Lucky Chances Casino -
3 Years Old and Going Strong

Lucky Chances Casino in Colma, California, is located just five miles south of San Francisco in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge. It is truly an oasis in the hills. At night, it is a wonder of lights, lush greenery, and a beautiful fountain of cascading water. It took six years for owner Rene Medina to realize his dream, and the casino opened in June of 1998. Today, his dream has become a prominent fixture in the community. His generous contributions to the special needs of many charitable programs and his constant attention to the welfare of both customers and employees have made his business of entertaining people quite a success.

Beginning on Saturday, June 16, Lucky Chances will start celebrating its third anniversary by hosting its annual Battle of the Bay tournament. Because of the success of this yearly tournament, two extra days have been added to the tournament's normal seven-day run, resulting in nine days of tournament action for players to vie for the prestigious award of best all-around player and guaranteed prize pools of $10,000 to $50,000. All tournament winners will be eligible to play in the Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas, July 26-29. The best all-around player will receive a $2,000 paid entry into the Tournament of Champions plus $500 in cash. The second- and third-place finishers will receive $1,000 and $500, respectively. "This is a major event that you won't want to miss," stated Shift Manager Cathy Galletta. The new nine-day tournament will feature three limit hold'em events and two no-limit hold'em events, plus Omaha eight-or-better, seven-card stud, limit/no-limit hold'em shootout, and partners bounty events. In the partners bounty hold'em tournament, partners will rotate each round and will try to eliminate designated bounty teams to claim $200 in cash for each bounty. The night will begin with a special dinner for two in Rene's fine-dining restaurant. Bounty teams will include Tournament Director Matt Savage and his wife, Susana (the better player in the family), Poker Room Manager Scott Fiedler and cardroom favorite Sue Thong, and other poker room employees and customers.

Lucky Chances takes pride in the fact that its tournaments have pioneered innovations that have spread throughout the poker industry. It was the first cardroom in the country to use Tex Morgan's TEARS structure in all of its tournaments, from weekly tournaments to the Battle of the Bay. "It is nice for our customers to know what to expect when they walk through the doors," said Tournament Director Matt Savage. "We have been happy with the players' response to the expanded payouts and will continue to pay two tables in all sold-out events. Larry Roach's tournament assistant program will be displayed on all TV screens, showing blinds, limits, time remaining, and all payouts. All final-table winners will once again receive jackets in addition to some of the largest prize pools Northern California has ever seen. All tournaments have sold out early in past years, so players should sign up early." Out-of-state players may sign up now through the mail or by contacting Matt Savage at (650) 758-2237, Ext. 139, or by E-mail at [email protected].

In addition to enjoying Rene's fine-dining restaurant, players may find themselves singing a medley of tunes with the karaoke crowd or dancing the night away to fox trot, cha-cha, or, on special nights, disco music. Additionally, Café Colma serves a variety of ethnic foods.

Poker players from all around go to Lucky Chances to play in its $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em games and its pot-limit Omaha games. In addition, the casino offers limit hold'em, Omaha eight-or-better, seven-card stud, double-hand poker, pai gow, lucky blackjack 23, and bad-beat jackpots.

The zero tolerance policy that Lucky Chances upholds for both customers and employees has made it a very pleasant place to play, and the management and staff are always eager to ensure customer satisfaction.