, some with loose vinyl arm rests that pop up and annoyingly let cards slide underneath. Low-backed, wheeled chairs with moderate padding, and standard triangular drink tables around the tables. No commit line on the felt.

Service and Comps
No comps.

Off-duty dealers will run service on the weekdays, servicing drinks from the connected bar, or other beverages and snacks from the new vending machines that have been installed (or, get up and walk to the machines yourself - it's fifty cents a can). Thursdays through Sundays there is usually be a service girl running all the service for the players if you don't wanna get up. Every now and then, enough people get hungry that someone goes on a McDonald's run (or similar) to bring back food.

Notes and Links

 * Nearest competitor is probably the Livermore area, 25 miles west: Lucky Buck Card Club. Nearest large room is probably the Oaks in Emeryville.


 * Visited by MarkT in Feb 2006 and Nov 2007.