California Grand Casino

I love playing poker at the Grand. There are lots of places around where you have to deal with drunks, foul language, be nervous about your safety, and keep a close eye on the game because the dealers don’t pay attention or are prone to mistakes. Not at the Grand. this place goes above and beyond to make sure you don’t have to worry about these things. And although it results in a lot of rules (and sometimes unhappy people when they don’t follow them) I personally appreciate their approach. I think its also good that they care enough to re-​evaluate rules as times change. Not so long ago you couldn’t use your phone at the table. now chargers at every seat. They used to «drop for no flop» now $ 1. And. compare the rake. Overall a good value for good action and a fun time.

This is a good, well-​manged club. I have been going there for years. I am only writing this to counter what I feel are some negative reviews, usually from someone who lost money or was barred from the club. When it comes to losing money, it’s called gambling for a reason. On the bigger issue of people being barred from the club, I have noticed (and appreciate) that the Grand has very low tolerance for poor behaviour. If you are drunk, rowdy, rude, beligerent or try to intimidate others expect to be asked to leave. If your behaviour happens again or exceeds their subjective threshold of what it takes to «cross the line» you will be barred. I have known two people barred and I have heard of many others. That tells me the Grand places an emphasis on employee and patron safety and for the customers to be able to enjoy themselves. Not all clubs in the Bay Area are like this.
Why only 3 stars? I personally think the bad beat jackpots encourage people to play crappy hands and then they suck out on me. Other than that, they offer cheap beverages, good food, fast service to players and have a nice clean and comfortable environment. Don’t expect to walk in and get loaded on free drinks… ain’t gonna happen.

A well-​run card room. Friendly and no frills, but not no frills in a bad way. I always run good there, so I’m a little biased.

This place has 25 cent boneless wings on nights they have NFL football. I think that is super awesome; however, the people who aren’t playing poker may have to wait a long time to get your order in and receive the food. I would play poker here if the blinds weren’t so high. I’m not a super great poker player, nor am I a very lucky so I can’t play here with any confidence.
This place has very friendly waiters and waitresses. Their customer service is superb and they earn their tip.

This place is a racquet. I went in for a newcomer’s free $ 30 with $ 20 down and got on the list to play No-​Limit 2−2−3. I was then told my $ 20 had to be $ 70, as the table minimum was $ 100. I would call that false advertising and really, highway robbery. But I’m game so I didn’t even mention it.
After waiting for 20 minutes to sit, I walked up to the cashier and while getting chips, noticed a «character» behind me doing a suspect chip/​cash exchange with one of the pit-​boss guys who checked me in. Then within 2 minutes of me sitting down to play, all of a sudden half the table turns-​over and this «character» sits 3 spots to my right. Next, dealer change 2 minutes after that. So I’ve only been sitting for 15 – 20 minutes, and i get dealt wired 10s, heart/​spade. The flop comes 8h-​3h-​2c. He bets, I double it to go all-​in. He turns over Ah-​10, my 10s are ahead. The turn comes Jh, then 9h for the four flush. Umm, this is what I call fishy and I’ve played all over. Sure most would say it’s a coincidence or «that’s poker», but my somewhat seasoned opinion is that I never even had a chance in this place, and that usually comes from the top down in little wanna-​be, back-​alley casinos that used to be a one room shack and is now sparkly and well-​advertised.
If you want to keep your money or even just have some lasting fun, don’t get taken by this place and go somewhere else.
I will never be back.

This casino is Very Small. There’s no slot machines to play. It was very clean though and staff was friendly.

Free donuts in the morning and 2 dollars breakfast is great but I want to win money. Site there long enough you will see nobody win because always short handed and all he money goes to drop

You know they are good, because they won their money back. Then when I tried my hand again a few days later. Boom, lost again. Now I am negative. The house always wins. If it doesn’t they wouldn’t be in business. Still a fun place.

Loved the super soft games and the Giants ticket promotion… I really like playing poker and its fun when it feels easy to win. Games are of a pretty decent size (2÷3÷5) and with 3 blinds in the no limit games it creats more action. Thanks for a big win!!!

Great place good to stop and play for few hours. I been in few but this one is nice one clean nice dealers as well !

I came to this place first time 6 months ago I now I’m a regular.
Great place, good food, amazing team working there!
I love most of them but there’s one in special that is always happy, great personality, really friendly and professional (Michael Moreno «Mikey»).
Even days that I’m upset or down I get in casino and he knows how to cheer me up. Thanks Mikey for the great costumer service and friendship :)
Thanks to Frankie for my ice creams
As I said the list of favorites is big and I like the place a lot :)

I like this place a lot. Employees are friendly and welcoming, food is great, and above all the action is really good. The wifi is strong and stable also which makes grinding long sessions more comfortable.
Only complaint is the valet wait times can be hit or miss, not even sure why a place this small needs a valet.
Overall though one of my favorite places to play cards.

