Thunder Valley in Sacramento area?

[Southern California]

I need to fly to Sacramento on business in the near future, and wonder if a side trip to Thunder Valley is still worth it. I remember they used to have a good double deck game; CBJN implies the game is still good. Can anyone give me an update from recent experience? My typical betting range on double deck is 50-500.

 

[Notable]

Suggestion

I have an idea of a play that is available in the Sacramento area. I will *not* suggest the best one(s) to you, but have one of mutual benefit to you, as a non-resident visitor, and me. Please contact me outside of this publicly visible forum. Please see the page at: public dot etherpad-mozilla dot org slash p slash not-able

 

[Southern California]

Why the weird messaging?

I tried to leave you a message as you requested, but I have never used that site before and am not sure my message is readable. What is the purpose of using it rather than communicating here?

 

[Notable]

Internet Is Permanent

Sorry, did not see your message. Please try again. (Follow the directions to the page and type to have your changes/message appear. Or you might be able to figure out how to contact me directly.)

It is much harder to archive content and metadata on an etherpad than a forum page, so less likely to happen. I would like to interact with you privately without a permanently visible record.

 

[Southern California]

Too much cloak and dagger for me

Please communicate by posting here, or give me some idea as to what you have to offer that makes private contact worthwhile, thanks. I don't care to sneak around. My original question is straightforward.

 

[Notable]

Retry

Replied a few days ago, but did not see my message when looking today.

My interest in sharing a much better than straight blackjack opportunity with you is now close to zero as the risk that you would burn the game is too high upon evaluating your reply, above.

The place in Placer ville has better games than Thunder Valley. Good luck.

 

[LV Bear]

Placerville store = paranoid sweatshop

The place in Placerville has better games than Thunder Valley. Good luck.

Unfortunately, the place in Placerville is so sweaty that anything above chump change is not tolerated for long. Respectfully, my advice to the original poster is to go to Thunder Valley for a count game, not the Placerville store.

 

[Notable]

Air Conditioned

my advice to the original poster is to go to Thunder Valley

How recent is the information upon which you base this? Is it from the old information in CBJN that has not been updated for years? I assume that it is not from personal experience: Thunder Valley has been slightly sweaty during the past three years; zero heat in Plac erville including at tables in its high limit room. Of course, your results can vary depending on the amount of cover you use--no idea how either would respond to straight play without cover. I no longer play at either location (by my own choice), but have associates who play there regularly in the range of the OP's betting levels. I would play in Plac erville (but not Thunder Valley) if I believed the best game were 2d, 3:2, h17, das, nls, nrsa with good penetration.

[If I am mistaken, LVBear, and you do travel to this region, communicate with me through back channels when you plan to be around. We might be able to do some lucrative plays together as long as you don't share it with others.]

 

[LV Bear]

Up to date

How recent is the information upon which you base this? Is it from the old information in CBJN that has not been updated for years? I assume that it is not from personal experience: Thunder Valley has been slightly sweaty during the past three years; zero heat in Plac erville including at tables in its high limit room. Of course, your results can vary depending on the amount of cover you use--no idea how either would respond to straight play without cover. I no longer play at either location (by my own choice), but have associates who play there regularly in the range of the OP's betting levels. I would play in Plac erville (but not Thunder Valley) if I believed the best game were 2d, 3:2, h17, das, nls, nrsa with good penetration.

[If I am mistaken, LVBear, and you do travel to this region, communicate with me through back channels when you plan to be around. We might be able to do some lucrative plays together as long as you don't share it with others.]

CBJN's reports are current on Thunder Valley and less than three months old on Red Hawk. I play at Thunder Valley semi-regularly, in fact often use SMF as my airport to combine Sacramento and Reno into one trip. I don't play at Red Hawk anymore because of previous bad experiences there.

Do I know you or know anyone you know? If not, no disrespect intended, but without references, I don't meet with strangers.

 

[JJP]

I had planned to visit Thunder Valley today. I was going to take the shuttle out there, but as I was entering the parking lot, the bus pulled away. A mile away was a bus for Graton, in wine country, so my plan changed.

I can't imagine Thunder Valley has worse blackjack conditions than Graton. Upon entering Graton, I perused the tables. There was an array of tables with 6-5 blackjack payoffs. One dealer pointed to several tables with 3-2 payoffs. But upon a closer look, those tables had CSMs. I did find one table with 3-2 and no CSM (they opened two more after noon), but it was still dealer hits soft 17 (at every table at Graton) and 8 decks. I approached one of those tables and nobody was playing. The discard tray had about 5 decks in it; I hadn't been back counting that table. I asked the dealer if they could shuffle. She balked and said she'd have to ask the pit boss. The pit boss came by and told me it was their policy not to shuffle until the cut card came up. I said OK, and I took my chips and looked for another table.

If one is in the Bay area and wants to play blackjack, avoid Graton at all costs. Cache Creek is much better.

 

[JJP]

I saw something today at Red Hawk in Placerville I had never seen before. "Blackjack pays 1 to 1" listed on the felt. It was at the $5 tables, and they had a number of 6-5 tables for $10 minimums, yet the bulk of the $10 minimums still had 3-2. Even money.....what will be next? 4 to 5 for blackjacks?

 

[JJP]

Went to Thunder Valley today and any report that says it is playable is outdated. There's a few single and double deck tables with bad rules; 6-5 blackjack, dealer hits soft 17, only double down on 9,10,A, and no mid-deck entry. Everything else is dealt via a CSM. Completely unplayable. I did check out the High Limit Room; no CSM there but only three tables, $100 minimum bets. When I went in there not one person was playing blackjack. And that's on a Sunday afternoon. Avoid Thunder Valley at all costs.