For several years, I've been hearing that poker is king in Oklahoma, so I was thrilled to get an invitation to attend the
Oklahoma State Championship of Poker, and the world's first duplicate poker tournament at Cherokee Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Other invited guests included Linda Johnson, Ed Galvin, and Denny and Rita Axel. We flew nonstop from Las Vegas to Tulsa and were picked up at the airport in a casino limo. We were told that this is a complimentary service offered to all poker players. Executive Casino Host Robert "Bobby" Sadler and VIP Manager Poker and Blackjack Salvatore "Sal" DeLeone warmly greeted us upon our arrival and made us feel very welcome. They already had checked us into our rooms, and during our five-day stay, these two men worked tirelessly to make sure that our every need was met. A poker/blackjack party hosted by the casino was in full swing when we arrived, so we joined in the festivities just in time to hear Scotty Nguyen give a warm welcome to the guests. Scotty hosts all of the major poker tournaments at Cherokee, and is perfect for the job. He can work a crowd better than anyone I've ever seen. He often strolls through the poker room shaking hands, signing autographs, and posing for photos with his adoring fans.
The first legal hand of poker in Oklahoma was dealt by Dave Stewart, CEO of Cherokee Nation Enterprises, on Jan. 27, 2005. The game was $1-$2 no-limit hold'em, and the first pot was more than $1,200. Yes, these Oklahomans have lots of gamble in them. They also are very hospitable and friendly. During our visit, we never heard an argument or an unpleasant word in the poker room. Since that exciting beginning, the Cherokee Nation has opened three major poker rooms in Oklahoma. The 35-table cardroom in Tulsa is the largest, followed by a 13-table cardroom at the Roland Casino and a nine-table cardroom (soon to expand to 15 tables) at the West Siloam Springs Casino. A $100 million expansion is currently under way that will add a 14-story hotel, a spa, added convention and gaming space, and new restaurants.
I stayed up every night playing poker until it got light outside. I felt like a kid in a candy store with so many game choices, and hopped from the $1-$2 no-limit hold'em game to the $5-$5-$10 pot-limit Omaha game, to the $20-$40 Omaha eight-or-better game. Director of Poker and Table Games Rick O'Connell, Table Games Senior Manager of Poker Tony Armstrong, and Poker Manager Jimmie Sims even made sure that there was some Chinese poker action available. The live games were so good that I decided to stick with them instead of playing in the no-limit hold'em state championship. The final table of this event was filmed for television, on a professional film set, in front of a crowd of spectators.
Being natural tourists, my group took Bobby Sadler up on his offer to take us on a guided tour of Tulsa. We passed by a beautiful area of old mansions, saw Oral Roberts University, drove along the waterfront, and stopped for lunch at an Italian restaurant on the River Walk. Once we got back to the casino, I set out on my quest to find out more about duplicate poker, in preparation for the impending tournament.
Card Player columnist Bob Ciaffone has been consulting for e-pokerUSA, and explained some of the rules to me: There are always two or more tables of players, with the same number of players seated at each table. An identically shuffled deck of cards is used at each table for each hand played, so that players in the same seat position receive the same holecards, and the common cards are the same at each table. Every player begins each hand with the same amount of playing chips. The winner is determined by the amount of chips he or she has at a specified point as compared to that held by all players in the same seat at the other tables.
Security is a big issue in duplicate poker. To eliminate the risk that someone will be able to see the cards at another table, the cardroom is sectioned off with drapes between each table. Players are not allowed to speak about the hands until everyone has finished playing each round. The cards come to the table sealed in a box, and when the tournament director is ready to start each round, he says, "Don't shuffle up, just deal!" The dealers then use wire cutters to open each box, and play proceeds as pot-limit hold'em. There is someone at each table recording the action, which is shown on a computer screen and verified by the players. Players start each hand with $10,000 in chips, and if they lose that amount three times (a total of $30,000 lost), they are eliminated from the tournament. At the end of a specified number of hands, the players with the lowest chip counts in each seat number also are eliminated. It may sound confusing, but after a few hands, everyone seemed to understand the format. Every time results were posted, there was a lot of excitement around the television screens, with players craning their necks to see if they had "made the cut" and would move forward to the next round, or were eliminated because their chip count was not in the top 50 percent for their seat number.
As could be expected with any first-time endeavor, there were a few computer glitches and play was halted several times to fix the "challenges." The casino donated a seat for the winner into the $25,000
World Poker Tour Championship event, which seemed to help everyone remain patient, since this was a huge overlay for a $120 buy-in. Congratulations to
Card Player columnist Linda Johnson and her former
Card Player partner Denny Axel for making the money in this historic event. By the way, I came in second, and won a beautiful leather, embroidered logo jacket that was made especially for this event. Also, the money wasn't bad, but I sure would have liked the seat in the
WPT Championship. Congratulations to the winner, Jim Parker of Yukon, Oklahoma.
I really enjoyed everything about Cherokee Casino. The hotel rooms were spacious and comfortable, the food was good (especially at McGills, the steakhouse), the personnel and customers were extremely hospitable, and the poker action was outstanding. In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, I'll be back!
Class dismissed.
Jan is available to host poker events, seminars, and tournaments. You can contact her through her website at www.cardplayercruises.com or via e-mail at [email protected].
