The move is over and the doors are open to the new 500 Club in Clovis, Calif. The casino, granted an expansion license from the city in September of last year, held its grand opening on July 6 at the new location. With the move came a major expansion into a 13,000-square-foot site, and an upgrade from a six-table cardroom to 18 tables, three for blackjack and four for pai gow and baccarat. Under state law and city ordinances, Clovis is permitted to have 18 tables citywide, so the 500 Club will be the city’s only gambling establishment.
The casino is working on expanding the tournament schedule and is eager to become a frontrunner for action in the Central Valley. Poker room manager Peter Phaphone is confident the room will host world-class tour stops and offer satellites into top events such as the World Series of Poker. The room runs daily tournaments at 10 a.m. to get things going, and for the Sunday tournament, the casino adds an additional $500 to the prize pool for every 10th player.
They offer a great variety of ring games, spreading $2-$4 limit to $40-$80, and recently offered a $100-$200 limit game. Regular no-limit hold’em games offered include $1-$3, $2-$5 and two $5-$10 games (one with a min-max of $300-$15K and another with no cap).
The Sarantos family opened Club 500 at the original location in 1953, and sold the business to their sons, Louis and George Sarantos in 1974. Go to 500clubcasino.com for more information.
— Leslie Pauls is the Ante Up Ambassador for Central California and pro poker player. Email her at anteupcali@gmail.com.
