Gleaming like a citadel on the horizon, Casino M8trix shines with blue light, then turns red and violet. The $50 million San Jose casino is present day and sleek using a dash of Vegas glitz – featuring gaming, dining as well as a sports bar on its spacious ground floor.

Not far from San Jose’s airport, on the web-site on the old Garden City casino, M8trix opened in August to mixed reviews. (Yelpers bemoaned lengthy waits to play and difficulty parking.) So I drove to the South Bay last week to have a look at M8trix for myself. I went on a Tuesday night and had no difficulty parking.

Casino M8trix provides poker, blackjack, pai gow and baccarat and also other table games. The cavernous area is surrounded with flat-screen TVs, a sports bar and a restaurant called Zone eight – for light meals there is Noodle Ba, serving pho, udon, springs rolls and pot stickers ($6.49-$7.99).

I walked to the center in the room, decorated with giant red lamps, as well as a friendly host named Felix place me on the list. He told me they have games ranging from no-limit Texas Hold ‘Em to casino war.

“War – I by no means understood that,” I said. He said higher card wins. I laughed – war was the initial card game I played, as a kid with my grandma – I’d meant I didn’t understand why any one would play war for cash.

I began at a 2-3-5 no-limit poker table. The dealer was smooth, nevertheless it took a even though for my chips to arrive.

So if every one of the gaming is on the ground floor, what is up with the eight-story tower? Spokesman Ron Snyder mentioned M8trix plans to make use of the leading story for VIP gaming, to become rented by higher rollers or organizations. (The Mercury News reported last month that Police Chief Chris Moore mentioned he’d rule on the eighth-floor gaming challenge prior to his planned retirement in the end of January.)

Seventh-floor karaoke lounges opened this month and have song sheets in English, Vietnamese and Chinese. The casino’s clientele is heavily Asian; that is the purpose for the “8″ in the name, a good-luck number in several Asian cultures. The fifth and sixth floors are banquet rooms for up to 200 individuals; floors two by means of four are offices.

To have on the poker list, it’s important to give your cell quantity – they text when a seat opens up. I waited only a couple of minutes, but players have complained on Yelp that they waited 90 minutes or extra. That’s not something many players will tolerate, specially using the Bay 101 across the highway.Gleaming like a citadel on the horizon, Casino M8trix shines with blue light, then turns red and violet. The $50 million San Jose casino is present day and sleek using a dash of Vegas glitz – featuring gaming, dining as well as a sports bar on its spacious ground floor.

Not far from San Jose’s airport, on the web-site on the old Garden City casino, M8trix opened in August to mixed reviews. (Yelpers bemoaned lengthy waits to play and difficulty parking.) So I drove to the South Bay last week to have a look at M8trix for myself. I went on a Tuesday night and had no difficulty parking.

Casino M8trix provides poker, blackjack, pai gow and baccarat and also other table games. The cavernous area is surrounded with flat-screen TVs, a sports bar and a restaurant called Zone eight – for light meals there is Noodle Ba, serving pho, udon, springs rolls and pot stickers ($6.49-$7.99).

I walked to the center in the room, decorated with giant red lamps, as well as a friendly host named Felix place me on the list. He told me they have games ranging from no-limit Texas Hold ‘Em to casino war.

“War – I by no means understood that,” I said. He said higher card wins. I laughed – war was the initial card game I played, as a kid with my grandma – I’d meant I didn’t understand why any one would play war for cash.

I began at a 2-3-5 no-limit poker table. The dealer was smooth, nevertheless it took a even though for my chips to arrive.

So if every one of the gaming is on the ground floor, what is up with the eight-story tower? Spokesman Ron Snyder mentioned M8trix plans to make use of the leading story for VIP gaming, to become rented by higher rollers or organizations. (The Mercury News reported last month that Police Chief Chris Moore mentioned he’d rule on the eighth-floor gaming challenge prior to his planned retirement in the end of January.)

Seventh-floor karaoke lounges opened this month and have song sheets in English, Vietnamese and Chinese. The casino’s clientele is heavily Asian; that is the purpose for the “8″ in the name, a good-luck number in several Asian cultures. The fifth and sixth floors are banquet rooms for up to 200 individuals; floors two by means of four are offices.

To have on the poker list, it’s important to give your cell quantity – they text when a seat opens up. I waited only a couple of minutes, but players have complained on Yelp that they waited 90 minutes or extra. That’s not something many players will tolerate, specially using the Bay 101 across the highway.