Poker News

Players at Vintage Hills

Vintage Hills, a senior residence in northwest Reno, spreads an in-house limit Texas hold’em game every week. The blinds are 25 and 50 cents. It may be the strongest game at that limit anywhere! The players in this game are all members of The Greatest Generation, the men and women who saved the world from the terrorists of WWII.

These players have gone from prohibition to television, from New Deal to raw deal, social security to homeland security, and swing to rock ‘n roll. They witnessed the cold war, hot pants, the button-downed ’50s and the turned-on ’60s. They’re vintage players. Like fine wine, they have a rare quality; a spirit borne not just of age but of wit and wisdom. If you lived through the great depression, you know what being broke means. For players who remember when the minimum wage was 43 cents an hour in 1940, a $5 buy-in with unlimited re-buys is a big game!

And, there’s nothing like a poker game to maximize the mind, stir the blood and beat the heart. “This is the most exciting thing I do at my age,” one woman confessed. “You just don’t get out enough,” another player cracked.

The game has a professional dealer. Chris Priaulx, a Boomtown poker dealer, who volunteers his time and talent for a few hours each week to flip flops and push pots. Chris has a lot of juice among members of the Reno poker community and he’s squeezed it for the seniors. Contributions include cards, kill-buttons, and candy-to sweeten the pots.

Vintage players go first class. They play on a handsome, full-size hold’em table. It was donated by Reno resident David Lamb, one of the foremost poker tournament directors in the business.

The game has been running for two years. It’s played every Wednesday afternoon. For the participants, it’s the most important event of the week.

Players come to the poker table by walker, wheel chair or will power. A few are hooked to oxygen bottles and IVs. “Players will skip doctor appointments and family members have learned not to try to visit during the game,” reports Priaulx. With vintage poker players, even their “tells” are old. After getting pocket-aces, one player started tapping out Duke Ellington’s 1941 hit, “Take the A Train,” with his cane.

In another hand, a grey-haired lady with eyes to match reached the river and started softly singing, “Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you, if you’re young at heart.” Her elderly opponent, without even looking at his last card, said disgustedly, “Bah! Humbug!” and threw his hand to the dealer. At another point in the game, an old vet slammed down his cards and declared, “President Truman is an idiot if he fires General MacArthur!”

Nevertheless, Vintage Hills is a tough a line-up. The players are experienced. They know what to do, when to do it, and how much to charge. Everyone fantasizes about holding the “nuts” or a big pair.

When a guest in the game, a poker columnist, made his second re-buy, he cried incredulously, “I’m in this game $15!” The little lady to his left whispered to her friend, “That’s it! I win!” It seems the two players had a $1 side-bet on how much the chump would lose. The over/under was $10.

As the columnist left after thanking the table for a fun afternoon, someone was overheard to say, “I expected a better game from the young fellow.”

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