Sure, there is the occasional predatory pro, but they’re a tiny minority.įurthermore, the rooms that host MUGs get it. Importantly, most of the people who attend the MUGs come with the spirit of gathering, fun, and poker, in no particular order.

It’s a celebration of the game and its community – something that frequently gets forgotten. This guy and his buddy Andrew show up, and the place packs outįor those of you that haven’t attended a MUG, it’s a lot of poker – serious poker – but in the context of a party. And because Brad Owen grew up in the region, there’s a special “family reunion” quality to their MUGs at Graton. If you’ve been to a Neeme/Owen MUG, you won’t need any further explanation. However, Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen were bringing their legendary moveable feast known as a “Meet-up Game” (MUG) to Graton, and I wasn’t going to miss that. Graton is just an hour from my front door, but I have card clubs much nearer to get my poker action. It’s less than an hour drive from much of the Bay Area, and “next door” to anybody who is headed up to the wine and food mecca. But the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria struck red and white gold – Graton Casino is five minutes off Highway 101, square in the heart of Napa wine country. Because the tribal reservations are often in far-flung locations, getting to the casinos can be quite a schlep (e.g.

Let’s just say it’s fraught – my colleague Haley Hintze has written recently on this topic.īut while the various entities battle for turf, California poker players have a huge variety of regulated games from which to choose. You might wonder how these two groups co-exist when they’re competing for the same consumer dollars. The 70-80 card clubs are licensed by the California Department of Justice (here’s a list of all of them), while the tribal casinos operate under a pact that they’ve signed with the state. Within California, there are two kinds of regulated poker – that played in licensed card clubs, and poker at tribal casinos. Outside of California, it’s played in poker rooms at casinos. There are two kinds of regulated “casino” poker in the United States – California and Other.

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