At the Bicycle Casino players will not find any tacky flashy atmosphere. Instead, they will discover a complementary décor both in the resort and casino sections. The casino has a definite Asian flair with its gold, red, and greens. The walls are covered with Asian style paintings and a gold dragon will welcome guests in to the casino floor. The resort offers a large glass chandelier, mirrors on the ceiling, marble flooring, and gold décor. The Bicycle Casino is the epitome of elegance and sophistication with valet services and karaoke inside. This resort casino is located in Bell Grande, California convenient for residents of Los Angeles and nearby valleys.
Bicycle Casino has 175 tables with games such as Blackjack, Seven Card Stud, Omaha, Hold’em, Mexican Poker, Pai Gow Tiles, Pai Gow Poker, Pan 9, Baccarat, and Three Card Poker. There are separate poker rooms such as Freedom Court for those who like to play, drink, and smoke. The rest of the casino is nonsmoking. The casino space is 100,000 square feet of space including the event center for tournaments and private affairs.
Dining is available at the Bike Deli or Jade Dragon. Guests can also elect to dine at their table by flagging down one of the wait staff or having the dealer locate someone. Bicycle Casino is the place to wager in Los Angeles as they attempt to provide for most needs.
Games Offered
Bicycle Casino is a card room club with various games available typical of California casinos. Club 21 is one place to enjoy play. It is a new blackjack section open Thursdays through Saturdays from 6pm. It is located on the main poker floor.
Poker at this Los Angeles casino exists in a wide variety of forms. The list includes Texas Hold’em, Seven Card Stud, 211 Poker, Mexican Poker, and Omaha. The entire poker room is surrounded by HDTVs. The tables have comfortable chairs, beverage and dining services. 211 Poker is one variant that players may not be too familiar with as it is not one of the more popular or well known games. The game uses a standard deck of 52 playing cards and four betting rounds. Players begin with four cards in their hands. The flop has two cards with one turn and one river that follows. The players have to find the best five card hand using two or three cards from their hand and then the flop cards.
In addition to the poker games, there are California Poker Games. These games include California Baccarat, Three Card Poker, 21st Century Blackjack, Triple Draw Poker, Pan 9, Pai Gow Tiles, Pai Gow Poker, Chinese Poker, and Fortune Pai Gow Poker.
Chinese Poker gives 13 cards to players. The hands have to be arranged in 3 cards in front, 5 in the middle and five in the back. The back hand has to beat or equal the middle cards in ranking. The middle five have to beat the front three cards. Scores are kept by points and hands are compared with other players to see who has the highest ranking hand in the front, middle, and back. The top hand wins one point. Since there are multiple players it can mean that three players each earn a point during play. The game is started with a collection with a specific limit. The limit is $5 then the collection is $1 per hand. If it is $10 then it is still $1 per hand. For $100 as the limit the collection will be $40 per hour. The casino offers different versions of the game including a Bicycle Club version for the scoring.
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Jackpots are part of the casino experience at Bicycle Casino. Jackpots will vary in how much they payout and when it happens. In 2010 $5,396,447 was paid out in total jackpots. There is a $100,000 jackpot right now for the $6 to $12 range no limit Hold’em though buy-ins of $80 through $500 are restricted from this jackpot. There are also a $50,000 jackpot and $25,000 jackpot. An Omaha High Low jackpot is $25,000 for $3 to $6 buy in. There is also a $50,000 for $6 to $12 buy in on the same game.
Restaurants
There are two restaurants at Bicycle Casino: The Bike Deli and Jade Dragon. Food and beverage is possible at tableside too.
Atmosphere
Sophistication is what players discover at Bicycle Casino or Bicycle Club. The hotel casino is considered one of the largest poker rooms in the USA and the place to visit for the Los Angeles Area. The atmosphere is characterized by gold, red, and green hues to mix into an Asian décor. Dragons, water colors based on Asian styles, and much more will remind you of an Asian locale over that of America. The environment is smoke free to cater to any player’s comfort.
