Bicycle Casino Poker Room

Podiman called two weeks to say that he’s coming out to LA for a visit and was to play in the Bicycle Club’s <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.thebike.com/tournaments/schedule/index.php?tournament_id=91">Stars and Stripes</a> tournament this week. I had been planning on playing a few events anyway so we made plans to meet up at the event.
The event was Tuesday night and was a NL event with a $335 buy-in with one optional re-buy during the first 3 levels. The structure is excellent for a one day night-time start. We were given 3,000 chips and blinds started at 25/25 with 30 minute levels. The levels moved for the first few levels to 25/50, 50/100, 100/200 and then 100/200 with a 25 ante so there was quite a bit of play for a while; especially so if you bought in for another 3,000 chips for $300.
I really wasn’t feeling very good so decided to just see how things went before purchasing a rebuy. I realize that if you are going to rebuy you should do it right at the start, but I just felt I would see how things went for a while.
Podiman is at the head of the able in the 7 seat
There were about 130 people seated at the event. I didn’t recognize anyone at my table, but at least 3-4 were clearly regulars who didn’t completely suck. The guy to my direct left was a very friendly and chatty fellow from the mideast. On the very first hand he raised, everyone folded and he proceeded to show his hand to the guy to his direct left who was a quadriplegic on a respirator. He had a friend with him who would show him the cards and make all bets. I asked the mideastern guy to see the cards too and he showed me KK. He mentioned that he had played with the other guy a few days ago and that every time the guy raised him and the hand went to showdown the guy had KK (remember that thought – I didn’t!).
On the second hand of the night I’m dealt A7s in mid-position. I limped and the button raised to 100. The BB called so I decided to call too. The flop came A65 rainbow. I check to the button who raises to 150. The BB folds. I don’t really love my situation here and try to get a read on the buttom. I had recently read an article in Bluff magazine written by former FBI profiler Joe Navarro. I had previously read a great book by Joe titled <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/Phil-Hellmuth-Presents-Read-Reap/dp/0061198595/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209070360&sr=8-2">Read’em and Reap</a> written with Phil Hellmuth. It’s one of the most useful poker books I have read and right after reading it I had a great session in a Vegas NL cash game using some of the reads I picked up in the book. This article discussed how the lips are the best tell a person shows (next to the feet). Most people think it’s the hands or eyes, but Joe believes it’s the lips. Anyway, I look at the guy on the button and I immediately notice that his lips are really tense and he’s holding them together. The other striking thing was that his lips had gotten really small. Joe says that when a player is confident their lips fill with the blood and they are very full. Well this guy’s lips were disappearing. If Joe says this guy is bluffing and nervous who am I to argue. I call.
A blank hits the turn and I check again. The guy now bets 250. Shit, I would normally fold in this situation with my kicker but the guy’s lips are freak’en non-existent now. I got him, so I call! A blank again on the river. No way he can bet without the A, right? He bets 500 now. Oh, geez… enough with the tell, it’s the 2nd hand of the tournament. I can’t call again, if he’s willing to fire at every street. I fold.
One thing that Joe always says in his book is that you need to establish a base behavior. I had only been playing with the guy for two hands and really hadn’t studied him much. One thing I noticed after playing with him a bit was that he is one of those people with very small lips. So my read really had no validity. This guy was lipless! So much for that read.
I mentioned that there were a few players who didn’t suck. Well there were also a few who did. How about this hand. Three people see a limped a flop of QJT with 3 hearts so there’s 75 in the pot. This woman bets 400. What? Can it be more obvious that she either has a made straight or a low flush? So she either wins 50 right there or gets called by a better flush. Of course the second is what happens, actually not really because two people call. The turn is a blank and now she goes all-in which again is rather odd given that she must know that she’s beat… oh, that’s right, she’s not very good. One guy calls, she turns over a low flush and her opponent has a better flush. The river actually paired the board and the guy who folded would have had a full house but he had no business calling the flop.
For the next two hours I am basically card dead. I play a few hands of the raise/continuation bet/fold to reraise variety but nothing much. Most times when I’m on the buttom if I raise or limp after several limpers are in the pot, the BB (who is the quadriplegic guy) will raise or reraise. He has done this at least 3-4 times in the first few levels. Now my assessment of the situation is that he does not have hands all the time and he is just making moves. I partly base this on what I would do, but also the fact that he is clearly going through a ton of effort to come here and play so he can not be a typical tight nit who only raises strong hands. A lot of local LA regulars stop by to say hello, so he most likely knows what he is doing. I make a mental note that if I do have a strong hand on the buttom I will plan on slow playing it and get him to raise me which I’m confident he will do.
