Ocean View Card Room

I went here for the first time this past weekend. If I lived a little closer, this would be my regular poker spot. They have friendly, personable dealers, a cozy setting, complimentary sodas/​snacks and reasonably priced tourney buy-​ins.
There seemed to be a majority of regular players, all of whom were really cool people. I intend to make an effort to play poker here at least one a month if not more.

Great place to play cards. Friend staff, good action games. Definitely intimidated to go in at first but was super glad I did. I’m now a regular and it’s always nice to walk in and have someone remember me from the last time I was there. Blackjack payouts are super legit. Just make sure you call down there to put yourself on the list for poker cause who likes to wait to play.

Great dealers, great people, great atmosphere. Awesome place to spend a night playing poker. Everyone’s there to have some fun.
Free coffee and food, dealers and floormen are extremely nice.
Love this place.

First of all, NO FLOP NO DROP. I had to write this review because STEVE M. was mistaken by saying that the rake is $ 5 with no flop, that would be crazy! If you want to know the exact rake, call them, 831.423.6257. I give it 4 stars because if you want to play a cash game, not a tournament, you might be waiting for a couple hours. What I do is call ahead before I get there and put my name on the list. That way I know before I go in there and how long it will be, plus they will call you right back if there is a seat available!
I prefer the tournaments anyway, especially the saturday or sunday tournaments. They also have blackjack now, and if you are looking for something besides No-​limit hold’em, you can play PLO on Wed. and Thurs. nights. Yes there are many regulars, and although no one dresses it, we all act professionally and respect each other. Or the pit boss will take care of the situation. There might be different house rules than you are used to, so please ask or go on their website. This little Card Room is great if your just looking to play some cards.
PS I don’t have a dog but it’s a unique perk to this Card Room.

The Pros: The dealers are polite, friendly and do a good job. There are free refreshments, water, soda, snacks. The players are super friendly, the kind of thing you’d expect from a small card room. The 5 – 200 game with a max $ 500 buy in on fridays @ 6 is a very good game. But the games everywhere on friday should be good.
The cons: Went on a few occasions while on business, One floor person didn’t know basic poker rules. Another just tried to get you in the door by saying there were open seats. then when you get there there’s a list. In a room like this that rarely has more then one table a list of 3 people could be a few hour wait. The rake makes the game nearly impossible to beat. $ 5 taken pre flop is just too much… you heard it right you flop they drop doesn’t matter if it’s the whole pot. About ½ the players buy in for the minimum which on the 3 – 100 game is 40 bucks.
Overall, i’d suggest staying away unless this is your only option. There’s really no reason to play here.

my dad’s home away from home. his unfortunately passing brought me to know this kind and generous establishment.
The owner and dealers here really made my family feel welcome and I appreciated the kind words spoken of my father.
Thank you OV.

I’m a big city guy (Los Angeles) and am pretty spoiled with my card rooms (Commerce/​The Bicycle Casino) so finding this place across the street from our place for the night (Public House Inn) was pretty cool. The Sunday I went was a «3−6 dealer’s choice mixed game» including: Omaha hi-​lo/​Omaha hi/​pineapple hi-​lo/​pineapple hi. The game also included the kill pot which would bump up the blinds to 4 – 8. The vibe was cool and the game was a little tight. All it needed was a pretty aggressive player and action was underway.
Locals flood the tables and conversations give away who knows who. But that doesn’t really dictate the action between them.
I had fun. Would probably enjoy more no limit/​pot limit. But regulations have to be set and the good with that.

I love the Ocean View Card Room. I just wish I had played here the first three years I lived in Santa Cruz. I was playing a couple times a week for about a year before I switched jobs. The action is pretty fast and loose, especially the cash game. The tournaments have a 15 minute blind structure, so they move rather quickly. The locals there are very friendly, and usually it’s a very similar cast of characters for the daily tournaments. A great place to play, especially now that they got rid of the Avenue dive bar. Between that place and the nasty Asti, the Card Room was in some shady company. Now with the new sports bar in place, and the new Santa Cruz Warrior arena a stone-​throw away, that strip of Pacific Avenue is much more inviting.
Pros:
— loose, agressive players make the action fun, and the game profitable
— lots of local characters who play there in the regular weekly tournaments; cash game crowd is a bit more varied
— they’ve done a great job of creating a better tournament structure; higher buy ins, deeper stacks, optional add-​ons, etc.
— they often have happy hour for the drop on the rake
— basic refreshments with water, fruit, coffee, snacks available
— several TVs for sports
— lots of live plants (horticulturalist)
— attentive, friendly dealers
Cons:
— I prefer 20 minute tournament rounds in my tournaments
— expect to take some bad beats in the tournaments with the accelerated structure and the loose play; the final table goes pretty fast and furious until there are 3 left
— too many final table chops; seems all the locals love to bend over backwards for each other to cut a final table deal, even when we’re still one person away from the money… NO, I don’t want to take money from 1^st and 2^nd place to give to the poor sap on the bubble… sorry, but I play to win or make a chop when I’m down to three players at best.
Great place to play. I just wish they had more tables, but I’m sure it has something to do with the permit they have and the County of Santa Cruz.

