Having just returned from the alleged birthplace of Texas hold'em, I am reminded that poker is a privilege, and that casino poker is a right many of us do not have. I've been told that raked poker isn't legal in Texas, but there are still many opportunities to play. I was on a whirlwind trip through this southern Mecca and in addition to the usual tourist spots like Luckenbach (with Waylon, Willie, and the Boys) and Six Flags, I gave a few poker seminars and got to play some bar league poker. It was a lot of fun to play with people who are starved for "real" poker action.
My trek started in San Antonio where I was greeted by the remnants of a hurricane in Brownsville which spawned a tornado during my stay. My business partner Linda Johnson gave the keynote speech to a convention of insurance brokers and it was well received by all but one attendee. Yes, in the survey forms, she got excellent reviews from 149 of the attendees, but one thought the topic was ill-conceived for such a venue. Hey, still not a bad review by percentage! She spoke about the ways that poker skills mirror those in the business world, and how insurance brokers actually are gambling when setting the price of a policy versus risk, much like no-limit poker. Okay, so maybe I am reaching, but entertaining and educational it was.
From there, we traveled to Austin, a most beautiful city, where we stayed in the historic Driskill Hotel. We were close to Sixth Street, noted for its pedestrian mall-like atmosphere, with many watering holes and music venues packed into a few blocks. A horse and carriage ride around town gave us a great tour and we followed it up with a seminar to a bar league of 40 enthusiastic poker players. The seminar was a charity event and raised $250 for the local charity Safeplace. Hosted by the TFPL.net, they boast a membership of 6,000 players in Texas and the night we were there they held two tournaments with 120 entrants each. Bounty points and prizes are awarded and they have regional events once per quarter with about 500 players.
Then we journeyed to the Dallas-Fort Worth area where we gave a seminar to about 60 attendees and then played in their tournament. While I didn't last too long in the no-limit hold'em event, they did host a few legal no-rake cash games immediately thereafter.
With volunteer dealers and no rake or take of any sort, the game was within the law and was an unusual but special time for the locals. Also served was a buffet complete with barbeque worthy of the Texas label.
I enjoyed my whirlwind tour of the big state with a rush home in time to repack for the Alaska poker cruise. I am writing this column from my stateroom on Holland America's Westerdam and looking out at a stunning glacier. Card Player Cruises hosted 300 poker players on this trip and so far, the weather has been perfect. After one day at home, I will be heading off to North Carolina and Indiana for a family visit and then a charity event at Mickey's Camp. I'll tell you about the latter next time as I am moving right along!
Editor's Note: Jan Fisher is cofounder of the Tournament Directors Association, Partner in Card Player Cruises, and WPT Boot Camp instructor and statistician. E-mail to Jan@cardplayercruises.com.