The only two hands I pick up for the first few levels are QQ and KK. I do get a bit of action both times and manage to get my stack back to the initial 3k starting amount when we hit the first break after the 50/100 level. This also represents the last time we can rebuy which I decide not to rebuy. First of all, I’m just not feeling it. Second, I realize that I will be only left with 15 BB when we come back, but I don’t think my table is very tough and there are a few very loose players who I believe will double me up if I can pick up a few hands. Also, I still am counting on reraising the BB when I’m on the button if the situation is right which should give me some chips.

On the very first hand back from the break with blinds at 100/200 I get into a blind vs. blind unraised hand and manage to win about 600 chips when my mideastern pal calls my value bet on the river. I had 3rd pair but was pretty sure I was good. On the very next hand 3 people limp to my button and I look down at 97o. Nothing too great, but now I decide that I can put my plan into action. I limp too with the plan to reraise all-in if the BB raises. Sure enough the SB calls and the BB raises to 700 so there is now 1900 in the pot. Everyone folds to me, so everything seems perfect. I quickly do the math. I have about 3300 left so he will have to call 2600 to win 4500. He needs a real hand. He would still be left with 2500 or so if he lost, but he’s not going to call me without a premium hand and I really think his range is practically any two cards. I having done anything out of line so there is no reason why he she put me on a move. Seems like an easy decision. I had a plan, everything seems to have fallen right into place so why not? I push. He immediately calls. Oops. What do you think he has? Have you been paying attention? It’s obvious right… KK. I don’t improve. Oh, well.
In summary, it was a very well run tournament, we had lots of play, there was a good turnout and I followed a plan. My move may have looked like a total blowup to the folks I was playing with and perhaps to you (and maybe it was!), but I really have no regrets. I guess my only regret was not to rebuy right from the start.
I will definitely be making my way back to the Bike for at least one more event during the series. Send me a private message if you have plans to go down to the Bike and want to meet up!
On a positive note, Podiman made it 14th for $900. While I was still in it he suffered two brutal beats where he twice was all-in on the turn and had his opponents dominated and both times they hit runner-runner cards to beat him. When I left he had about 12k in chips which was above average but he would have had 25k if the suckouts didn’t happen. On a second positive note, Podiman mentioned that my quadriplegic opponent who I donated my chips to had a big stack and looked to be a shoo-in to make the final table. The guy goes through so much effort to play this game. I really wish him well! If anyone knows his name please let me know. If you look at the pic below you can see him in the table to the bottom right. In fact, the guy standing up looks to be taking my seat!

<b>Stars & Stripes</b>
While other poker rooms have seen tournaments attendance soften, the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/BicycleCasino.html">Bicycle Casino</a>'s <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.thebike.com/tournaments/schedule/index.php?tournament_id=91">Stars & Stripes tournament series</a> kicked off last week with 615 players (60 tables!) showing up for the first event. With buy-ins of $120 to $545 and $260,000 of guarantees in this series, the Bike recognizes what poker players want in a weak economy—bankroll-friendly value—and like locusts, players swarmed to it.
In the old days, the Stars & Stripes was a mid-summer series extending over the July 4th holiday. The Bike moved it up a few years back, most likely to avoid the WSOP, and in an endearing, demented twist, dropped it smack in the middle of tax season. It’s been an April routine for me for the last couple of years—file an extension on my taxes, resolve to sort out my receipts at some later date and head over to the Bike to play poker. Pretty much the story of my life—procrastinate, let my conscience bother me for a few minutes and then cave to my basest instincts.
One of the things I like about the S&S and all the other tournaments at the Bike is that you can <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.thebike.com/tournaments/schedule/index.php?tournament_id=91">register online</a>. I, for one, like a tournament I can register for with a laptop in one hand and a DirecTV remote in the other. More poker rooms should offer this option.
I was planning on playing a couple of the $335 and $545 events and wanted to see how they were setting the tournament up this year. In any event, I called a friend of mine over at the Bike to fax a copy of the structure sheet to me, but she didn’t have a copy of it handy so I headed over on Monday night to pick one up.
<b>Sketchy? Compared to what?</b>
For those of you who haven’t been, the Bike’s located in Bell Gardens, California directly off the 710 freeway at the Florence exit. The area, the corner of Eastern and Florence south of LA, used to be seedy when Stuey hung out there in the 80s and 90s, but now it looks like every major intersection in Los Angeles with strip malls on each corner. Except in this particular case, the second biggest and nicest card room in the city sits on one of the four corners.
Every so often, I’ll be reading a thread on a poker forum and some dude will comment about the Bike being in a bad area. That’s nonsense. I’m not saying you’ll find Whole Foods and the Apple Store nearby, but compared to its peer group, the Bike’s located in the middle a thriving village. At the Commerce, you’re pretty much stuck there unless you’re willing to drive. That’s not all bad, of course, but at the Bike, you can go outside, wander around and have something to visit other than the freeway on ramp and vacant lots.
