Poker News

Susie Isaacs

I have never been a “VIP” gambler, but I recently discovered that it certainly is great to be a VIP poker player. The Peppermill, who has long had a reputation for treating their players, poker as well as pit players, well, tried something new. VIP Invitational golf tournaments, fancy festive parties, slot, blackjack and crap tournaments are the norm. The Peppermill went the extra mile in their successful effort to spoil their VIP players with an innovative idea.

They offered their VIP (Diamond and Platinum) players a $25,000 added VIP Invitational Poker Challenge with $15,000 going to first place and a $600 bounty on each poker celebrity. The celebrities included; Linda Johnson, Tom McEvoy, Layne Flack, Chris Hinchcliffe, Robert Williamson, Debbie Burkhead, good ol boy Tex Morgan (father of Tex’s TEARS and Northwest poker hero) and yours truly. It was called the “2005 Celebrity Poker Shootout” and for $600 bucks a head, you can bet the celebrity poker players were big targets. This fun and poker educational weekend began on Saturday morning April 30 with all the poker celebrities giving poker crash courses to the participants. Each celebrity hosted a private table full of eager-to-learn poker wannabes. There were a lot of laughs and some well-received poker tips (like how to hold your cards, how to know it is your turn, and what beats what.) After an hour of instruction, answering lots of questions, and signing a passel of autographs, the tournament was under way.

Many of these players had never before sat at a poker table and they did great. I reckon we were pretty good teachers. As far as I could tell there were no majorglitches but there were a lot of laughs and many ye-ha’s, ya-hoos and yipees as first one and then another celebrity poker player was eliminated. After all $600 is worth shooting for and boy, were they gunning for us. Any two will do is an understatement.

The Peppermill distributed the wealth by paying the top 45 players. The bounty winners were; David Myers who shot down Tom McEvoy, Alfred Dufnur who got Chris Hinchcliffe’s $600, Patrica Olsen was delighted when she eliminated me, Ed Wright assassinated Layne Flack, Linda Johnson was shot down by Dennis Derge and Tex Morgan by Randy Lightfall.

The top three winners of the tournament were; Frank Stangarone who won $15,000, Randy Lighthall who won $5,395 for second place and third went to Greg Clurman who won $3,290. The only celebrity who managed to duck and dodge, weave and bob and avoid all the bullets was Robert Williamson III. Robert managed a fourth place finish. He won $2,140 and his own bounty.

In their effort to show their appreciation to their VIP casino players, the Peppermill has introduced 150 plus players to the world of poker. They are in the process of enlarging their poker room and I have a feeling there will be some fresh new poker faces after this fun weekend. Each playerwent home with their own case of poker chips and cards. They can say they were taught by the best at the Peppermill and many of them also can say that they went on to win a $600 bounty for eliminating one of the “best.”

Most of us “seasoned” players can remember a time not too long ago, when poker was the unwanted stepchild of the casino scene. Boy, how things have changed. We are not only wanted, they build “celebrity” weekends around us!

Not only the Peppermill In Reno but poker rooms from coast to coast are expanding and realizing the importance of their poker players.

A personal thank you to Joe Ayarbe, Peppermill Director of Gaming, Ira Cohen, Poker Room Manager, Billy V. Tournament Coordinator, “Cash”, Tournament Director, and the entire staff at the Peppermill for not only giving their VIP players a special weekend but also for allowing us to play such a fun role in the festivities.

Filed under: Poker News