I'm back!

It seems forever since my last blog and that may be because it has been over a month. In that time frame I have played poker one time with a very respectable finish at the Ultimate. Of course the big news since my last blog is the closing of McCann's and the lose of three games a week in St Cloud. I always saw the closing of McCann's as enviable but was hoping for the them to keep going. They have been a great support for the CMPPA and the chance to play their will be missed. A big thank you and good luck to Wendell & Matt in their future endeavors. This really leaves a hole in the St Cloud bar poker market with not a lot of hope for someone to step and replace those lost games. There is still the Ultimate but he is not very committed to poker and will with any excuse cancel or change the payout of his games. The most ridiculous new rule there is the if you don't purchase anything you only get half of the points or prize money. I do understand why he wants to do this but I believe that he is going about it all wrong. He is encouraging players to not buy anything. I say if they don't purchase anything just give the tournament director the authority to kick that person out of the bar. Plain and simple. No purchase no play! Why as a bar owner would you want a non customer to be knocking out paying customers from your game. They just cost you money. Kick them out! A bar owner has the right to refuse service to anyone. Use that right! Anyway back to McCann's loss.

What does this mean to the CMPPA.

 Mostly we have lost our main sponsor and location to play. We can't trust that the Ultimate will follow through with allowing us to play there as he has already cancelled twice in the past. The Clearwater Legion will allow us to play there but it's hard to run events such as the St Cloud Series of Poker, which begins this month, and not play any of them in St Cloud. I am looking into possible other places but it's hard to get a commitment from others for Saturdays and we will need a place for two days for the main event. If anyone has ideas, please let me know through comments on blog or through my facebook page.

St Cloud Series of Poker

Begins on August 18th at noon at the Clearwater Legion with no limit holdem. The board of the CMPPA has decided that one month memberships maybe purchased for only $10 or you can purchase a rest of the year membership for only $35. The other events include Omaha Split, HORSE & a two day Main Event. For more info go to www.cmppa.com