<b>Meet the neighbors</b>
Need specifics? Directly across from the Bike, you’ll find Appleby’s, Ross, Marshall’s, Washington Mutual, Jamba Juice, some coffee shop called It’s a Grind and a trippy mariachi joint that’s a free-for-all on weekends. You’ll also find the Bell Gardens Hotel, formerly a Ramada Express. It’s not my favorite hotel, but if you’re looking for a shower and a bed, it’s fine. And it’s literally across the street. You could stumble out of the Bike, trip, roll down the driveway and, subject to cross traffic, come to rest at the bottom of the stairs to the hotel lobby. I’m not recommending that commute, of course, but it’s an option.
Across the street to the north is an IHOP (go hungry, leave happy!), Citibank, Big 5 Sporting Goods, RiteAid pharmacy, and a Food 4 Less grocery store. Across the street to the northeast is a Toys R Us, Hollywood Video, Starbucks Drive-thru, McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken. You get the idea. Anyone who tells you the Bike’s in a lousy area is the kind of guy who orders a no foam chai latte and has a bottle of Purell next to his chip stack. Are you seriously taking advice on poker rooms from that guy?

<b>Oh, the places I've been</b>
You want sketchy? Try Inglewood (Hollywood Park) which lies in the direct landing path of LAX or Gardena (Normandie Casino) where the attendant in the fast food place serves you from behind bulletproof glass. Or maybe even my home poker room, Club One, where our neighbors include an odd mix of banks, bailbondsmen, ethnic markets, former theaters now serving as churches, homeless shelters, the county courthouse, a bunch of gutted buildings and a minor league ballpark. Trust me, we’d kill to be able to walk across the street to grab a decent cup of coffee or some Extra Crispy with 0 trans fat!
Ok, enough of that rant. I parked the car with the valet and wandered up to the Welcome Desk.
<b>Welcome to the Bike, sir!"</b>
The Bike has the nicest entrance of any casino in LA with marble and chandeliers that rival a Las Vegas casino. As you enter, you’re directly in front of a marble podium with a cascading waterfall directly behind it.
They usually have tournament info right at the front desk, but tonight the girl on duty directed me to the tournament room to the right, down a long hallway past the lottery kiosks.
<b>Heartache? That's down the hall...</b>
Tonight’s event was the $100 buy-in with one rebuy and 353 entrants showed up. I wasn’t into playing the re-buy so I just grabbed the structure and looked around. In the main tournament room, there were twenty-five tables, all full, and there was spillover in the hall and other rooms.
I like the Bike’s tournament room—it’s smaller than the caverns over at the Commerce or Hustler, but you can actually hear announcements and it’s harder for waitresses to ignore you when you’re in the mood to eat or drink. You can get a sense of it from these pics…
I looked around and didn’t see anyone I knew, so I headed back to the main poker area to see what was happening there.
<b>Be honest, Ed, you're broke again, right?</b>
The main poker room is to the left of the Welcome Desk and the high stakes poker room is located directly behind it.
If you’re ever looking for <b>lakong</b>, you’ll find him camped in a 5/5 NL game, making ill-advised plays out-of-position and scamming free food (all the yellow chips games are comped). I hadn’t played the Bike in a while and tried to keep a low profile, but a grey-haired dude with a voice recorder is an easy target.
“Ed! Where’ve you been? You’re not broke again, are you?”
I tried to convince my friends on the floor that I’d been living 5 days a week in Fresno running a card room and my table time was limited to propping 2/5 NL. The tale was so absurd they shook off my explanation as a complete sham. I had been grinding in the 2/4 over at Hollywood Park. They could smell it.
In an attempt to save face, I put myself on the list for 5/5 NL. The list was five deep, but there was a good chance another table would get down as the tournament coughed up victims. Here’s a look at the action in the high stakes room at 8:00p on Monday night:
Two tables 20/40 hold’em
One table 300/600 hold’em (the big game in the room)
Three tables 2/3 $100 NL
Two tables 3/5 $200 NL
Two tables 5/5 $300-$500 NL (with a list 5 deep)
Two 5/10 $500-no max NL
One 20/40 stud hi/lo
One table of pot limit Omaha 5/5 $500 min buy-in
Interest for pot limit mixed game
The Bike recently opened up the wall between the high stakes poker area and the Bar & Grill so you can get toasted waiting for a seat. That was, of course, a legitimate option, but I hadn’t been down to the Bike in a while so I figured I’d wander around, sober for once, and make some notes. It was certainly better than sitting on the rail being mocked by my peers.
<b>Listen, when that seat opens, you know where I'll be...</b>
<b>Boldly going where more men go</b>
The high stakes room is on the same level as the lobby but a step or two above the main poker room. The step acts as an ego boost for guys like me and a subtle obstacle to keep the riff-raff like <b>LakeofFire</b> sequestered in $40 NL and 2/4 limit where they belong. Tonight, though, I was a man of the people and wandered over to the main poker room to check the board.
