Bonnie Demos

The old Beach Boy song "I Get Around" comes to mind when describing my job as a columnist and sales representative for Poker Player Newspaper. Much of my time is spent on the road traveling to countless poker rooms throughout the United States. Navigating new cities and states is always an adventure and oftentimes a challenge.

Oklahoma is fast becoming the home of some of the biggest, baddest poker tournaments around, and now the Downstream Casino, a relative newcomer on the scene, is getting into the action with their new offering, The Four States Poker Championship. You will find complete details of this exciting new event in their ad, in this issue of Poker Player Newspaper.

The second annual Minnesota State Poker Championship recently concluded at Canterbury Park on April 26, naming a new Minnesota State champion. Alec Anderson of Plymouth, MN worked his way through a field of 138 players to capture the title along with first place prize money of $65,955.

"In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love," however this year's spring poker tournament line-up is so tempting that romance can wait. Spring's most anticipated poker tournaments will soon be underway at these premier poker rooms:

Oklahoma-Cherokee Casino, clearly a leader on the national poker tournament scene recently hosted another successful annual Ozark Poker Championship event at the new, expanded West Siloam Springs location. Still to come this spring, the much anticipated Mid-South Poker Classic, scheduled to take place from May 7-18 at Cherokee's Tulsa location, with registration beginning on April 1.

As the end of our brutal winter draws near, poker rooms from the Pacific Northwest to the Midwest are anticipating an action packed spring, offering players an opportunity to thaw out with some hot tournament action.

In late 2005, poker players and Michigan natives Dennis "AceJones" Brown and Chris "ALakeofFire" McMahan, teamed up with David "DC" Collister, a 20 year terrestrial radio veteran, with an idea for online poker radio. As a result, Rounder's Radio, found online at www.roundersradio.com, launched January 1, 2006.

Like many poker rooms across the US, Cherokee Casino Resort is no stranger to the women of poker. Just as women take main event seats in poker tournaments across the globe, a handful of local ladies have made their names known at Cherokee Casino.

Kim Benzel, Debbie Inman and Deborah Hale are the first female members of Team Cherokee, an elite group of poker players who are quickly climbing the poker ranks on a local and national level.

Bailouts, bankruptcies, and Brett Farve leaving the Packers are just a few reasons to kiss 2008 good bye and welcome 2009 with a new sense of hope. Currently, the casino and poker news from the Midwest looks good...even promising. Oklahoma casinos continue moving forward with major growth and expansion, creating new jobs and opportunity, as well as many card rooms throughout the Central Time zone. They're also adding new tournaments and expanding existing venues. Several noteworthy events proving that poker is alive and well and showing continued growth in the Midwest are listed below:

Cherokee Casino's Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge V featured 30 events over 11 days with buy-ins ranging from $120 - $3,150, and drew top players from across the country. Although hosting an event of this size is a daunting task, it did not slow Cherokee's future plans to brand under The Hard Rock venue and expand their capacity. When complete, the 412,548 square feet resort will include:

• 30,000 square feet of additional gaming room • 30,000 square feet of convention space
• A 2,500-seat multipurpose theater for concerts and sporting events