A Brilliant Solution to an Age-Old Problem

I've been in the poker industry a long time, and therefore am always happy when someone comes up with a way to "build a better mousetrap." Recently while hosting a tournament series at the Eureka Casino Hotel in Mesquite, Nevada, I came across an innovative way to solve a problem that occurs frequently at the final table. When tournaments are nearing an end, oftentimes everyone except one or two players wants to make a deal to distribute the prize money differently than the structure called for, or perhaps to evenly chop the money. If someone says that he doesn't want to make the deal, he is usually ganged up on and often harassed until he either caves in and agrees to the deal or gets busted. Personally, I think a player should have the right to "play it out" without being treated like scum, and I think the tournament director should be on hand to ensure that the objector is protected from harassment.

Rob Reid, table games manager and director of poker operations at Eureka, has a wonderful way to make sure that no one is placed in the uncomfortable position of having to publicly turn down a deal. Here is how it was handled during the Eureka Open: Once the final table convened, if a deal was proposed, the tournament director announced it and made sure that everyone understood it. He then had the dealer give each player a red-suit card and a black-suit card. All players who agreed to accept the deal threw a red card in facedown; those who did not want to accept the deal threw in a black card facedown. The dealer then scrambled the cards and turned them faceup. If there was one or more black cards in the mix, play continued and the person or persons who nixed the deal remained anonymous.

I think this is pure genius! I was involved in four of these "votes," and they added a bit of excitement and suspense to the process. Eureka has a very friendly, chop-happy clientele, so three out of the four times that I was involved, everyone threw in a red card. The one time that a black card showed up, no one knew who had denied the deal, so no one was blamed. When it got down to four-handed, a new deal was proposed, and that time, everyone accepted it by throwing in a red card.

I also came up with some new poker vocabulary while at the Eureka. A friend was complaining that he had come in two out of the money in one event and three out of the money in another. I asked, "Does this mean that you finished on the bubble cutoff and the bubble hijack, respectively?"

Change of subject: Because there are so many women booked on the March 29 Card Player Cruises Caribbean poker cruise, we will be holding a ladies-only tournament in addition to our open events. Men and women can still win a free cruise for two on SpadeClub. For more information, go to www.cardplayercruises.com.

In closing, I want to thank the members of the Las Vegas Wednesday Poker Discussion Group who donated their time, and those who donated items for the "Poker Gives Back" project. At 6 a.m. on a cold January morning, 20 volunteer poker players set up multiple tables a block away from the Mission, and handed out free coats, blankets, socks, shoes, hygiene items, protein bars, stuffed animals, and clothing to the homeless people who stopped by on their way to have breakfast at the Mission. Everything was orderly and no one was greedy; they took just one pair of socks or one or two protein bars rather than stuff their pockets. They thanked us for being there, and we all left with smiles on our faces. In 2009, make it your goal to help those in need if you are able to do so.

Now, let's play poker!

Linda is available to host corporate events, tournaments, and seminars. She can be reached at [email protected].