2006 Oklahoma State Championship

Main entrance of the Cherokee Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma

In February, I flew to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a weekend of fun at the Cherokee Casino Resort. The main attraction was the $3,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament in the Oklahoma State Championship. I knew that first place would be in six figures, and I had dreams of paying off the mortgage on my house. However, I failed to win any prize money.



The Oklahoma State Championship drew 153 entrants for the championship event and paid $121,452 for first place, which was won by Doug Paxton of Oklahoma City. Second place went to Jim Lack of Enid, Oklahoma, and third place was captured by Salah Levy of Boca Raton, Florida. Half of the 18 prize winners were from outside Oklahoma, including the states of Minnesota and Tennessee, showing that this tournament drew players from a wide area.



The evening before the big tournament, I had enough free time to look for a good cash game. I did not have to look far. Near the entrance to the cardroom, there was a $5-$10-$25 blinds $1,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha game going. I was able to get in right away, pulled out a grand, and tried my luck. The first time I had the button, several people limped in, the cutoff seat opened for a small raise, I called with the Q J J 6, and the big blind called, along with most of the limpers. The flop came to my liking, J 6 5, giving me top set. (In Omaha, we have to refrain from using the term "the nuts" with such potentially powerful drawing cards coming on the flop, as it is possible with that board not to be the favorite to win the pot.) The first player led at the pot for a pot-size blast and the field folded around to me. I moved in, and the bettor called. The board paired sixes on the turn, giving me the nuts (the term can be used now, since I also had a 6), which held up. My opponent probably had a club draw and straight draw. I was off to a good start. I played for several hours and ended up a little more than a grand ahead for the day.



In the championship event the next day, we were given $10,000 in chips and started out with only $25-$25 blinds, so we had plenty of chips to play for a while without coming under money pressure. I know that a lot of people believe that holding big hands is a needed ingredient for doing well in a poker tournament. My view is, the main kind of luck you need is good timing. In this event, early on, I picked up pocket sixes and flopped middle set, but no one had anything. A few hands later, I picked up pocket aces and raised, and got called in three places. But when I bet the flop, the field folded quickly. An hour later, I flopped a set of queens, but my opponent had nothing.



I had built my stack up to about $13,000 in the first three levels when this hand came along: A bunch of people limped in, including a frequent-caller type on my right. I was on the button with Q-9 offsuit and tried to pick up the pot by raising to $1,200. Everyone folded quickly around to Mr. Caller, who by now was short-stacked. He hemmed and hawed, and finally went all in for $3,000 more. Since I was getting about 2-to-1 odds, I called, expecting him to have a fairly small pocket pair, against which I had two overcards. However, he held A-8 offsuit – a bigger hand against mine than I thought, but still substantially less than a 2-to-1 favorite. Neither of us helped, so his garbage beat my garbage.



My demise came on this hand: I picked up A-10 offsuit in the cutoff seat. Bill Bond, a friend of mine from Dallas who is a tremendous money player, limped in from under the gun. Someone called from middle position and I called, so four of us were in. The flop came with a red ace and the 10 9, giving me top two pair. The big blind checked, Bond bet $600, and the big blind folded. I raised $1,500 more, and Bond moved all in, which was about $3,000 more. I gave a crying call, hoping he had something like top pair and a flush draw with an overcard, which would make me a slight favorite. The hand that worried me was the possibility of three nines. It was even worse than that, as Bill showed me pocket tens, leaving me dead to an ace. I did not find a miracle and reported to the rail.



The Cherokee Casino Resort was pleased with the turnout for its weeklong array of tournaments. Right now it has 35 tables, but management believes their customer base will justify an expansion to 55 tables sometime in 2007. They also plan to have three major tournaments a year. These tournaments will be run by Jimmy Sommerfeld, the head tournament director for Jack Binion's World Poker Open in Tunica for many years, and, in my opinion, the best tournament director around.



The biggest reason I love going to Tulsa is that the staff of the Cherokee Casino has such a strong commitment to poker, and not just the bottom line. Let me give you an example:



As you know, I am trying to improve the poker laws in our country. Oklahoma's laws leave a lot to be desired. Last November I got an e-mail from a young woman who attends a small college in Oklahoma. Her sorority decided to have a poker tournament – another sign that times have really changed – and they got a bunch of merchants to pledge a sundry list of prizes. There would not be an entry fee (it was a freeroll), so the poker tournament would not be gambling. However, the college's lawyer said that the event would be in violation of the law. The young woman asked me to help her convince the lawyer that the tournament would not be a gambling violation. I said that I would check it out and get back to her.



I did not see how the event could be illegal, but I did a Google search anyway. The result was dismaying. Oklahoma law specifically states that playing poker for money is illegal, not gambling at poker, but playing poker for money. The Oklahoma attorney general issued an advisory opinion in 2005, stating that it was illegal to play poker for prizes because the law explicitly says so, even if no gambling is involved. I regretfully had to tell the young woman that her school attorney was acting properly in protecting the school by asking that the event be cancelled.



I decided to bring this case to the attention of Rick O'Connell, the director of card games at the Cherokee Casino. I did not really expect much, but it couldn't hurt. I was happy to hear Rick say that it sounded like it could be good for poker if the law in Oklahoma was changed, and he would set up a meeting for me with the tribe's General Council when I came back in the spring. Contrast this attitude with the way many casinos are, trying to eliminate competition by squelching gambling activity in their state as soon as they themselves get to be legal. I will give you an update when I play in the Oklahoma Johnny Hale Seniors Hall of Fame event in early April.

Bob Ciaffone has authored four poker books, Middle Limit Holdem Poker (available at www.CardPlayer.com), Pot-Limit and No-Limit Poker (available at CardPlayer.com), Improve Your Poker (available at CardPlayer.com), and Omaha Holdem Poker. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons: e-mail [email protected]. His website is http://www.pokercoach.us/, where you can get his rulebook, Robert's Rules of Poker, for free.