Black Oak adds poker to games

By Arnold Warner

November/ December 2007

On September 13 the Black Oak Casino in Tuolumne joined the ranks of casinos offering poker to their patrons by adding four tables from PokerPro to their gaming room. In doing so, Black Oak became the first Native American casino in California to switch to PokerPro.

The technology behind these tables eliminates human dealers with the help of touch screens and software that conducts a 10-handed poker game automatically. The game is played virtually, with players checking their cards on the touch screens in front of them. At the center of the table, a large screen displays the community cards.

Even the bets are made with virtual chips. Money is stored on a PokerPro debit card that players can refill whenever they wish.

Mitch Goldstein, director of gaming, says the technology makes the game quicker, increasing the number of hands per hour from 30 at a manual table to roughly 46. He adds that PokerPro players also don’t have to put up with everyday errors such as opponents betting out of turn, misdeals or exposed cards.

“In many ways, what we’ve installed is poker in its purest form,” Goldstein says. “We, the house, save money. Players save money. There are more hands.”

With the new tables in place, Black Oak has set up a modest tournament schedule. The casino hosts a $20 buy-in, no-limit Texas Hold ’em tournament at 11 a.m. daily, $60 buy-in tournaments at 7 p.m. Fridays  (featuring a bounty), and a $60 buy-in event at 4 p.m. on Sundays. In addition, arrangements have been made with the World Poker Tour to hold qualifying satellites.

The casino has also instituted a bad beat jackpot for aces full of jacks beaten by four-of-a-kind or better. Games currently offered include Texas Hold’ em (limit and no-limit), Omaha, and Omaha Hi-Lo.

One couple on a recent visit to Black Oak were completely sold on the PokerPro tables. Rick and Diana Fultz of Clovis both knew how to play Hold ’em before arriving, but had only played once before in a casino because, as Rick put it: “I’m a nervous wreck with a live dealer.”

Diana added, “It was less intimidating for me because I always worry that the dealer is staring at me and thinking ‘you don’t know what you’re doing,’ and, of course, I don’t really know what I’m doing. So it was a great way for me to break into the game. I felt like I had a tutorial in front of me all the time, because it would tell when you could call or fold or do this or that, so I didn’t have to remember what I’m supposed to do next.”

Rick obviously felt comfortable; they both entered their first ever non-home-game tournament and he pulled down second place out of about 45 players. “I’d play poker in any casino that has these. I thought it was great. If they got one locally, I’d be a regular,” he said.

“It makes me more interested in learning the game now, because it was fun and it was comfortable and not intimidating,” said Diana. “So now it makes me feel like I would like to learn more about the game and play it again.”

Susan Rapp, another first time Poker­Pro player, but one with a bit more live action experience than the Fultzes, also enjoyed the electronic version; however, she still likes playing with a live dealer as well. “Playing with a dealer makes it easier for me to concentrate on the other people at the table,” she said. “It’s nice to have someone right there who’s in charge and making sure the action keeps moving. At the same time I really liked the PokerPro. You always know how much money is in the pot as well as how much you have and how much everyone else has. I guess there were things I like about both ways of playing, but I’d certainly rather be playing at a PokerPro table than not playing at all.”

The new tables are going to establish poker as part of the gaming assortment offered by Black Oak. They are currently in the middle of a multimillion-dollar renovation, including a parking garage and a 16,000 square foot gaming floor expansion which will include a 12 table poker room. It is set for completion in September 2008.

For more information on Black Oak Casino, visit www.blackoakcasino.com.