Commerce Casino is a cardroom located in the Los Angeles suburb of Commerce. With over 240 tables on site, Commerce Casino is the largest cardroom in the world.[2] Established in 1983, the casino accounted for 38% of Commerce's tax revenues for the 2006-2007 fiscal year.[3] As of 2016[update], the casino was providing $22 million a year in licensing fees to the city.[4]
In addition to the main cardroom, the Commerce Casino complex includes a full-service 200-room Crowne Plaza Hotel, which houses dining establishments, a day spa,a beauty salon, pool and sundeck, banquet rooms, shops, and entertainment. The Commerce is also home to several restaurants and host to live boxing, MMA and Professional Wrestling events. Commerce Casino opened a Playboy-themed gaming lounge in 2014.[5]
The casino spreads more Texas Hold'em games than any other casino in the world.[citation needed] Commerce spreads hold'em games as low as 2-3 and 2-4. 3-6, 4-8 & 6-12 exist on the main floor, with 8-16 and larger limit games in the Hotel section. No Limit Hold 'em games have buy-ins as low as $40 and go much higher. There is a new $5/10 $500/$1500 spread No Limit Hold'em game which was first created in 2008.
The Casino's bad beat jackpots sometimes grow into six figures.[citation needed] Commerce Casino offers a $100,000 Super Jackpot for Hold 'em.
Players can bring members of a home game to the Casino and they will provide game instruction, dealers, a pit boss, cards, chips and poker snacks. The "home" games act as live cash games and are eligible for jackpots.
Classes
Commerce Casino sign
The casino offers free poker lessons on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Beginner classes are Tuesdays from 8 pm to 10 pm and intermediate classes are held on Thursdays from 8 pm to 10 pm. Registration is available at the company website. The instructor is Roger Rodd "Poker Comedian and Poker Instructor to the Stars."
Tournaments
The Commerce Casino is home to several poker tournament series,[6] including:
Los Angeles Poker Classic - Annual tournament beginning in January and running through early March. This is Commerce's major tournament of the year, involving a World Poker Tour event, a Professional Poker Tour event and the celebrity event, the World Poker Tour Invitational.
California State Poker Championship - Annual tournament, held in May. Originally held in June, the tournament was moved to avoid conflict with the World Series of Poker.
Commerce Hold 'em Series - Annual tournament held in September with smaller buy-ins where every event is Texas hold 'em.
The L.A. Poker Open - Annual tournament held in November.
Restaurants
The Commerce Casino is home to several eating establishments,[7] including:
Wood Dragon Restaurant - Chinese cuisine, the restaurant is located in the Main Lobby of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
The Arena Sports Bar & Grill - Offers a variety of International cuisine with entertainment, live sporting events and karaoke on various nights. Located in the hotel near the Hi-Limit Section.
The Commerce Cafe - Near the Main Poker Room offering Traditional American cuisine, pastries and Starbucks hot and iced coffees.
Games besides poker, such as the ones listed above, are called "California Games" and have been modified to conform to California state gambling laws. The primary difference between California Games and normal casino table games is that the player does not play against the house but rather plays against a third-party provider that banks the games. California law requires that all non-poker games at the Commerce Casino or any California card room are player-banked, meaning players play only against one another, and never against the house. Any player that regularly banks the "player banked games" and does not have a contract with the casino to do so will be barred from the casino. The Commerce serves as a host for these games, providing a venue for their play and benefits indirectly off the gambling revenue through "rent" payments from the third-party provider. The casino also charges a collection to play the game usually 1% of the bet wagered (rounded up to the nearest dollar) for hosting these games.[8]
Off-Track betting
The Racebook at Commerce Casino opened in July 2009, featuring mini satellite wagering from California and Eastern U.S. race tracks.
Popular culture
In "So Close, Yet So Far", the second episode of the AMC television series, Fear the Walking Dead, an aerial nighttime shot of Los Angeles in the early stages of the zombie apocalypse shows the casino and hotel tower engulfed in flames next to a gridlocked Santa Ana Freeway.