As a gaming atmosphere excitement can be found at any of the 175 tables within the 100,000 square foot space. There are rooms for those who like to smoke, drink and play. One of these rooms is the Freedom Court. Poker rooms have HD televisions to share world games, sports, and other TV channels. Comfortable chairs are set up at the tables to add to the comfort of players.
Services
Valet Parking is full service. The staff is dedicated to being prompt and perfect to ensure customer satisfaction. Valet parking is $2.00 or $5 for VIP Valet Parking. VIP provides a better parking arrangement for important guests.
Shoeshine is another service at the hotel casino that will leave you with a happy impression. This service is offered Monday through Saturday 9:30am to 10pm. A regular shine is $6, boots $7, suede $8, and golf shoes $8.50.
Massages are possible in the casino or through the hotel services. Chair massages are provided to help relieve any muscle tension one obtains during play. All specialists are certified. It is $1 per minute. The service is limited to above the waist and for seated players only. The minimum massage is 5 minutes.
Casino Poker Table For Sale
The event center has a large room of up to 50 poker tables for special and daily tournaments. The room is more like the hotel than the rest of the casino with elegant lines, floral carpet, and rows of tables and chairs. Tournament players can still receive tableside service for drinks and meals. Registration is quick. The event center can host other occasions like banquets or charity fundraisers.
The gift shop is available for guests and players in need of light snacks, souvenirs, newspapers, beverages, and more. It is located in the lobby of the casino. Items at the gift shop include Swarovski Crystal, Ed Hardy Apparel, Antigua Logo Apparel, cigars, and more. The gift shop is run by the “Candy Girls” who offer the highest customer service possible.
History
Bicycle Casino began in 1984. It was started by George Hardie Sr. It has since become the world’s second largest card room for poker. Financing the casino occurred through Sam Gilbert. He actually used money laundered from drug smuggling to fund the company. Given this issue in the early 1990s the casino was seized because of a tax lien. For a period of years the US government owned the casino bringing in several million dollars in revenue for the government.
It is home to Legends of Poker which is a tournament started in 1995. It is also a stop on the World Poker Tour. Prior to Legends the main tournament at the casino was Diamond Jim Brady.
Bicycle Casino was the first land location to ever host a broadcasted poker game on the internet. It is called Live at the Bike. It ran for five nights a week on the casino’s website. The show offered guests such as Barry Greenstein and Keena James, both of whom are professional players. Life at the Bike turned into a subscription service in 2006. It was cancelled in 2007, but has now returned at PokerNetcast.com as of January 2011. Bicycle Casino was featured in Numbers, an episode dealing with a card counter.
Loyalty/ Rewards Program
Bicycle Casino Poker
Bicycle casino offers Poker Promotions to their players through a variety of options. Club 21, which was mentioned above has a promotion. Another one is Pan-tastic. This promotion is available on Tuesdays with drawings at 12pm to 3pm.
Spin it to win it offers players a chance to spin the wheel for up to $1,000. This option is available Monday and Wednesday every other hour from 2pm to 10pm. Spring Winning $25,000 Sunday is a cash prize to be earned on Sundays. Drawing times are 3pm, 4pm, 5pm and 6pm. All winnings are $2,000, except for the 5pm drawing which is $4,000.
There is a Spring Winning contest for $10,000 on Tuesday and Thursday. Tickets are collected on Sunday and Monday for the Tuesday drawing, and Tuesday and Wednesday for the Thursday drawing. Double Jackpot and Softway is yet another promotion in which Limit Games offer double jackpots during the Month of May. This promotion is not long lasting and can be replaced with a new one as the month ends.
Bicycle Casino Poker Blog
All California games have promotions too. For instance Pai Gow Poker offers a promotion on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3pm to 7pm where one can earn gifts. Instant bonus cash is also offered daily. Chinese Poker offers bonus cash hands of $100. Dragon Hand with all players involved can earn $500.
Bicycle Casino Poker Room
Most of the promotions for the California games are cash prizes. There is a $25 bet voucher for 21st Century Baccarat offered on Wednesday and Sunday. A $15,000 Mega Monday promotion offers $2,000 at 6pm and 8pm for those who win. There are specific drawing dates for this promotion.