Lightning poker: Thunder Valley hits jackpot

Previously one of the few Bay Area gambling establishments without live poker, Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln (Placer County) recently pushed all-in and unveiled a cordoned-off poker area in the far west corner of the casino floor.

The section, which opened this month, comprises eight automated (read: computerized) Lightning Poker tables that offer three games of no-limit Texas Hold 'Em, a variety of levels of limit Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha Hi-Lo and Omaha, to name a few.

The poker area also features regular bad-beat jackpots and soon will offer weekly tournaments as well.

"It's just like any other poker room in the area," says David DeLucia, the facility's vice president of casino operations. "We don't have huge cash games yet, but for people who just want to come in and play a couple times a week, it's a perfect place to come."

DeLucia says the room was a direct response to customer demand; for years, Thunder Valley customers have been clamoring for live poker. By choosing automated machines over traditional dealer-run tables, the casino was able to avoid hiring and training new dealers and keep overhead low.

One of the byproducts of that decision is low rakes. In most of the limit games, the house takes $3 per hand for seven-handed action, $2 per hand for six-handed action and $1.50 per hand for games with five or fewer players. Most other poker rooms consistently take $4. For Thunder Valley players, this means more money in every pot.

Thunder Valley's new poker area is the bad-beat jackpots, which grows every day.

The Lightning Jackpot starts at $2,000, and pays when a full house of aces over 10s or better is beaten by any four-of-a-kind. When this jackpot hits, the player with the losing hand gets 40 percent of the jackpot, the winner receives 20 percent, and every other player at the table splits the remaining 40 percent.

The Thunder Jackpot starts at $10,000 and pays out when a four-of-a-kind of sevens or better loses. When this jackpot hits, the player with the losing hand receives 40 percent, the winner gets 20 percent, and the remaining 40 percent is divvied up among all active players at that time.

"I want these hands to hit," says DeLucia, who notes that as of this printing, the Thunder Jackpot was somewhere in the neighborhood of $14,000.

Depending on traffic, the poker experience at Thunder Valley could change again in the next few months. In particular, DeLucia says he is prepared to add more Lightning Poker tables, and eventually put all live poker action in a separate room.

Ultimately, the casino could have as many as 28 tables when it completes an exhaustive, multimillion-dollar expansion project by the spring of 2010. Our take on these plans: Better late than never.

San Francisco Chronicle

News Added: 23 October, 2008

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