The California Grand is one of the best places to play in the Bay Area. The staff is friendly and the action is usually good. There general player pool is also nice and friendly to play with. Whether you are a beginner or expert this is the place to play.

I work here and I absolutely love this place. otherwise I won’t drive from San jose here everyday. This is the only place I worked that treat customers and employees same nicely. very comfortable and friendly place to work and play.

Follow up review for the California Grand.
Since the owner/​general manager Mike will not respond to my last message. I will put this back to the front of the page. This is in response to Mike calling me «psychotic» in front of one individual who has run multiple high stakes games in multiple casinos and another with ties to the community. I am not asking to be reinstated to your casino. I want no part of lining the pockets of somebody with no common decency who feels it necessary to SLANDER my name without providing proof. This is an owner of a casino who can deny access to anybody because that is his right but to repeatedly show disregard for the financial and emotional well being for somebody he’s had one encounter with is amazing.
Ten years ago and then seven years and then last year you disparaged me in such a way that was so offensive, so untrue, that I live with your unwarranted
aspersions to this day. With NO qualification, you announced to the poker playing community that I was psychotic. If you can provide one shred of evidence, one
qualification that you possess that might justify this accusation, present it to me. I would be more than happy to respond. You have NO right to do this and should be criminally responsible for such misinformation and damages
that have resulted.

I’ve been playing at the California Grand for 4 years now and feel that I have a pretty solid understanding of the place.
The Atmosphere: The exterior is pretty nondescript. The interior is inoffensive, but the entirety of the place is well-​lit and functionally clean (considering that they’re open 24÷7÷365, that can be a challenge so well done). The men’s room is in good repair and well ventilated. Can’t speak to the women’s area.
There’s a bar and a dedicated dining area, although both are usually uninhabited.
The Food: Not going to win any awards here, but they do have a little variety. The lunch and breakfast specials are ok, but it’s a rush job out of the kitchen and the wait-​staff is usually overwhelmed at that point.
There are food options nearby and you are allowed to bring food into the establishment, which is a positive concession for someone like me who tends to eat healthier things than The Grand offers.
The Dealers: Easily my favorite part about this place. The dealers are usually friendly, knowledgeable and good at their jobs. The Grand has a pretty solid standard for dealing and 90% of them are good at it. The exceptions tend to be new or don’t typically last long.
The Floor People: Some great, some ok, one could use a little help improving. Among the rank and file patrons, there’s not a lot of tolerance for temper tantrums (which is a good thing, in my opinion) and excessive outbursts tend to get cut off pretty quickly. When approached for a genuine question — I’m excluding the whining that some entitled people seem to feel is their right when something doesn’t go their way — all of the Floor people respond with a pretty positive customer service attitude.
The Waitstaff and Drink Servers: Drink servers are pretty good. When I order a drink, I usually have a specific request. While I have to reiterate the request half the time, the servers are always good-​natured about it.
The waitstaff tend to be pretty good, but it seems like there’s never enough of them. I imagine that’s a scheduling vs. need/​demand issue. Their demeanor is great, though.
The Poker: The cards are sorted and replaced regularly, the chairs are comfortable enough and there are plenty of cushions around. The games are kept well-​regulated as far as procedure goes. Some soft play goes on, but I’ve noticed that if I mention it the dealers, then the floor, will address it. Although bringing it up politely usually spurs the players to correct the behavior.
The Parking: With a comfortably sized lot right by the building and another similar sized lot across the street (by their old building) there is enough parking to handle most nights. Free valet service is available and they have security on premises at both lots to help deter trouble. Four years and I’ve never had an issue with safety there.
Perks:
* USB chargers installed in the tables, so powering your devices is easy.
* Vending machines whose selections are about as healthy as the menu. (sorry, Grand, but that’s life in the Standard American Diet)
* Jackpots — in poker, they’re pretty decent, including High Hand payout, small jackpot and large jackpot (the larger one is progressive). The Omaha game and its jackpot seem to be grudging matters, as they rarely open more than one table to Omaha Hi/​Low, even when there are long lists and open tables.
* Hand sanitizers installed in easily accessible places.
The rake is pretty heavy, but everyone wants to get paid. It’s pretty easily overcome if you’re a professional (I’m not, so grain of salt here) or a relative non-​issue if you’re there playing for fun (that’d be me).
All in all, the Grand is a good place to play.

Clean environment, the staff is professional, courteous and knowledgeable.
Cash game tables looked full but I can’t tell anything about the action as I was there to play a tournament.
Pity there is only one tournament per week (Sunday at 10:30).
With 50 people CAP it gets full pretty quickly. You have to go 2 hours earlier and even so you might be on the waiting list as the seated players on the cash games can register 30 min earlier.
The tournament is super-​turbo, 15 min blind levels with T$ 500 starting chips.
Even though there are many LED TV’s around there was no tournament clock displayed so you don’t know how much time left for the level, how many players remaining, average stack etc.
But overall looks like a good place to satisfy your amateur poker needs.

Not bad for a local spot. Pretty quick service and tasty food. They will bring your food right to your table you are playing at.