<i>Editor's note: immediately to the left of the Welcome Desk is the Bike's Cafe/Deli. Great sandwiches, good coffee--it's easily the best poker room deli in Southern California.</i>
Past the 2R editor drooling in front of the deli, there’s a set of four huge monitors surrounded by four smaller ones and typically, a good-natured Asian guy on the desk ready to match you with your game. Signing up for $40NL via this set-up is a little surreal—it’s kind of like wandering on the bridge of the USS Enterprise and asking Sulu for directions to the head..
<b>Aye aye, Captain! Warp Factor 4!</b>
Had I been so inclined, there was plenty of action to choose from:
One table 3/6 limit
Three tables of 4/8 limit
One table of 8/16 limit
Seven tables of $40 NL
Three table of $80 NL
Two tables 8/16 with a ½ kill
Interest for a $20 sit-n-go
One table of 3/6 crazy pineapple with interest for another game
Two tables of 3/6 Omaha hi/lo
One table of 6/12 Omaha hi/lo
A typical Thursday or Friday night will show roughly twice the action. If you haven’t been over here, the main room is big and there’s another tournament area for the dailies.
<b>The main room</b>
<b>What I really want to do is direct...</b>
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<b>The daily tournaments area</b>
I was just a tourist in these parts and moved on. I headed past the Mexican poker area (about 6 tables running), past another of the million or so bars on the property (side note: the Bike has bars everywhere. We applaude the practice), over to the blackjack, pai gow and baccarat area.
<b>Degens, welcome...</b>
What’s that? Over in the corner, I saw a brand new craps table. Apparently, the Bike will soon start offering craps using the cards, somehow corresponding to dice. I haven’t played it, but once they start running the game, I’ll give it a shot. I like craps almost as much as IHOP.
<b>Hard eight dealer! One time!</b>
Behind the California games area, there’s smoking/gaming area called the Freedom Court where the Bike has managed to work around the state’s no smoking law by having a patio area with a vented roof. There’s no poker here, but eight or so tables of no bust blackjack, pai gow poker, super pan 9, pai gow tiles and Chinese poker. I’m not a smoker, but there seem to be plenty of people who think the Surgeon General is over-reaching. The room was packed.
<b>Smoke 'em if you have 'em, fellas!</b>
On the way back around, I took a couple of shots of the Bike’s high stakes Dragon Room. The décor is pretty staggering and our shabby little faux Buddha up at Club One is laughable by comparison.
<b>Action? You have no idea...</b>
At the time, the Bike was filming for some commercials for local TV and posted a disclaimer near the entrance of the Dragon Room:
“Filming and photography are taking place beyond this sign. By entering these premises, you hereby grant the Bicycle Casino the right but not the obligation to photograph and record you and your likeness, voice and other sound effects in the production, exhibition, distribution, publicity and advertising of the program without compensation in all media (including interactive media, internet and digital) <b>throughout the universe in perpetuity</b>.”
You’ve gotta love the lawyers. “Why would you limit it to just the Milky Way? There are a hundred billion other galaxies. You can’t say for sure there’s no life there, can you? And make it good forever, ok?”
<b>Seat open? Why not?</b>
I circled back to the high stakes room just in time for the tournament run-off to spawn some extra tables in the high stakes room. Even though I had a 5:00a run up to Fresno scheduled, my instincts took over, and I plopped into an open seat at a new 5/5 $300-500 NL table.
As I stood over my seat waiting on chips, I looked over in the corner of the room and caught a glimpse of Barry Greenstein and Frank Mariani (Jerry Buss’s long-time partner) sitting in the 300/600 mixed game behind velvet ropes. I also saw a couple of guys I know sitting well-rolled in the 5/10 NL game. It’s always fun to see two guys, both of whom owe you money, sitting 300BB deep in a game bigger than the one you’re in.
On the very first hand, I didn’t even have chips yet and picked up AKo. I raised to $20 on my good credit and got two callers anxious to stack the crazy old guy who just arrived and started raising with any two.
The flop came A[c]Q[c]3[h] and I shook of the notion of one or both of my opponents hitting two pair. I bet out $40 and a doughy Asian kid in seat 7 called. When the turn blanked, I fired out another $100 and Asian kid insta-pushed for $180. I snap-called expecting to see AQ, but my AKo > AJo and I was up $325 without a chip of my own yet to touch the felt.
If there was ever a spot for a hit-and-run, that was it--up $300+ without posting a blind or putting chips on the felt--and I'll be honest, I thought about it. In fact, I'm still thinking about it. And to be even more candid, if that perfect storm ever strikes again, you can bet I'll be checking my cell phone and pantomiming an urgent call I need to take. "Sorry, fellas. I know this looks bad, but there's been some sort of accident..."
