Bay 101

History

In 1929, Joseph Sutter Sr. purchased the Panama Inn in Alviso, which he would rename as Sutter's Club. Sutter's son, Joseph Sutter Jr., took over the establishment in 1947, and added poker tables in 1961.

In 1989, Caltrans released plans for widening of Highway 237 that would require demolishing the club. The move would have been prohibited under a 1978 city law intended to phase out card rooms by ending issuance of new licenses and transfers of existing licenses. However, Bumb's group successfully lobbied the city council to amend the law to allow Sutter's to move to a new location and expand to 40 tables.

Sutter's closed in June 1992. Developers instead selected a site in an industrial area near Highway 101. A contest was held to choose a new name for the casino, and Bay 101 was selected out of 7,400 entries. The cardroom was built at its new location at a cost of $15 million.

Bay 101 held a grand opening in November 1993, but could not offer gaming because background checks for the owners' gaming license had not been completed; only the restaurants and bar were operating. As the licensing process dragged on, the club was closed and its 600 employees were laid off in December. The state Department of Justice eventually denied Bay 101's license application because of alleged failures to disclose certain financial information, and other reasons that were not made public. The shareholders then agreed to sell their stakes in the business to brothers Tim Bumb and George Bumb Jr., who had previously been only passive investors, and were seen as the most likely to successfully appeal the state's decision. Under the sole ownership of Tim and George, Bay 101 received a provisional gaming license in August 1994. The card room finally opened and dealt its first games on September 9, 1994.

Bay 101 announced plans in 2013 to move across the freeway to the site of the San Jose Airport Hotel, near the new location of the city's other cardroom, Casino M8trix. An alternative plan emerged in June 2014, as Bay 101 lobbied for permission to move to Milpitas, where it would pay a lower tax rate and be allowed to expand to 115 tables. That plan was rejected, however, by Milpitas voters. The Airport Hotel was demolished in December 2015 to make way for Bay 101's new $100-million casino, hotel, and, office complex. The first phase of the new complex, comprising the casino and a restaurant, opened in September 2017.

References

References

1. Erik Fast. (2014-03-12). "World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event Draws Record Field of 718 Entries - Poker News". cardplayer.com.
2. Chad Holloway. (2012-07-16). "World Poker Tour on FSN: Bay 101 Shooting Star Season X — Part I". PokerNews.
3. Mike Cassidy. (April 19, 1993). "Name a cardroom, win a grand". San Jose Mercury News.
4. John Woolfolk. (August 2, 2013). "Bay 101 card room in San Jose plans move next to Casino M8trix". San Jose Mercury News.
5. Mike Cassidy. (October 6, 1991). "Postcards from First Street". San Jose Mercury News.
6. Maline Hazle. (February 8, 1989). "Alviso card room's days are numbered". San Jose Mercury News.
7. Maline Hazle. (December 20, 1991). "S.J. card room is proposed". San Jose Mercury News.
8. Maline Hazle. (January 23, 1992). "Odds are, card room will move". San Jose Mercury News.
9. Maline Hazle. (June 29, 1987). "Tony's may become only game in town". San Jose Mercury News.
10. Maline Hazle. (March 18, 1992). "S.J. gets set to gamble on card rooms". San Jose Mercury News.
11. Maline Hazle. (June 10, 1992). "Card rules changes". San Jose Mercury News.
12. Maline Hazle. (March 17, 1993). "S.J. OKs expanded 40-table card club". San Jose Mercury News.
13. Maline Hazle. (May 8, 1992). "Card room move to S.J. fizzles". San Jose Mercury News.
14. Maline Hazle. (March 16, 1993). "Card club expansion on table". San Jose Mercury News.
15. Mike Cassidy. (July 19, 1993). "Two contestants won the $1,000 prize". San Jose Mercury News.
16. Maline Hazle. (February 18, 1994). "Card club owners say they may sell". San Jose Mercury News.
17. Maline Hazle. (November 19, 1993). "State stymies Bay 101 club". San Jose Mercury News.
18. Maline Hazle. (December 10, 1993). "Bay 101 cardroom to lay off 600". San Jose Mercury News.
19. Maline Hazle. (February 10, 1994). "State says no deal to Bay 101". San Jose Mercury News.
20. Mary Anne Ostrom. (March 11, 1994). "2 brothers drop Bay 101 plans". San Jose Mercury News.
21. (September 4, 1994). "Bay 101's accidental heirs". San Jose Mercury News.
22. Mary Anne Ostrom. (August 27, 1994). "Conditional OK for Bay 101". San Jose Mercury News.
23. Mary Anne Ostrom. (September 10, 1994). "Bay 101 shuffles deck, deals first card". San Jose Mercury News.
24. Nathan Donato-Weinstein. (November 28, 2012). "Bay 101 owners buy North San Jose hotel". Silicon Valley Business Journal.
25. Ian Bauer. (August 6, 2014). "Milpitas council OK’s card room ballot measure for November election". San Jose Mercury News.
26. George Avalos. (September 9, 2014). "Bay 101 seeking new card room in San Jose, Milpitas". San Jose Mercury News.
27. Ian Bauer. (November 5, 2014). "Milpitas voters fold card room Measure E". San Jose Mercury News.
28. Mark Dufrene. (December 30, 2015). "Old San Jose Hyatt/San Jose Airport Garden Hotel site cleared". San Jose Mercury News.
29. George Avalos. (January 11, 2016). "Work starts on north San Jose site for casino, hotels and offices". San Jose Mercury News.
30. Ramona Giwargis. (September 28, 2017). "New Bay 101 Casino opens its doors in San Jose". San Jose Mercury News.