Poker on the Fringe

Posted on October 30, 2008 
Filed Under General

I guess its close enough to All Hallows Eve to offer up some of the stranger happenings and non-happenings in the wide world of poker. Out there is the hinderlands, in the casinos and card rooms; tournaments and cash games; all kinds of happenings strange and stranger take place. Here are just a few:

maximClonie Gowen won a poker tournament and I don't mean a six handed game in someone's garage; though she is invited to my garage any night of the week. I just need a one hour notice to take my cobalt medicine.

Clonie took down the $5,000 World Poker Open at the Gold Strike Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. One hundred and seven entrants took on the WPO, which used to be a big tournament on the circuit but has fallen by the regular tour wayside with so many other events vying for players this fall. But Clonie has always considered Tunica her home poker grounds. I even took her out a few years back with Kings over Queens; you know she can hold a grudge. Anyway, the wonderous Ms. Gowen took it all down after entering the final table with the chip lead. She takes home a $183,224 championship payday and gives me a reason to use her photo, which is why this item made it onto my fringe list in the first place.

Lots of casinos offer beginner's poker classes. Well actually many rooms have a sign up that says they offer instruction but new players are usually too embarrassed to actually take them up on the offer. But the Commerce Casino has created Poker University. Well maybe not quite a university but a weekly two hour class for beginner's that will actually give them the necessary skills to sit down at a low limit table. The 'University" runs every Tuesday, is limited to 25 students and is run in an isolated area of the casino, so they participants might actually be able to learn a trick or two.

From the Commerce press release: The University will feature poker comedian Roger Rodd - to provide a little levity to the proceedings - but will also be an intensive training course for newcomers to the world of poker as well as those intermediate players who need a little brushing up on their skills. Rodd is no stranger to the poker world; known as Hollywood’s “Instructor to the Stars,” Rodd has taught the game of poker to Hollywood’s brightest personalities and also served as poker coach for the movie “Lucky You,”

OK, so the mention of Lucky You is what set off my fridge-o-meter here. Those folks in Hollywood just never know when to leave a truly enormous flop off of their resume.

Finally, this really fridgy item. It seems the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a political entity recognized only by Turkey, has begun to host poker tournaments and has "applied to the World Poker Tour" to organize a WPT event. OK, so we have the mere mention of region? province? country?, which might insight civil war. The violation of several national gaming laws on gambling and in particular a ban on tournament poker and an invitation to all of folks, the WPT, which is floundering on its own in the U.S. We all know how much thoughtful planning leads to a good, solid bankruptcy filing. Rube Goldberg would be proud of this and so would the International Monetary Fund. Hey, speaking of that, how about a huge charity poker tournament to bail out the world economy.

rube

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