Tournaments Light Up the Holidays

If you were looking for something to take your mind off our recent national crisis and the rush of the holiday season, you didn't have to look far to find a nice, relaxing poker tournament to play during November-December. You could have chosen the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut or the United States Poker Championship at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, or the Ho-Ho Hold'em tournament at The Bicycle Casino or the Holiday Bonus Tournament at Commerce Casino on the West Coast. Or, perhaps you decided to visit Reno, the "Biggest Little (Poker Tournament) City in the World," and play back-to-back tournaments: the Eldorado Poker Classic at the Eldorado Hotel and the Holiday Classic at the Hilton. You even could have played your poker at sea if you chose to leave three days after Thanksgiving for Card Player Cruises' Poker World Cup at Sea. One thing's for sure: Whether you made it through only the first round or appeared at the final table, you came out a winner in the "something to get my mind off everything else" sweepstakes. That's one of the peripheral benefits of membership in the ever-expanding club of tournament poker.

Naturally, I chose the Tom McEvoy Poker Spectacular at Hollywood Park Casino to play some old-fashioned, down-home poker in the friendly yet competitive environment provided by gracious host Phyllis Caro. Tournament Director Bob Thompson Jr. did his usual outstanding job, ably assisted by John Ross. With a bounty on my head in each tournament that I played, I added a little light to my tournament tree by capturing two of my own bounties when I made it to the final table of the $225 Omaha high-low event and the $540 limit hold'em event.

But, alas, in the hold'em tournament, I found yet another new way to lose, this time as the result of an unintentional dealer error. I held A-Q and my opponent, Men Nguyen, had pocket sixes. The "first" flop came 9-4-3 with a fourth card, a queen, lying faceup underneath one of the three exposed flop cards. The queen should have been one of the original flop cards when it came off the deck, but the floorperson ruled that the flop was void and should be redealt. The "new" flop came A-6-X, giving Nguyen trip sixes and me a ticket to the rail. I congratulate Men "The Master" for winning a first and a second during the tournament, and Randy Holland, who placed second twice and 10th twice. And I particularly want to give a tip of the Stetson to Burton Ritchie, a poker student of mine from Pensacola, Florida, who bested "The Master" in the opening limit hold'em event to win his first tournament.

While "my" tournament was going on, about 3,000 miles away at Foxwoods, my writing partner, T.J. Cloutier, came in second to John Cernuto in the $2,500 seven-card stud event. Earlier, T.J. had placed fifth in the $1,000 limit hold'em event, giving credence to his reputation as an all-around tournament player. Former World Champion Scotty Nguyen posted amazing results when he won the $2,500 limit hold'em event at Foxwoods, and two days later won the $5,000 no-limit hold'em championship event there.

Another light was added to my holiday poker tree when the 2002 revised edition of Championship Hold'em arrived. Our publisher Dana Smith, T.J., and I worked hard to iron out some of the wrinkles in the first edition. We appreciate the advice of Card Player columnists Daniel Negreanu and Steve Badger, and we incorporated their suggestions into this "new and improved" version of the third book in our "championship" series.

Sadly, one of the lights went out on the tournament tree this season when Chuck Humphrey announced that the Tournament of Champions no longer will be held. Humphrey and Mike Sexton put in long hours and big bucks to try to win corporate sponsorship for this outstanding event, but when their efforts failed, Humphrey said, "It became apparent that without it, the Tournament of Champions cannot become profitable." I applaud Chuck and Mike for their Herculean efforts to keep the TOC afloat, and send them – and the entire world of tournament poker – my heartfelt regrets that such a fine tournament has folded its hand.

With a little help from Santa, I hope to meet you in the winner's circle early in the new year, perhaps while I am playing in the World Poker Challenge tournament at the Reno Hilton, where Mike Gainey and David Lamb host a world-class, nonsmoking event that implements Tex Morgan's TEARS structures. Until then, have a happy holiday season.

Editor's note: Tom McEvoy is the author of Tournament Poker and the co-author with T.J. Cloutier of the "championship" series of poker books, all of which are available through Card Player. Visit www.pokerbooks.com for more details.