Commerce Casino: The Ultimate Poker Destination

Commerce Casino, the world’s largest poker room with more than 240 tables, sits nicely minutes from downtown Los Angeles in the suburb of Commerce. Established in 1983 and building its name around card playing, the casino is also one of the largest employers in the city, making it not only a hub of all things poker, but a social center in Southern California.

Away from the massive main card room, the Assyrian-Babylonian themed facility boasts 200 hotel rooms in the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Amenities include a day spa, beauty salon, pool and sundeck, banquet rooms, shops and entertainment.

However, every poker player really wants to know one thing: What are the games like?

Existing before the poker boom and the popularity of no-limit hold’em, Commerce Casino currently offers a wide variety of action-packed limit and pot-limit including: seven-card stud, Omaha eight-or-better, H.O.R.S.E., and of course, the Cadillac of poker, no-limit hold’em.

“When Las Vegas was pushing poker players aside years ago, we were opening our arms to them and treated them like kings,” said Casino Operations Manager John Griffo. Commerce is currently in the process of building a high-stakes section for some of the most expensive cash games in the world. The new section in the poker room will be semi-enclosed, offering high-rolling clients a little privacy.

The casino treats everyone like a regular, spreading hold’em games as low as $1-$2 on the main poker room floor, with $8-$16 and larger limit games in the section near the hotel. No-limit hold’em tables allow players to buy in for as little as $40, making the experience comfortable for all bankroll sizes.

While grinding it out at the poker table, the casino runs a bad beat jackpot promotion, which features six-figure purses for hold’em games. At Commerce it’s OK if your aces-full gets beat.

While not worrying about your win rate and scooping thousands in jackpot prizes, players can take advantage of the brand new 52-inch TVs scattered throughout the casino. Sports fans can watch their favorite teams play during a session. Another technological addition to the poker experience is a new text messaging system (Poker PA) for alerting players when their seat is available.

For an exciting change from the daily grind of cash games, the casino offers daily tournaments for a chance to win a first-place prize up to $10,000. Buy-ins start as low as $55 and go as high as $220, all with comfortable structures. The casino pays out hundreds of thousands in prize money each month.

Commerce Casino is also host to four major poker series. The Los Angeles Poker Classic is the casino’s signature series, routinely awarding more than $1 million to the winner of the World Poker Tour sponsored main event.

The $10,000 event has quite the history in the poker world, as past champions include poker stars Gus Hansen, Antonio Esfandiari, Michael Mizrachi, and Phil Ivey. Last year Greg Brooks took home $1.6 million for the win.

The California State Poker Championship is an annual tournament during May and has also been won by big names in the past. The casino just recently finished its Commerce Hold’em Series, concluding with a $2,000 buy-in main event. Poker fans looking to get in on the action this fall can check out the L.A. Poker Open in November, set to award more than $1 million in prize money.

The tournament series will run from Nov. 2-21, kicking off with a $225 buy-in no-limit hold’em event with a $300,000 guarantee. Altogether the series consists of 20 events, culminating with the final table of the $2,085 main championship which will run three days. Players can reenter on day 1b if they bust on the first day of action.
Facebook fans and Twitter followers of the casino should keep their eyes peeled for special tournament promotions throughout the year. “We are very excited about being able to demonstrate to Commerce Casino’s Facebook fans how much we appreciate their support,” said Casino Manager Jeff Harris.

For those curious about how online poker’s Black Friday has affected action at Commerce: The casino has seen about a 10-percent increase in tournament registration. The young generation of poker players has turned out in great numbers since live poker became the only option.

For players who are not advanced enough to even begin thinking about bad beats and tournament structures, Commerce Casino offers a free “home game” option where you can grab your own poker table for yourself and your friends. The casino will provide game instruction, dealers, cards, chips and poker snacks. These are treated just like a normal live cash game, and players are still eligible for jackpots.

If you are clueless about the rules of poker, the casino, through its University of Poker, offers absolutely free poker lessons from Roger Rodd on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the hotel. Beginner classes are Tuesday evenings and intermediate classes are held on Thursdays.

Most poker players have or will eventually experience a long session, and Commerce Casino has several places for those who are hungry to get some grub: Manhattan Deli Restaurant & Bakery, The Arena Sports Bar & Grill, and The Commerce Café, right near the main poker room. The casino also offers tableside dining for its players, catering to every cuisine.

Even with an explosion of popularity in other table games like EZ Baccarat, and games such as pan, no-bust blackjack, three-card poker, Let It ride, Caribbean stud, 21st century Baccarat, pai gow, super pan nine and Chinese poker, Commerce will always stay true to its roots in its massive 91,694 square foot casino. “We will always continue to be about poker,” said Harris. ♠