Located in Oceanside, California, in between San Diego and Los Angeles Oceans 11 Casino is the most prominent card-room in the general area, and one of the best branded card-rooms in the world.
History of Oceans 11 Casino
While is has nothing to do with the iconic movie and its more recent remakes other than sharing a name (which they paid a licensing fee to use), Oceans 11 got a shot in the arm thanks to the incredible popularity of movie trilogy starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney, pulling in the allure of Hollywood as well as suing the location in Oceanside as a second meaning.
The Oceans 11 Casino is the brainchild of lifelong investors and casino men: Haig Kelegian, Dan Dreger, Walter Lack, Bob Carter, and Bob Moyer who is the current manager of Oceans 11.
Oceans 11 Casino today
Like all California card-rooms, the Oceans 11 Casino is a non-smoking facility that also offers tableside food and beverage service. In the Oceans 11 poker room you’ll also find a number of services available including jackpots, a phone-in wait list for certain games, wi-fi and cell reception, as well as on-site parking.
The casino itself is split into two rooms, one for lower limit games and one for higher limit games, as Oceans 11 offers a wide variety of games in a wide variety of stakes, attracting all different types of players from casual to professional. The action is centered mainly on Holdem and Omaha games, although other games can be requested, space permitting.
Oceans 11 has a little bit of everything on premises, with a racebook that just opened in 2013, and sports lounge that offers food (breakfast, lunch and dinner) as well as some live entertainment.
Where They Stand Now in the Poker World
With about 50 tables, and all but about a dozen designated for poker games, Oceans 11 has a lot to offer poker players. As mentioned above, the stakes and games offered run the gamut from low limit games, to $100/$200 Limit games and even some $10/$10 or $10/$20 No Limit games during peak hours.
Rake is pretty good as well, with low limit games raked $3 plus a $1 jackpot drop, and higher limit games raked at $4+$1 last I checked.
Unfortunately, with its distance from Los Angeles and San Diego, Oceans 11 doesn’t attract the major tournament series like the World Poker Tour or the World Series of poker Circuit Series, but they do have a pretty good tournament schedule. In addition to their daily and weekly tournament schedules, they also offer a number of exclusive tournaments throughout the year that can be considered on par with some of the smaller major tournament series.
Here is a look at these events:
- 1st Saturday of the Month $20k Guaranteed
- Oceans 11 Major Tournament schedule
- College of Poker ($60 fee for poker lessons)
Reward Program
The Oceans 11 Players Club Card offers an ok, but unexceptional comp program, but this is somewhat made up for with the casinos low food prices, including a free meal for players participating in $20/$40 games and higher.
You can see the complete details of the Oceans 11 Players Card here.
Handicapping Their Chances for Online Poker
Oceans 11 Casino is part of the California Gaming Association, which has thrown its support behind online gambling expansion in the state, as well as having been a member of COPA (California Online poker Association) a group that pushed for online gambling expansion in 2012 but disbanded later in the year after rifts between its members surfaced.
Oceans 11 is a profitable card-room with a superior brand and a very outside the box and hands-on ownership and management team. This should make them a very attractive partner for an online gaming company if and when California passes an online gambling bill.
