First Post

In this blog I will be tracking my poker experiences either online or live. I hope you enjoy! I grew up in a card playing family. We mostly played four handed games such as 500, buck euchre, and Pfieffer. My parents owned a small bowling center in southern Minnesota. It was the afternoon card playing spot. $.50 a game $.25 a set. I did very well winning more then losing. It was in college that I began to play in home game poker games with the younger farmers in the area. They had a lot more funds then me, so it was mostly a losing endeavor playing the crazy games that are played at such games, but it built a love for playing poker. Now fast forward ahead to 2002 and the begining of the current poker craze. I owned a bowling center in St Cloud, MN and I am looking for a new promotion. I am watching the WPT at home with my son and he is talking about how everyone is playing Texas Hold-em at school. I think, there has to be a way to incorporate it into a promotion at my bar. But, is it legal! I decide to invest some money in to lawyers fees and have them look into what the MN law says about Free Poker. They come back that it would nbe ok under law as long as no entry was charged, but they also stated that the MN Dept. of Gambling would not like the idea. After further discussion, it was decided to go ahead and purchase equipment ( Chips & Cards ) and set a date to start. We chose Mondays nights because it was a slow night. Now I had my chips and cards and it was time to start. I picked a monday at the end of Jan. 2003 as the first night. I made up Flyers for my center and posted it about a week in advance on the reader board on my businesses sign. I only knew about Texas Hold-em from wacthing TV, but figured I could wing it. I set up my chip values, blinds and got a timer ready. It is now the morning of the 1st event. I am hoping to have 10 people there for starters. I get to work and my employees are buzzing. The phone has been ringing off the hook about people taht want to play Hold-em that night. I am blown away. I now realize for this to work I need tables and dealers. I spend the next 3 hours making tables out of wall board and cover them with felt. I now have 4 tables. I call several friends to deal. The first players arrive about 4pm. We are not starting until 6pm. First night had 43 players that won a t-shirt for winning. The next week people starting showing up at 3pm and we had over 50. My career as a Tournament Director had begun. More Later!