After that hand, I went card dead of course. Fortunately, the high stakes room has comfy chairs and food comps in the yellow chip games ($200NL and up). I spent the remainder of the session stuffing myself with the best card room food in the city, attempting to collect from my deadbeat friends in 5/10 via text message and watching rodeo on the flatties scattered throughout the room. I did manage to go up another $100, but gave it back with AQs and finished the night up $296.
Sleep deprived tomorrow morning, I'd no doubt be cursing the Bike, it's staff and the printers they send their files to. But for now, up three hundies and a batch of good photos, I was fat and happy...literally.
<b>"Who are you calling sleazy, Ed?"</b>
The <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/BicycleCasino.html">Bike</a>’s a modern, standout property, and with the most bars of any So Cal room, it's a favorite of discerning players like me. It's come a long way since the 60 Minutes segment in which the late Ed Bradley called it “a sleazy second-rate casino on the outskirts of Los Angeles.” That's the kind of description that would leave us beaming with pride at Club One, but it's nowhere near accurate for the Bike. The <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/BicycleCasino.html">Bicycle Casino</a>'s one of the nicest casinos you'll find in any jurisdiction and any serious poker player should put it on his must-play list.
In another post, I compared the Commerce/Bike debate to other classic match-ups like Sox v. Yankees, USC v. UCLA or Ginger v. Mary Ann. But those comparisons suggest that you need to pick a side and make a stand. More accurately, the Bike and the Commerce are the Grey Goose and Belvedere of So Cal poker and everything else is just a generic brand that will leave you angry you got seduced into trying it. Take it from someone who's tried them all and suffered the consequences. Stick to the premium brands!
Edmond

Impressions: Huge room with many games to chose from. If you like poker, you will love the Bike.
Atmosphere: Comfortable tables and chairs and plenty of room. No annoyances. Modern room, easy sign-up. Big flatscreens, easily seen from anywhere in casino.
Dealers: Some of the best dealers in town (probably anywhere).
Food: Drink service comes around quite often. Nice menu with many food items and you can eat at the tables.
Service: I have never waited over 10 min for a 1/2 or 2/3 NL. Sign-up screen is huge.
Comps: They offer all of your normal promotions Bad beat, high hand etc. I haven't used my card, I will get back to you.

The Bicycle Casino
7301 Eastern Avenue
Bell Gardens, CA 90201
(562) 806-4646
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.thebike.com/">website</a>
Jan 14th-20th; daily satellites at 7p
<b>The deeper, the better</b>
In the last year or so, we’ve seen the introduction of deep stack tournaments as rooms try to get a competitive edge by offering players more play for their money. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/VenetianResortHotelCasino.html">The Venetian</a> was one of the first to offer deep stack events—<a rel="nofollow" href="http://venetian.com/venetianeng/assets/files/DeepStac.pdf">Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza</a>—and they’ve proven popular with guys who are looking for more from a tournament than two rounds of posting and folding followed by a desperate short stack push with A6o.
This January, a couple of LA casinos have followed suit. The Hustler reworked Larry Flynt’s Challenge cup series (Jan 3rd-Jan 20th) link to include several deep stack events and the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/BicycleCasino.html">Bicycle Casino</a> is introducing a new tournament series, Mo’s Deepstack. Mo’s series starts Jan 14th and runs through Jan 20th. The final event is a 2-day $1600 buy-in with 10,000 start chips. I like the Hustler’s tournament room (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/index.php?ACTION=blogs&todo=view&ID=116">trip report</a>) and respect everything Flynt has done to protect my right to satire, but I think the Bike events look pretty interesting.
<b>Mo’s Deepstack</b>
Let’s take a closer look at Mo’s Deepstack series. First, it’s a manageable, week-long series that finishes up a couple of days before the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/index.php?ACTION=blogs&cat=2&todo=view&ID=1623">LAPC</a> kicks off. Second, I haven’t seen the structure but it looks like the preliminary events have the same buy-in as a couple early LAPC events but with 2x the chips. Ok, that can’t be too bad. Third, the events start at 4:15p so there’s a good shot you can final table an event and still get home at a decent hour. Finally, the whole series isn’t a bankroll buster—the buy-ins are $335, $545 and $1,600 (final event) and the satellites $40-160.
You can see the schedule of events on the Bike site below.
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.thebike.com/tournaments/schedule/index.php?tournament_id=100">Mo's Deepstack schedule</a>
Or you can download a copy of the flier (note the stacks).
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/files/bikemo%5C'sdeepstackschedule.pdf">Mo's Deepstack flier</a>
Again, I haven't seen the blind structures, but I'm told it will look something like this:
$335 buy-in; 5000 chips; 40 min rounds; 25/50 etc.
