On The Road With Chris Moneymaker: Poker Kings Card Club

As a professional comedian, magician, and entrepreneur, I have toured with entertainers such as Cheech & Chong, Mike Epps, and Cedric The Entertainer, but being on the road with 2003 World Series of Poker main event champion Chris Moneymaker is quite a different experience.

Chris and I met at my personal cardroom in Odessa, Texas, the Celebrity Card Club, and quickly became friends. I started booking our Celebrity Poker Series as a way to tour the country and see the poker world.

Moneymaker is one of the most recognizable names and faces in the game because of his role in sparking the poker boom. In this series, we look forward to bringing you reviews, photos, and our experiences from various places here in the states and abroad. In addition to cardrooms and casinos across the U.S., we will be visiting Barcelona, Australia, Sochi, and several stops in the U.K. including London.

To be honest, we didn’t expect much, but this week ended up being very eventful and chock full of funny stories. We had originally booked this stop in El Paso, Texas on the Celebrity Poker Series at Poker Kings Card Club, only to see it change ownership a few times before our arrival.

We pulled into what seemed to be a residential neighborhood, and in an offset shopping center with a corner store was the Poker Kings Card Club. We walked in and were quickly greeted by the friendly staff and given a tour of the facility. The cardroom had what appeared to be slot games on computers in the back, along with four quality poker tables with high-back chairs in the main room. We were then escorted to a back room with featured a private table running a $5-$5 no-limit hold’em game that was quickly filling up.

I bought in for $500, and Chris was in for $1,000. I try to break the ice when Chris is around and make some jokes at his expense to get the table to loosen up and laugh. He’ll usually throw it right back at me, but on this night in particular, he was getting hammered over and over by an older, slightly obnoxious woman who went by the name Miss Patty.

I couldn’t help but have a little empathy for my friend as I watched her draw to and hit yet another two-outer against him. As she raked in the giant pot, she looked over at Chris and asked him, “Who’s the Moneymaker tonight?”

Ouch! This could be a long week.

I lost my initial buy-in and quit so I could get ready for the beach the next day. Chris lost $3,000.

The second day was exciting for me because my wife Crystal flew in to hangout for the weekend. We dropped off Chris at the club around 5 pm where a $5-$10 pot-limit Omaha game was forming, and I told him I probably wouldn’t be back since the wifey was in town. I told him we should link up for lunch the next day when he woke up.

Around 10 am the next morning, Chris called me as I am waking up. I figured he wanted to go have breakfast or plan our lunch, but instead, he said, “I need you to come get me. I have been here all night and turned a $1,500 buy-in into $22,000. I’m tired, but I don’t want to get a ride with this much cash on me.”

“Okay fucker, but now lunch is steak and lobster and you are buying.” We somehow ended up at Moneymaker’s favorite restaurant, Cracker Barrel, and I needled him for being the whitest guy I know. However, this was the lunch that lingered long after the trip. This was the lunch we discussed chopping in tournaments and why he was adamantly against it. Chris’ explanation made all the sense in the world once he laid it out for me.

This is what I took away from this lunch.

Never be afraid to lose your buy-in. If you are in this game to break even, you will never be successful.

Take advantage of the ones who want to chop. Play aggressive with the players demanding a chop because they will play to break even, not to win.

When you are big stack you can use your stack and position with power, especially when you have major pay jumps.

Be in a tournament for one place, and that’s first place. Nobody remembers the guy who finished second.

Chris booked a solid $30,000 weekend at the club and I ended up winning the main event tournament.

Despite our initial skepticism, this is a poker club Chris and I enjoyed and truly look forward to visiting again. We had a good time with both the club’s owners and members. The room spreads bigger cash games and tournaments that vary depending on the night, but you can usually find a PLO/CONGRESS game running, as well as no-limit hold’em. We also really enjoyed having such easy access to the local beaches and the fresh seafood restaurants.

Visit the Poker Kings Card Club at 7130 North Mesa Street in El Paso. You can call them at (915)307-0017 or find them on Facebook or visit the cardroom’s website at pokerkingscc.com. ♠

Rob Jenkins is a professional comedian, magician, and owner of Celebrity Card Club in Odessa, Texas. He is also a newly turned poker pro under the mentoring of his friend and WSOP champion Chris Moneymaker.