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Oregon Woman Celebrates 105th Birthday At The Poker Table

Friends Say You Don't Want to Bet Against Her

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Age is just a number – and that’s definitely the case for Elsie Bergold, of Springfield, Oregon. She recently turned 105, and to celebrate she decided on a game of poker, as reported by KMTR. Numerous friends showed up to celebrate and get in the action.

“I got my hair done and I got a huge bouquet of flowers,” Bergold told the news station of the day’s festivities as well.

This card shark remains active and exercises daily, according to friends. They also say her mind is sharp and she can be a real force at the table.

“If there’s an ace on the board, you know she’s going to bet it, and you don’t want to bet against her; she’ll kick your butt,” one regular player in her game said.

Another added: “She takes our money a lot.”

Bergold has lived through 19 presidents, women’s suffrage, two global pandemics, Prohibition, the Great Depression, man first landing on the moon, Beatlemania, World War II, the Korean War, and numerous other monumental events of the 20th and 21 Century. She was 51 when the first World Series of Poker was played.

A friend publicized her birthday in a magazine geared toward rural Americans, which resulted in her receiving 408 birthday cards and three gifts.

Poker legend Doyle Brunson was a firm believer in hitting the poker tables later in life. He said often that poker kept his mind sharp, allowing him to play in some of the world’s biggest high-stakes games at the Bellagio even well into his 80s. Brunson continued to gamble almost daily until he passed away last year at age 89.

“You can’t find many things in which a guy that is 84 can still compete against guys in their 30s,” Brunson told Card Player in 2018.