Counties across the state move into less restrictive COVID-19 tiers
Monday marked at least a partial return to normalcy for Los Angeles cardrooms. Los Angeles County moved into the “Orange Tier” on April 5, which allowed local cardrooms to reopen at 25% capacity.
That move into a less-restrictive COVID-19 tier prompted some of the world’s biggest poker rooms to get back to indoor business. The Bicycle Casino, Commerce Casino, and The Gardens all reopened their indoor rooms after months of running all games in large outdoor tented areas.
Much of California now sits in pandemic tiers that allow for the reopening of indoor cardrooms. Here’s a look at where a few of California’s major live poker hubs stand in relation to permitted indoor gaming operations:
Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County incorporates San Jose, which includes the following pair of major poker rooms:
- Bay 101
- Casino M8trix
Both poker venues sit just minutes from San Jose International Airport, making them popular destinations for players across the state.
Santa Clara County currently allows cardrooms to operate indoor facilities at 25% capacity. Both Bay 101 and Casino M8trix have their indoor poker rooms back up and running as of April 9.
The pair of Silicon Valley cardrooms function as the most popular live poker rooms for players in Santa Clara County and also draw major traffic from the San Francisco Bay area.
San Diego County
The southernmost county in California hosts a vibrant live poker scene, which includes the following poker rooms:
- Ocean’s Eleven Casino
- Seven Mile Casino
- Jamul Casino (tribally owned property)
- Sycuan Casino (tribally owned property)
The poker rooms inside Sycuan Casino and Jamul Casino aren’t beholden to COVID-19 emergency orders, as tribal lands operate as their own sovereign jurisdictions. Indoor poker venues at both San Diego-area properties have been running for several months.
The two largest commercial cardrooms in San Diego County have operated as outdoor-only venues for most of the past seven months. Both Ocean’s Eleven and Seven Mile Casino set up shop in large open-air tents late last summer, adapting to the state’s COVID-19 restrictions.
San Diego County cardrooms are now permitted to run indoor facilities at 25% capacity. Ocean’s Eleven announced that the indoor poker room reopened Thursday, April 8, with the outdoor poker rooms still running as well.
Seven Mile Casino still operates as an outdoor-only poker venue for now.
Los Angeles County
As reported by Poker.org last week, Los Angeles County cardrooms got the green light to reopen their indoor poker rooms at 25% capacity on April 4.
Some of the major Los Angeles cardrooms that have reopened indoor poker tables include the following:
- Bicycle Casino
- Commerce Casino
- The Gardens
- Hustler Casino
The Bicycle, Commerce, and Gardens represent three of the largest poker rooms in the U.S. All three are operating indoors at limited capacity, with their outdoor gaming facilities still open as well.
Featured image source: Twitter
