The owner at the time you visited would have been Pinky Donahoo. The club was on Route 33 going north (out of town). That is, one had to go through downtown Ventura and make a right turn and start leaving the city for the oil fields above it. I don't remember the neighborhood being as dire as you mention. I found a parking spot on the little street off Route 33 near the casino. It was still daylight when I visited so those fears you write of were not in me then. I remember the card tables pushed very close together so that I could barely slither through to the Cage. And I was a bit more svelte in those days! Anyway, the cashier was gracious enough to sell me a handful of chips and I left happy, trying to figure out if there were any differences in the inlay design (a sort of cloudy ocean view).

The club has since moved to Auto Center Drive on the south side of Ventura, just across the dry river from northern Oxnard. A lot more spacious and modern, and with entirely different chips. And, they had a clock on the wall in the second, back room. How many casinos come with clocks?!!

Only scary thing about Ventura now is when the Ocean rises those ten feet, then you'll need a 'Tura Boat to view the city.