Special Events Abound

It seems like I have been involved with lots of special events lately. In this column, I'll mention the highlights of a few of these events.



When I was at Commerce Casino in February for the taping of the World Poker Tour, I mentioned to Tim Gustin, casino manager, that perhaps it was time to bring back the Ladies Dream Weekend. This popular ladies tournament, started in the mid-'90s, had been an annual event at Commerce for years until it was cancelled about three or four years ago. Tim agreed that with the explosion of poker and the coinciding increase in the number of female players, it was time to revisit hosting the ladies event, and he committed to providing a great weekend for the ladies.



Fast-forward to August and the 2006 Ladies Dream Weekend. Commerce really did it right in providing the ladies with an unforgettable event. As in prior years, daily lavish gourmet buffets were served to all participants. On day one, a wine tasting was offered, and all women who entered the first event were given a bottle of merlot to take home. The next day, following another tasty buffet, Jan Fisher and I presented a poker seminar to about 100 ladies. Commerce gave all tournament entrants a leather wine tote for a player-appreciation gift on the second day. Throughout both days of the tournament, LIPS founder Lupe Soto donated prizes based on table and seat draws, and miscellaneous gifts were put into pots at various times to keep it fun.



The tournament staff, headed by Cheri Dokken, provided a wonderful structure for the ladies and ran a great event. In lieu of a traditional-type trophy, custom artwork was awarded to the winner. There was a total of about 500 entrants during the weekend.



Congratulations to winners Diana Korkis and Kim Hyunhye.



The Bicycle Casino hosted a special ladies event in August, the Ladies Poker Party, with the winner getting a wild-card seat into the World Poker Tour Ladies Night. Kelli Griggs bested the huge field. She had a huge cheering section and played extremely well to finish second in the Ladies Night event. Congratulations to winner J.J. Liu. I think she is very underrated as a player; she is so aggressive that I nicknamed her "Mack Truck" a few years ago.



One of the most fun events I have participated in took place at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota, recently. I think it would be fair to say that the average height of the players in this tournament bested that of any prior event, as stars of the NBA showed up to support their friend Trent Tucker's charity tournament. I had the pleasure of playing with Scottie Pippen throughout most of the event. He has definitely played some poker before, and surprised me with his skill. Scottie entertained us all with a continual supply of witty comments. Here were some of my favorites: "Can I cut the cards, dealer?" After bluffing a pot, he said, "I'm here to win; nobody remembers who finished second!" After I beat him in a pot, he stared at me and said, "This isn't your first rodeo, is it?" After winning a big pot, he joked, "Maybe I've been playing the wrong game; I might have to quit basketball and take up professional poker." At one point, as he was watching a dealer figure out three side pots in the same hand, he said, "You're the Michael Jordan of dealers!"



Yes, poker can be fun.



Now, let's play poker!



Linda is available to host special corporate nights, seminars, and cardroom tournaments. She can be contacted through her websites at http://www.cardplayercruises.com/ or http://www.lindapoker.com/.