It started with pizza, sodas and the promise that some smart poker could end in a couple of free lunches at the local taverns and eateries I love. Prizes for the top three players were gift cards for $25 and $10 at Buffalo Wild Wings for first and third place, and $20 for the Tower Inn for second place. ?
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It ended in a bad call on my part. ?Tuesday night, I took some time off from looking for some solid, hard news to share with the readers of The Eastern Echo and instead decided to enjoy some of the benefits that my thousands of dollars in tuition have gotten me. Those benefits beyond an education and better future, that is. ??I bought into the event for $4, which included about all the pizza you could eat (there were three whole pies leftover afterward), a variety of pop (soda to you non-Michiganders) and different candy bars to snack on.
The format was Texas Hold’em, no limit, elimination tournament play, with a slow raise in blinds to begin the tournament and accelerated raises later. Play continues until one player in the tournament has won all of the chips in play. ?
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“We have been doing this for six years, and everyone loves it,” said Lou Gianino, associate director of the Rec/IM, and organizer of the event. ??On this particular night, there were about 20 players with a pretty even mix of students and staff.
“This is pretty consistent with spring and summer,” Gianino said. “There’s just not that many people around.”
“Come this fall, it’ll get a little more crazy,” said Ken Ney, an EMU senior majoring in accounting. “There will probably be between 60-70 players every week. “
Ney has been playing every week at the Rec/IM for about a year.
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I found it to be a pretty good way of meeting new people around campus, and I can’t really think of a better way to get to know someone than trying to crack into his/her head by figuring out how he or she plays the game. ?
Apparently I wasn’t as talented at reading the thoughts of others, as I believed. I foolishly called another player’s all-in bet while I was holding a suited jack and 9. My opponent had a pair of aces. The cards the dealer put on the table didn’t help either. He had me beat the whole time. My play for the night was over, as I finished 13th out of the 20 participants. So much for my free meal at either bar. Maybe next week. ?
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Going on to ultimately win was Jackie Ray Moffett, coordinator of intramural activities for the university. While Moffett talked a pretty big game leading up to his victory, especially as he eliminated his final few opponents, a cooler head prevailed after playing was over.
Everyone who participates is a winner, Moffet said when asked about his victory. Although it definitely was not as colorful as some of his previous statements, it was a good summary of the night as a whole.
The event is held at 7 p.m. every Tuesday and new players are accepted until 7:30 p.m. Anyone who has access to the Rec/IM is invited to play including students, staff and faculty.
