Yeah, LA rake/drop is ridiculous. I live in the area so whenever I travel to another state I try to get more play time in knowing the drop is much smaller. LA is so bad with the rake that the smallest stakes games are not worth playing. This is made even worse since you're essentially playing short stack poker with 20-40BBs and often the players at the table are even shorter than that.

Yeah 5/5 is the lowest worth playing, if you're comfortable at that. Can buy in for 300 and just play short stacked.

Morongo is only 1.5 hours from LA though, and has 1/3 with up to a $4 drop, so it is bearable. Worth the drive - I go once a month or so.

The reason LA cardrooms charge a high poker drop is because non-Indian casinos in CA dont have slot machines to profit from, so they rape the poker games. Indian casinos have slot machines, so their poker drop or rake, if they have a poker room, is usually lower.

I forgot to mention, LA's Lucky Lady casino has a 1/2 $200 max buyin with a $5 drop + $1 jp drop. Not much better, but at least u can buy in for $200.

Thank you for sharing!

You're not wrong about the rake here—it can be pretty steep. It does change the dynamics of the game for sure. Have you found any strategies that work well despite the shorter stacks and higher rake?@itsgolden661