I just recently visited California Grand Casino for the first time (didn’t even know there was a casino in Pacheco and I’ve been living in the East Bay for many years. I’m an occasional poker player and was told this was a happening spot to play cards. The reason I give it 5 stars is that they have this cool promotion going on called Match Play. New customers get $ 40 in free Match Play chips. I wasn’t aware of the promotion when my buddy and I walked in the door but when I checked in to get my poker chips they noticed I was a new customer and offered me the $ 40 dollar Match Play coupon. I thought that was pretty generous.
We ended up playing poker for several hours. Great vibe. Service was spot on. I especially liked being able to eat my lunch at the poker table while playing. I also felt very welcome there. I’ve been to a few other casinos where I felt out of place because I wasn’t a regular. Check it out.

There are many reasons that the Cal Grand gets 2 stars from me, I’ll post as many as I can below.
First off I play here a lot and do pretty well since the players in the limit games are HORRENDOUS! Seriously, they are horrible. It’s like playing with mentally challenged people but their money is green and I love taking their chips. I used to play a lot of NL in Vegas and at other casinos but no need to play NL at the Cal Grand when it’s like printing money in their limit games. Where else can you go play ³⁄₆ LHE and consistently win $ 200-​$ 600 a session?
Ok, so here are my gripes with the Cal Grand:
In the middle of the hand if a new dealer is coming in the current dealer puts the deck stub on the table, get’s up, turns his back to the table, tells the new dealer «no news» and then the new dealer takes a seat and finishes the hand. They leave the deck stub UNPROTECTED on the table! Are you kidding me? I heard they do that because of a lawsuit some dealers filed against them where they weren’t getting their full breaks. No casino in Vegas does that, they have that problem figured out, maybe Cal Grand should figure it out too.
90% of the floor people should not be floor people. They have no clue how to be a proper floor person.
I had one floor guy 2 weeks ago (he looks like Rick Moranis) break up a table with 8 players to try and fill the 2 front games that were short. Of course then a bunch of people just decide to rack up and then 20 mins later the front table breaks up too. I have probably played poker in over 40 poker rooms around the world and have never seen a table with 8 players broken up. Seriously, get a fking clue. Another time a table of 7 people was broken at 5pm.
Another time I had a ticket for their $ 2 lunch, the dealer called for food service 3 times and after 20 mins he shows up at 2:02 pm. They wouldn’t honor the $ 2 lunch because it was after 2 pm. I called over the floor guy, I think his name is Woody or Evan, he said «Sorry, nothing I can do», he said it in a real condescending tone like it was my fault it took the waiter 20 mins to get to the table.
Another time I got in to an argument with this same guy about a bad ruling he made, he then tells me he’s been there 30 years like as if he was bragging lol. Listen if the Cal Grand is as far as you got in your 30 year floor man career then you must not be too good at it cause you would have moved up to a better/​bigger room.
Another time with this same floor guy there was a dealer error and I asked him what would happen if we hit the jackpot this hand, would it be paid or not, his answer was «I’ll make that decision when it hits!» Yeah, good answer buddy, seriously.
A lot of the dealers are the phone police here. I turned my phone over today for 2 seconds while the dealer was getting the deck out of the shuffler and she said something about the phone. I told her I was checking the time and she pointed to the clock on the wall 30 feet away. Yeah thanks, f you lady, no more tips for you phone nazi.
There is a lot of angle shooting and collusion here. All the old people do it and the dealers let them get away with it. On the flop there could be a bet, you call, then another guy raises and the original bettor reraises, then you fold and they check it down on the turn and river.
Many times I see the SB or BB go to fold while forgetting to post their blind and the dealers will push their cards back to them and tell them for the 4^th time it’s their blind. Listen, if they pitch/​push their cards towards the muck then take them and friggin muck them, they are still responsible for the blind especially after you have told them 3 times.
One time I saw a dealer push the cards back to a guy 3 TIMES! UNBELIEVABLE!
There is one dealer there that does it right. He said «sir your blind» twice and the guy didn’t put it up, when it was his action he tossed his cards, the dealer scooped them in to the muck at the same time the guy realized he owed $ 2 and he tried to grab them back lol. I applauded this dealer and immediately tipped him.
The $ 4 rake even with no flop is ridiculous, the manager commenting below is out of his gourd if he is going to try and say the players want that because it creates «action». No it creates a guaranteed $ 4 for the poker room Mike.
75% of the Asian dealers seem like they hate everybody there, they always look and act miserable. All of the other dealers are engaging and have a smile on their face at all times, what’s up with that?
I don’t want to mention her personally but there is 1 girl that does cocktails/​food/​bartender and she is the best thing about this place, she has a short name and is blonde (I might have given it away there), she always has a smile on her face, she is always cheerful, always quick when you need something and always says hello to you by name. Keep up the good work, you’re a fantastic asset to the Grand and they probably don’t even realize it.
There’s my review, hope it helps some