Donna Marks

Have you ever looked at your stack during a Poker tournament and thought, "Gee, I'd love to just cash this out right now!" Well, 103 brave souls recently faced down torrential thunder storms and active tornado warnings for that very opportunity!

The inaugural Badhat-White Tiger Cash Blast No-Limit Hold 'em Poker Tournament is complete, and officially declared a raging success!

On July 30, Tunica's Horseshoe Casino presented the tournament that was hosted by the creators and licensed owners of the new format, Kenny "Badhat" Piel, and Mike "White Tiger" Woods, two local poker pros.

Hats. Have you ever realized how a hat makes you what you are? How it changes your whole look and personality? You might look at someone at the table with an animal hat on and think, "Wow, what a jerk!" Or maybe he's wearing a hat to hide his eyes, hide his tells, hide his thoughts. There are mad hatter hats, derbies, baseball caps with every logo imaginable, fedoras, beanies, berets, bandanas, and bowlers, but there is only one bad hat!

I had a very pleasant surprise yesterday when I walked into the Isle at Pompano Casino poker room in Pompano, FL. It's a magnificent room, located on the second floor, well spread out, with a great atmosphere. I sat down with poker room manager Mike Smith who has been in the business 30 years, and with the Isles on and off for the last decade.

I attended the opening of the Class III gaming at Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida. It's a milestone for Florida because up until recently they have only had Class II slots, low-limit poker, and Vegas style slots.

Now all of that changed. On June 22, 2008 the first hand of blackjack was dealt to Carmen Electra, Lorraine Bracco, Ron Patterson, and other celebrities, including Gino Torretta, Alonzo Mourning, Cornelius Bennett, Dwayne Wade, Greg Gumble, Henri Crockett, Eddie Jones, Bob Kuechenberg, Nat Moore, O.J. McDuffie, Howard Schnellenberger, and Zack Crockett.