Casey Kastle - Man on a Mission

Casey Kastle – 42, from Chicago – is a very good poker player. He's also the man who spearheaded the efforts to make poker tournaments nonsmoking. (Many people thought he had a better chance of climbing Mount Everest without gloves.) Kastle believes tournaments should be nonsmoking not so much for health reasons, but to make tournament poker a level playing field for all competitors.

Kastle got involved in poker by helping a church group host a charity casino night. He volunteered to deal blackjack, and when the event concluded, there was a $2-$4 poker game. He played in it, and then started playing six nights a week.

Kastle played in his first tournament four years ago at the Rio's Carnivale of Poker. He finished third in the first event he ever played, the $500 buy-in limit hold'em tournament. He said he misplayed a hand or he would have been heads up with T.J. Cloutier. He then made two more final tables at the Rio, including the $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em championship event, in which he finished fifth. It was truly an amazing performance for anyone's first-ever tournament. He made more money in less than a month than he did in a year in the wine business. He was hooked.

After his success at the Rio, he traveled to Europe to play, and did very well there. He almost won the big tournament in Vienna and finished third in the big one in Slovenia. (Julian Gardner, a 19-year-old phenom from England who is too young to even play in the United States, knocked him out of both of those events. Casey said Gardner outplayed him.) Poker seemed to be a pretty easy way to make money to Casey. He then discovered over the last six months of that year that maybe it was not so easy, as he blew back half of his winnings.

After a year or so, the smokers got to him, and he had run-ins with them. Some of them used smoking as a weapon once they knew it bothered him. He came to the conclusion that he could quit complaining about it, quit poker, or do something about it. He decided to try to do something about it, and started a petition.

The wording was too harsh on his first petition. Kastle wanted players to threaten to boycott tournaments by signing it. That was too severe for most players, even many who agreed with him that tournaments should be nonsmoking.

His mission was time-consuming. He took great time and effort talking to everyone, faxing information, going on the Internet, and so on. He knew his petition was a tool of negotiation with management. He wanted an organized effort with clout. He was firm in his belief that players should be able to breathe when they compete, and that his movement must win.

He started at the top of the poker world when getting signatures on his petition. Chip Reese was the first to sign, followed by Doyle Brunson and 10 other former world champions. He deliberately got people to sign who weren't fanatics, but who were players and customers in various casinos. In the end, the "Players Petition" had 1,010 signatures, including those of many smokers.

Kastle continued talking to management, stressing that players should compete on a level playing field, as smoking is very irritating to nonsmokers. He also believed it would improve the image of poker, as only 24 percent of Americans smoke. His strongest supporters included Max Shapiro, Tom McEvoy, and Mike Gainey.

The Tournament of Champions at The Orleans Hotel and Casino was a huge "no smoking" milestone. It was a mega event staged in a Las Vegas casino. Also, Tom Gitto contributed greatly to the nonsmoking cause. He was the first major casino cardroom manager to ban smoking in his cardroom at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. The tide was turning.

Card Player publisher Barry Shulman came on board in a quiet, diplomatic way. He indicated to Becky Behnen, owner of Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas, that a "player movement" was under way. Shulman presented a great argument that there was no reason to allow spectators or staff to smoke in the playing area at the World Series of Poker. The first concession from the Horseshoe finally came: Only seated players could smoke. The WSOP is now nonsmoking.

Jack Binion's World Poker Open in Tunica, Mississippi, is also a nonsmoking tournament now. Today, a little more than two years after Kastle began with that first petition, virtually every major poker tournament is a nonsmoking venue.

I believe the entire poker industry owes Casey Kastle a debt of gratitude. He has done what many said was not possible. During your next tournament, take a breath of fresh air and say, "Thanks, Casey!"

Take care.