Nick Macaluso was born in Bends, Oregon in 1956. At the age of six his family moved to Colorado where his father owned several service stations.
Nick started working for his dad at the tender age of 15. His introduction to poker also came at the age of 15 when he would accompany his dad to watch him play poker at his weekly home poker game.
In 1976, at the age of 20, Nick married and opened his own automotive shop. In 1981 he sold his shop in Colorado and moved to Defloge, Missouri where he bought another automotive shop along with racing stock cars.
In 1989 Nick sold the shop in Missouri, moved back to Colorado and bought another shop. He began playing charity poker in local bars which led him to also buying a social club. In 2003 he sold both the auto shop and the social club because a buddy of his talked him into taking a floor position in the poker room in Black Hawk, Colorado at the Mountain High Casino. Three months later he convinced his boss to let him deal three days a week and work the floor two days a week.
In June of 2005, this same friend and Poker Room Manager at Creek Nation Casino in Tulsa convinced him to take a floor position with him to help him get the new poker room going. Three months later his friend left and within a month Nick was appointed Poker Room Manager.
DB: When did Creek Nation Casino - Tulsa open their poker room?
NM: We opened with six tables in June 2005 and within three months we expanded to 11 tables.
DB: What live games does Creek Nation Casino offer its poker players?
NM: We spread two nolimit games, one with $1-$2 blinds with a $100 minimum buy-in and a $300 maximum, and one with $2-$5 blinds with a $200 minimum buy-in and no maximum. We spread two pot limit high and high low games with $1-$2 and $2- $5 blinds. We also spread a $3-$6 limit hold'em with a $30 minimum buy-in and a $1-$5 seven-card stud game.
DB: Does Creek Nation Casino offer daily tournaments?
NM: Yes, we run daily nolimit tournaments seven days a week at 9 a.m. with a $30 buy-in and $20 rebuys. If you rebuy at the start of the event you receive $1000 in chips but if you wait until the break to rebuy you get $700 in chips. On Mondays at 7 p.m. we hold a ladies only no-limit event with a $20 buy-in and no rebuys. Wednesdays at 7 p.m. is a no-limit event for men only with a $100 buy-in and no rebuys. We also have two bounty tournaments on Thursday and Sunday at 7 p.m. with a $100 buy-in and no rebuys.
DB: What incentives do you offer poker players?
NM: We have a progressive bad beat jackpot that takes aces full of jacks to win. Both cards must play and there must have been a full rake. The bad beat jackpot is up to $50,000 as we speak. We also have three progressive high hand jackpots, one for a royal flush,a straight flush and four of a kind.
DB: Are you planning on giving away any World Series of Poker seats?
NM: Yes we are running a promotion for tournament players and live action players. Any player who has won a tournament or any live player who logs in the required hours receives an entry into the qualifying event, which will be held on June 5, 6, and 7. On June 8 the top 27 finishers will play for a seat into the main event at the WSOP.
DB: Is the room unique in any way?
NM: Customers only have to be 18 to play here. We do not serve alcohol but we do have tableside food service. Our room is non-smoking equipped with a computer wait list system and shuffler masters. We pride ourselves on customer service and having the most luxurious Poker Room in the state of Oklahoma.