$545 buy-in; 7000 chips; 50 min rounds; 25/50 etc.
$1,600 buy-in; 10000 chips; 60 min rounds; 25/50 etc.
I'll post the actual structures when I get them, so check back or post me, if you're interested.
<b>The Bike</b>
If you haven’t played there, the Bike’s a great place for tournament and cash game action. The casino is the second largest card room in Southern California with 160+ tables (ergo: the 2nd largest on the planet) and its Legends of Poker event is one of the original World Poker Tour events. Past winners of the LoP include Brunson and Harrington and all the top pros have played the Bike at some point. In fact, when <a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stu_Unger">Stu Ungar</a> was alive, he considered the Bike his home away from Vegas. If the penultimate NL poker player/degenerate liked the Bike, that’s a solid endorsement, right?
The Bike’s easy to get to from pretty much anywhere in Southern California. It’s located a couple of blocks or so from the 710 freeway, Florence exit, as seen in the Google image below.
The folks at the Bike keep their property competitive with anything you’d find in Las Vegas—it’s modern, well-lit and spotless. As you come up on the property, you’re greeted by palm trees and neon signage…

I usually pay the two bucks to valet park, but if you’re cheap, there’s plenty of self-parking as you can see from the Google image above. As you enter the casino from the valet entrance, you face a reception desk where there’s always 1-2 staffers that will help you find what you’re looking for. Note: the reception staff are great; ask for tournament info, game info, whatever. If they know the answer, they’ll tell you; if they don’t they’ll point you to someone who does.
The main poker area is to the left of the reception area with a large automated brush desk…
The Bike spreads over 120 tables of poker, so there’s plenty of action...

If you’re curious about the games spread, check out our listing <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/BicycleCasino.html">here</a>. Game info is listed on the right of the page and is updated frequently.
As for the style of play, I find the NL action at the Bike somewhat nittier than that of other local rooms. The 5/10 NL game is uncapped and tends to draw some better players. That said there’s a lot of weak tight players set mining and with an adjustment toward a looser, more aggressive style of play, the games are beatable. Three bet and raise more, and if you get resistance, fold. Simple stuff.
Need more validation? Here’s a quote from Mr. Ungar…circa 1990…BEFORE the poker boom…
<i>"There are a lot more people to take money from here than there are in Las Vegas," Stu Ungar said last week between poker games at the Bicycle Club. "The city is becoming a nice place to gamble because there's a constant flow of people and money. There's more money to take out of here than there is in Las Vegas."</i>
Indeed.
<b>Tournaments</b>
The daily tournaments (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.thebike.com/tournaments/index.php">Nooners, Nooner Nites</a>) are held on the main poker floor to the LEFT of the reception area. But larger, special events are held in the tournament/ballroom down a corridor to the RIGHT of the reception desk as you enter the casino. The Bike’s tournament room is smaller and more intimate than other local rooms, but I like it. It’s kind of like playing in your rich friend’s den—bigger and nicer than your own apartment but small enough where you can get a drink without sending up a flare.
Here’s a look at the special events/tournament room...
And with some players even…
<b>Service on 1!</b>
Food at the Bike deserves special mention. I think their tableside food is tops in Los Angeles with the exception of Ocean’s 11, 90 miles to the south. If you play in the higher stakes area behind the reception desk, you eat for free and you don’t regret it at all. The other night, I played the 5/5 $300-500 max NL game. (Note: the table was one of the tightest I’ve played in a while—still beatable but as <b>lakong</b> found out, when a guy plays back at you at the Bike on a 3876 board, your pocket queens are no good. See above.) I had a great salad and grilled salmon and <b>lakong</b> had a steak; both entrees were comparable in quality to that from a decent restaurant.
I also think the Bike deli is AWESOME. Whenever I’m meeting someone at the Bike, I almost always eat there and I’m not really a deli kind-of-guy. Great sandwiches, good coffee, polite staff, fast and cheap. The deli’s directly to your left as you enter the property.
<b>You girls know each other, right?</b>
Any discussion of the Southern California poker usually spins into a Bike vs. Commerce debate. Like all great rivalries—Ali/Frazier, Sox/Yankees, UCLA/USC, Biggie/Tupac, Tommy Lee/Kid Rock—you’ve got rabid proponents of each. Me? I’m an Ali/Sox/Stanford/Tupac/Tommy Lee kind of guy. But, of course, everyone’s different. To me, the Commerce and the Bike are like Ginger and Mary Ann or, more fundamentally, blondes and brunettes. You can make a great case for either, but if you can enjoy both, you should!
If you’re interested, you can see a comparison of all the So Cal rooms below.
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/files/la%20comps.htm">Comparison of LA card rooms</a>
Anyway, that’s a quick look at the Bike. I’m probably going to head down and play a couple of the Deepstack events. If anyone’s heading down, holler!
