Poker News

Oklahoma Johnny Hale

Almost sixty years ago, I used to play a little poker in a number of very rich homes, country clubs and private clubs in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the oil capital of the world. This was back in my first salad days–and I had no fear-Hell, if I lost a pot or if I lost in the game, it was not the most important thing in my life. I would just reload-and come back-I had just put the money in one of my poker banks and the players were just taking care of it for me-for a little while!

The players would put a lot of their money together with mine and give it back to me the next time we sat down to play a little one & two-BAJA Oklahoma poker. The Wild-Catters, the Land Men, the rich Native Americans, and the rich widows of the oil speculators would invite me to play with them. I recommend that you take the time to get the video of the movie of the day, Tulsa, and join me and relive a little of the history of Tulsa, Oklahoma. It’s 9 to 5 that you will like this old movie.

We played all the games-but the one I remember the most was the one & two BAJA Oklahoma Hold Em” poker game. Of course, the “one” was one oil well, and the “two” was two oil wells!!

Yes, we played other games-like gin rummy-and the bookies were always around the games. The bookies would book all the bets on all the sports, like the horses, and they won most of the money during the week.

In the sports betting the bookies always won the money from the poker players, but that was okay because the poker players would win their money back from the bookies at the poker tables during the long week ends.

The whole week of betting was on the finger (just mark it down), but then each Tuesday was the day when accounts were settled for the week-It was straighten-up day. After the bookies had collected all their accounts-poker got good and something else got even better- gin rummy was the game!! Each of the bookies would try to high-play the poker players and each other.

They would play very high stakes gin rummy! I have seen many $50,000 games amongst them. One bookie would say, “I don’t have much time-what do you want to play for?” They might agree to put up $25,000 each and play to 100 points.

I myself played a little gin and have played many games with them for $1,000-in a 100 point game. Now folks, sixty years ago this was real money-not like today, when everyone has a pocket full of hundreds. There is a little luck in gin as in most games of chance-so I did not want to let them get it back in one game.

My bookie-Dale-could not beat me-nor could he find anyone in Tulsa that he could stake to play me gin that could beat me, so he would import gin players from-yes, Las Vega-to fly back to Tulsa to play me gin.

Email me at Oklajohnny [at] aol (dot) com and I will tell you some of the names of the players that Dale would recruit to play me. Some of the names are legends in the poker world, and you will be surprised to learn their names! To protect myself, I will not name them here. I hold two records in the private gin games in Tulsa! One of those records is for the most money lost in one gin rummy game. The other record is for the most money won in one gin rummy game. And both records happened on the same day.

I have been invited to return this August to one of those clubs that I played in so many years ago, and host “The Oklahoma Johnny Hale” Poker Tournament. It will be played in a country club-now a casino hotel-where poker is now legal. But I played in that location-so many years ago-when it was not legal. I will invite you folks later when dates are set. I must warn you that I plan to sing “Back in the Saddle Again” and another of my favorites “Take Me Back to Tulsa.” So come on back to Tulsa and play poker with me-and yes, we may even have a little friendly game of gin-If I can get a game! I have outlived most of the players…

Until next time, remember to STAY LUCKY!!!

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