Tiger Tours the Tables in the USA - Table of Contents

11/12/99 friday

Casino Barona

you must be pretty determined to get to casino barona. you take route 67 north from el cajon (just east of san diego) to its end; then a right onto willow road, and a left onto wildcat canyon road (how could i resist with a name like that?). some ten miles later, after some more hair-raising twists and turns and ups and downs, you suddenly get to the casino. there's lots of parking all around, and, like many indian casinos out west, there are handy helpful shuttle buses and carts.

The Poker Room

the seven-table poker room is in the far corner of the casino, but it's set up amidst slots, pai gow tables and various other assorted facilities. they've got two 1-3 stud/8 games in progress and a list for 3/6 hold 'em. but games have a full kill. the room has high ceilings and what appears to be good ventilation. dealer charles greeted me as soon as i walked in (it's just not that hard to spot the newcomer in a "local" casino), and puts me on both lists. all of the tables in this room seem slightly undersized. there are small service tables for ashtrays, drinks and food. the seats next to the dealers are clearly marked as no-smoking seats. :)

they run small buy-in tourneys here three nights a week. they have bad beat jackpots (two of which were hit the night before i arrived). cash does not play. they use the forward moving button rule - i saw it in action twice, so i'm sure of this one! dealers keep their own tips.

i play some 1-3 stud/8. i could make a fortune at that game at that casino. not one player at either table has the slightest clue how to play hi-low split stud! i win two or three stacks of green ($1) in less than an hour. they take one dollar for the jackpot, and only rake $2 from the pot (the cheapest game in town!). it's got an ante of .25 and low card brings it in for a dollar.

at the 3/6 hold 'em game, they take the entire big blind. one dollar goes to the jackpot and two dollars goes to the rake. no flop, no drop. i was astounded when, holding ace-jack suited one to the right of the button, after four limpers, i raised and ended the hand! ack!!!

floorman ralph told me that the rulebook in the room is based on the rulebook from the bicycle club in los angeles. i think that someone once told me that all the los angeles clubs use a common rulebook (i've got the one from hollywood park - thanks, steve(?) nebbiolo), which is derived from the las vegas hilton. for whatever it's worth, one of the staff at sycuan told me that barona will close their poker room in january. :(

when i was checking into my motel room day before yesterday, the guy right behind me was wearing a casino morongo baseball cap. i asked him for directions to sycuan (he seemed like the right kind of person who might know!). he gave me directions, but poor-mouthed the casino. seems that he had just changed jobs as a chef from morongo to barona. so he gave me a comp card to the barona buffet! :) and i used it! :)

and, oh, yeah. while i was eating dinner, the public address system announced that there was an accident on wildcat canyon road, and it was closed. i had to go all the way to ramona and around the mountain to get back to my motel! ack!

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