Still digging,
Edmond

Played in the October tournament series at the Bike last night. The buy-in was $350 with 200 or so runners. I got home around 3:30am and only slept for about 4.5 hours so I'm running on fumes. Here is a quick summary. I'll fill in the gaps in the next post:
- podiman was in from NY and invited me to join him at the Bike last night
- we both made it deep. Podiman was knocked out with about 4-5 tables left. I made it to 19th, just in the money.
- my $525 win amounts to about $25 per hour. Wow!
- I called a guy a pussy after he yelled at a guy for cracking his Aces. The problem was I did this without first even looking to see if i could take him! I was in the 9 seat, he was in the 1 seat, so I never got a good look at him. Luckily, he was not very big and didn't give me any trouble.
- Was short all night. Just grinded the best I could. Was all-in 5 times. Once we had the same hand. The other 4 times I was either about 50/50 or 40/60. Won all 4.
- Had a few big hands in the last few hours when the blinds were high. KK/KK/QQ/AK/AK/AQ. Not EVEN ONE time did anyone raise in front of me or call my raise. Not once. Could never pick up a big hand, or any hand for that matter when I needed one.
- Finally busted when I had to make my 100th move to keep a manageable stack when the 900/1800 blinds were about to hit me and my stack was only 6500 or so.
- This was a bounty tournament. They gave you $25 for every person you knocked out. I played for 7+ hours, made it to 19th and never busted another player. In fact, never was even in a position to bust another player.
I'll fill in some details after I get some sleep.
- S

Edmond and I met with the marketing folks at the Bike today and we were done around 5pm. I saw no reason to head out the door when the sweat sound of chips hitting the felt beckoned me to stay a while. Edmond agreed to play too, and we were both immediately seated at a $5/$5 table with $300-$500 stakes.
There were 1-3 empty seats during our 2 hour session and the play was fairly loose preflop with many limped pots. Standard 3x or 4x PF raises didn't usually accomplish much to thin the field, and often PF raises as much as $30-40 were made regularly. One guy even raised $100+ PF with one small raise in front of him and won the pot when he was called by two big cards. The $200 guy had 83o!
I bought in for the max $500 and in the first orbit I'm dealt K[c]6[c] in late position. Four of us see a flop of:
Q[c]T[s]6[d].
The SB makes it 40 and one other guys calls. I decide to make a loose call with botton pair, backdoor flush draw and position. I really did it more because of the position than anything else, but yes, it was a very iffy call.
The turn brings a club. The SB now makes it $100 and the other player folds. The SB was as deep as me so with a minimum of 9 outs and more likely up to 14 outs, it was an easy call for me. The river brought a club and didn't pair the board so I was fairly confident I had the nuts.
The SB made it $140 and had a few hundred left as did I. Now I don't like to hollywood, but to be honest, I hadn't checked my suits since the hand started and I was now not 100% sure I had the clubs -- only 99.8% sure. My problem was that if I looked back at the cards and then pushed it would be so obvious I had the flush. So I pretended to be ready to fold, looking at my cards and then purposely waited a good 30-40 seconds. Not for the hollywood effect, but to separate the looking at my cards from the pushing. Hey, I know it's hard for him to put me on the backdoor flush so it probably didn't matter. He called very quickly and the table clearly was not impressed with my suckout. Even Edmond gave me a look. Hey, it never sucks to win a $1,000 pot. Given the guy's quick call he likely had trips so my 5 outs might not have been good enough, but I guess two pair was possible too.
I stayed with a stack of $1,000 for the next hour or so. Didn’t catch many hands and when I did, I got no action. On two consecutive hands I hit two pair on the flop with QT, and got no action and then raised PF with QQ, got one caller, hit trips, made a standard continuation bet and got not action again. Soon thereafter, this hand came up. Edmond felt I played it like a donk. What do you think?
I’m dealt Q[c]5[d] on the bottom. A bunch of limpers and I limp too. The flop comes down:
K[c]J[c]2[c]
An EP player makes it 15 and 2 callers so I call too with the the second nut flush draw. The turn brings the T[d] so the board reads:
K[c]J[c]2[c]T[d]
And now I have the open-ended straight draw and the second-nut flush draw. It’s checked to me and I make it $30. It’s folded to the guy to my right who raises it $60. He could have a made hand or also a Q. I don’t think he has a K given his call of a small bet on the flop, but I guess KT is possible or even TT.
I'm thinking that he might even have the A[c] so perhaps I don't want to see a club at all. In fact, maybe a miss is my best bet because the club could mean a big loss and an A or 9 might simply be a split pot.