My 500^th review!
Ocean View Card Room is the kind of card room I have been looking for ever since San Jose’s ‘Garden City Casino’ closed. I wanted a ‘hole in the wall’ card room and that is exactly what I got, and right in my own backyard.
Why did I wait so long to come try this place out? It was awesome playing a Saturday afternoon tournament here right in downtown Santa Cruz in a friendly environment.
There are four tables, with very nice people all around (staff & patrons). We had an awesome, friendly dealer who went out of his way to make us feel at home. Who were there playing? Straight up, regular locals. No one was freaky or scary in the slightest, and if they were? I feel confident that the pit boss would have handled anything he needed to appropriately after watching him do his job for a few hours (ie: poker and social etiquette are quickly, and strictly adhered to at this card house). As a female I felt very comfortable and would not hesitate to tell others it is a cool place.
I found free 3 hour parking a half a block away and went in to play a tournament. How could we go wrong with a $ 30 entry that includes the fee to sign up? They had free coffee, soda, tea, and even food. It was clean, it felt very safe and they will even escort you to your car if you just ask.
I was there for a weekend day tournament (fee built in) and not a regular card game (with rake) so I can’t tell you how much the rake is. The pit boss said they stay open until the last game is over (if 3am? they close at that time) and then come back to work at the regular time. The website is also very well done and probably has every detail you would ever want to know:
If you are into a flashy, club scene type casinos? This may not be the place for you.
For me I say: Thank goodness this is not the M8trix.
This is a no frills CARD HOUSE with nice locals. It has real plants and natural light with big, store-​front windows and sky lights. The tables are card tables, the chairs are comfortable enough, and they have drink stands to put your stuff down. They have an ATM machine for those who bought in 2 – 3 times. It is everything I expected in terms of amenities, and more.
«Leashed, licensed, vaccinated, well-​behaved dogs are allowed.» This said, there were two, very nice dogs there when I played today. I can’t wait to bring my very well behaved dog in to sit on my lap when I play next time. Fortunately for me, I have a Schipperke so he won’t give away my hand by wagging his tail because he does not have one.
If you are into drinking? You won’t find it here.
If you want to «go out» and wear the kinds of clothes people wear to «go out»? You might feel a bit out of place. This is Santa Cruz.
If you want to slip money to the pit boss to get extra attention? Go over the hill where they will gladly play that game. Everybody here gets the same attention.
The Ocean View Card Room is for playing cards. And for that I say Thanks to the lady owner for opening such a place so I do not have to drive over the hill just to play a few hands and relax with a nice bunch of folks.
Excellent local business that I hope locals will support.

Upon initially walking in here for the 1^st time, I felt there was no way my out of town ass was getting anywhere close to a table amongst these locals. They turned out to be chill, along with the dealers who just wanted to get a game started. Based on how they all looked, I most definitely assumed they wanted to play 2 – 4 or 3 – 6 limit. I usually don’t judge a book by it’s cover, but if you were in my shoes at the time, you wouldn’t blame me. They surprisingly wanted to play no limit though which was a big plus in my book.
Players are quite tight here and only bet when they have monsters so beware. ATM here and complimentary soft drinks and snacks as well which was a nice little touch considering when you come to the Bay Area they want 2 or 3 bucks for a god damn Coke. And although I wasn’t with my beloved dog, I did really like the sign that permitted, «Licensed, Vaccinated, Well Behaved Dogs are allowed here!» DEFINITELY don’t see that at your average card room/​casino.
No alcohol served here but there is a very divey bar 2 doors down the street to have a beer or 2 in between hands.

In my usual quest to try out new card rooms, I finally found time to make my way out to Ocean View. I knew this was going to be a hole in the wall so I expected a crap shoot.
Let’s just bullet this and get to the point:
–Small card room — not many players at any given time
–Non-​uniformed dealers (some might care, I don’t)
–Free Coffee/​water/​juice/​soda
–Mostly «the locals» playing each other (though they treat outsiders like myself very well, nice people here)
–Chips suck, especially the tournament chips — needs an upgrade for sure
–Manual card shuffling
*** Here’s the most important part; their dealers. The dealers here are great. Really cool guys who know how to keep the game moving and maintain the game’s integrity. I would have thought for a small room this woulda been another willy nilly anything goes rule house but even with a few of the locals, the dealers kept the game in check.
All in all, if I lived closer I would probably be a repeat customer. If you’re going to be in the SC area anyway, stop by. The weekend tournaments are fun too, good people just shootin the breeze.
P. S. PARK ACROSS THE STREET @ FEDEX. THE METER MAIDS HERE ARE ON CRACK

AKA: Santa Cruz County Probation Office — Downtown branch.
Nothing says blue collar spousal abuse like a good old fashioned neighborhood card room. Seriously, a «card room»? Who even has these anymore? «Indian» card rooms on the outskirts of Fremont, sure, but the Ocean View Card Room on Pacific… well, quite simply a low-​brow piece of Americana for us all to treasure.
I haven’t yet had the pleasure of channeling Kenny Rogers at the tables here, but intend to shortly. I did venture in the other night, however, and found the perceived risk of being stabbed and/​or robbed surprising low! If fact, I would guess the non-​felon to felon ratio of patrons to be as low as 3 – 1.
Honestly, though, it actually seemed pretty accessible for non-​hardcore poker sharks, if even mildly friendly. Four or five large tables and 6 or 8 guys sitting at each table. Apparently they will stay open as late as people still have money to lose (ie 5 AM!). No fancy boy operation here. Jest cards, boy. No bar or alcohol either. You wanna be sober when you gamble away the child support payment.
If you’ve been seeking a refuge where you can elbow up to a guy named «Jimmy the Fish» while second hand smoking his filterless Winston wides, well, you’re home now. Ante up, son.