My biggest aim for my overseas journey in the autumn of 2014 was to play cash games of Texas Hold ’em in casinos. Before departure, I played at an amusement poker room in Japan, where chips weren’t refundable, to prepare for cash games. I planned to visit San Francisco and Vancouver, but I can’t remember why I picked out San Francisco, not Las Vegas.
I visited some casinos around downtown San Francisco. Most of them were miles away from the train stations, but I wasn’t an Uber user then. It took more than thirty minutes on foot to get to any of the casinos. But all the exciting experiences at poker tables blew away the exhaustion stemming from a long walk.
Initially, I believed that people could play card games, including Texas Hold ’em, only at traditional casinos offering a variety of gambling where visitors would see from slot machines to Black Jack tables. But a journal I grabbed at a San Francisco casino updated my recognition. A small advertisement in the newspaper touted “a house designated for poker players.” That surprised me, and I soon left the casino to rush to the poker house in northern San Francisco.
Its name was Oaks Card Club. When I arrived around 6 p.m., almost all the tables were full of players. Some minutes after getting my name to be put on the list of the tables at the lowest rate, I got a seat. It was exciting to play Texas Hold ’em with players who all seemed to be locals, not tourists. I liked to observe what local people would talk about, what they ate, and how they behaved while playing games. A seemingly local and regular male player chitchatted with a female dealer, asking, “Have you got a haircut?” and another elderly gentleman played, eating a stir-fried noodle on a big plate in his hands.
I realized that poker houses in the U.S. were similar to mahjong houses in Japan. All players commonly focus on games on tables, and poker tables seemed more casual, relaxing, and inclusive than Mahjong houses. I was deeply impressed with the atmosphere and wanted to play as long as possible until the morning.
At Oaks Card Club, California, in 2014.