I decide to call and a junk card falls on the river. The guy checks to me. Hmmm… He’s a tight player, but he is not a bad player. The raise on the turn could have meant so many things: he didn’t believe my bet and wanted to take it away with a so/so hand or a draw, he had a draw too with the A, etc. Anyway, no way I’m winning this hand with a check and with both draws missing I felt it was EV to take the chance so I bet $100. He called me with the nut flush! It turns out that I was drawing dead.
Everyone was congratulating him for his check, but I don’t think it was a good move. He didn’t know that I had a missed draw and if I did I wasn’t always betting there. I think he needed to bet there to get value out of his hand the most often. Thoughts on my play and his check?
Going forward nothing very exciting happened. I raised quite a bit with hands like AQ, KQ, 88, etc., and every time got callers and then had to surrender my hand on the flop either to an EP raise or to a RR or call after I made a CB.
There was one hand where I screwed up just a bit (or should I say <i>another hand</i>). I had a flush draw on the turn with second pair and an A on the board. My opponent raised $50 and I’m getting almost 2-1 to call. I have at least 9 outs, but more likely he only had an A so I could have up to 14 outs. I looked at the guy’s stack and he only had $100 more. I just didn’t feel like calling with such a small stack behind him, but I guess it was close.
I decided to leave at 7pm and locked in a profit of $150. Not great, but better than a losing session. I didn’t play my best poker, I probably fell too much into the slow rhythm of the game instead of forcing my opponents to play my game a little more. Does that make any sense? I’m not sure even I understand what I mean!!!
** BTW, we both ate a delicious chicken kabob dinner which was on the house. The service and food at the Bike is always first rate. The players were friendly and management handled a little screw-up very professionally. Here's what happened to the best I can tell. A guy gets busted and buys in for another $130 or so and is waiting for his chips. Somehow he ended up with $230, but only $130 was his, he owed the dealer $100. He proceeds to get into a hand where he doubles up and the opponent gives him $230. Well, a few minutes later everyone realizes that he owes the dealer $100 and the other player $100. He doesn't want to give it back. He finally does, but it takes at least 5 minutes for it to happen. Ed, please correct me if I didn't get the details exactly right.

I played yesterday in a 5/10 NL game for a few hours and netting about 400+. Nothing special to speak up, but check this hand out:
Young guy, good player is in pot with asian guy to his right. The asian guy seems to be tight and somewhat passive but loves to slowplay hands when he makes them. Anyway, in this pot they are heads up and on the turn with a very scary board -- something like AAQx, flush draw, the asian guy bets $150, and the young guy raises to 300. The asian guy thinks for a while and mucks. The young guy shows his hand (first time he did it in two hours). It was just 44 (both black), so he bluffed and showed it, clearly to set us up for a later non-bluff bet.
On the VERY next hand the same two are at it again. This time the young guy raises the asian dude again on the turn, but this time the asian guy calls. On the river the asian guy checks and the young guy bets again. The asian guy calls and shows something like QT on a board like Q9642, so he had top, weak kicker. The young guy turns over... two black 4's for a set. Amazing that his setup lasted one hand and it was with the same two cards! No way the guy calls all the way to the river with TP weak kicker if it wasn't for the setup one hand early.

Impressions: I've never actually played on 'Live at the Bike' but I have played there live many times. It's my favorite poker room. Very, very big, extremely nice and they have tons of tables and action. I mostly play the $500 no limit game and the action is fast and loose. Lots of regulars but you can make good money here if you are patient and aggressive. Just dont' try to bluff too much.
Atmosphere: It doesn't get better than the bike. It's huge with so much no limit action. Lots of room, everything is very modern, tons of flat screens, electronic boards for waiting lists, you name it, they have it.
Dealers: No complaints, very professional and experienced.
Food: They have a great menu with tons of options that they serve right at the table. Drinks are all great and the service is mostly very fast.
Service: They keep things moving and with so many tables you never wait too long. Once the list gets long they usually just start a new game.
Comps: They have all the normal stuff like bad beat jack plots, player comp points and such.

Impressions: I live about 40 minutes from the Bike and really love this room. It's very spacious, they have a great NL section that stands apart a bit from the rest of the room and it is extremely large. The rooms in Los Angeles -- especially the Bike and Commerce -- are so much larger than the biggest rooms in Vegas. They have tons of flat screen TV's for watching sports and a separate tournament area for their weekly and large professional tournaments.
Atmosphere: Very large. The NL section is off to the side and raises a bit from the rest of the room. If you have only played in Vegas this place is more like a craps+blackjack area, not like a poker room. They have great dealing machines for all of the cash games and the chairs are really expensive feeling and comfortable.
Dealers: Very professional.
Food: Great food and drinks. They have an extensive menu and they serve food at the tables. For the NL $5/10 and up games the food is free.
Service: They have monitors that show the waiting lists. Things seem to move pretty quickly.
Comps: I'm not a member of their comp program, but it seems to be popular and they do have jackpots.