The First Poker Tournament

Please let me begin by thanking all of you who have written to me with so many nice things to say about this column. I appreciate it very much. Many of you have requested that I write more of the old days, including old poker stories.

So, I'll begin this column by telling you that in the old days, I lived in a house without a bathroom (just two holes and a path), electricity, or telephone, and during the Dust Bowl, the Hale family was forced to join the migration of the Okies from Oklahoma to California. I lived on a dirt floor and went to bed hungry. The first time I came to Las Vegas was in 1936, with a mattress on top of the car. But before you start to feel sorry for me, I will tell you that it didn't hurt me. It made me want to work and do better. In this great country, you can do better, and I did – I made my first million dollars before I was 22, and lost it before I was 25. Then the next time I made it – I locked it up.

Well, you all know that I love to play tournament poker. I will be playing this year in the World Series of Poker $10,000 event at Binion's Horseshoe. I won the first seat in the very first satellite, and like Broadway Joe, I am going to make a prediction – at the age of 74, I will be the oldest player to win the "big one." What will I do with the million-plus dollars? Ask Carol Ann, she has the key to the lockbox. But if I were to guess, she'd probably just ask me, "Honey, what color chips do you want to play with today?"

Now I'll tell you about the first poker tournament, or "depression poker."

My father was the greatest poker player who ever lived. He invented "depression poker," which was the first poker tournament ever played. Its rules and structure were very simple. The contestants gathered together and placed their poker money for the week, maybe $5 or $10, in front of them. The rules of the game were the same as they are today in poker tournaments, except for two variations: The limits never changed, and it was impossible to go broke.

Now, you're probably asking how that could be. Well, if you were unlucky enough to lose all of your chips, you simply played for the antes. You see, there was no one to take your place, and the game had to go on, right? So, the other players played for a side pot while you played for only the antes. If you were successful in winning the antes, you could win yourself back into the poker game!

People played depression poker for entertainment, the joy of getting together with their friends for a friendly game of cards, and the social aspect of it, so they didn't want anyone to go broke and get shut out of the fun for the rest of the evening.

You might be wondering who won in this type of setup. Well, they set a quitting time for the game, usually midnight. At that hour, one more hand was dealt, and when it was finished, you kept the money in front of you.

This was the first-ever poker tournament, and my father, G.N. Hale, invented it. It was the forerunner of tournament poker games as we know and play them today.

Until next time – stay lucky.

Editor's note: "Oklahoma Johnny" Hale is the author of Gentleman Gambler, available through the Card Player, and the creator of the Seniors World Championship of Poker. His E-mail address is [email protected], and you can visit his website at www.OklahomaJohnnyHale.com.