Hold 'em poker becomes Texas-sized.Byline: Greg Bolt The Register-Guard CORRECTION (ran 4/29/05): A story on Page 15 of the April 22 Ticket gave an incorrect starting time Noun 1. starting time - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her" commencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, start, kickoff, beginning, first for the Saturday Texas hold 'em Texas hold 'em (also hold'em, holdem) is the most popular poker variant played in casinos in the United States.[1] Hold'em is a community card game where each player may use any combination of the five community cards and their own two hole cards poker games at the Junge. Sign-in is at 1 p.m. and the game begins at 2 p.m. Watch out video poker Video poker is a casino game based on five-card draw poker. It is played on a computerized console which is a similar size to a slot machine. History Video poker first became commercially viable when it became economical to combine a television-like monitor with a , there's a new game in town. It's still poker, but it's a whole different game. It's Texas hold 'em poker, and it's not played in dark corners on computer screens but right out in the open with real players, real cards and real chips. Almost a dozen Eugene clubs and nightspots have jumped on the Texas hold 'em bandwagon, enough that a dedicated card player can find a game somewhere just about any night (and some days) of the week. After already taking television and the Internet by storm, the game is turning into a jackpot for bar and restaurant owners looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a way to fill seats on what might otherwise be slow nights. "We're a live music venue A music venue is any location regularly used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from an outdoor bandshell or bandstand to an indoor sports stadium. Typically, different types of venues host different genres of music. , and when we don't have a band for a particular night, it's hard to get an audience in here," said Greg Fleener of Cafe Paradiso. Fleener said he had been closing early on slow nights and inviting some buddies over to play. Now, he's occasionally opening those games to the public. "I've been to some of the other games around town and they look like they're doing pretty well," Fleener said. "I'm slowly learning the game myself and enjoy it quite a bit, so I combined a love of the game and the desire to create a night that can be popular and successful." That's just what Texas hold 'em has been. Diablo's Downtown Lounge holds a Wednesday night game that regularly draws more than 100 players, and other spots are drawing 30 or more a night. The games are so popular that some places are even running them on Friday nights and Saturdays, when bars usually are busy anyway. "The customers that come in are great," said Frank Abatangelo, of Bada Bing's (formerly G. Willicker's). "They have a good time. `That's what it basically comes down to; it's just a great time where they get to go out and do something fun." Novices welcome, of course Locally, games are starting up so fast it's hard to keep up with them. One reason people are playing it in clubs and bars wherever it's legal is that it's a quick learn, giving even novices a shot at the pot. "Anybody really can come in and win," said Douglas Foster, a tournament organizer who runs Oregon Poker Association (www.eugenepoker.com). "Half the games I run, it's somebody playing for the very first time that makes it to the final table and usually wins. `I think that's the big appeal." That and money. First-place finishers in most games can get anywhere from $100 to more than $500, depending on the number of players and the "buy-in" each pays to purchase chips. Some of the larger tournaments have paid out more than $1,000 to the winner, although games with bigger prizes typically attract the more skilled players. Cardplayers are making use of 20-year-old city ordinances that allow certain types of "social gambling." Although state laws ban casino gambling other than state-run lottery games, legislators in the early 1980s granted cities and counties the authority to allow social gambling under certain rules. Back then, the card game everyone wanted to play was blackjack blackjack, one of the world's most widely played gambling card games; also known as twenty-one or vingt-et-un. Despite contesting claims between the French and Italians, its origins are unknown. , and many of the local ordinances were tailored to that game. That sometimes leaves gray areas when the rules are applied to Texas hold 'em. Eugene has a social gaming Social gaming commonly refers to playing games as a way of social interaction, as opposed to playing games in solitude, like some card games (solitaire) and the single-player mode of many video games. law in place, as do Junction City Junction City, city (1990 pop. 20,604), seat of Geary co., NE Kans., at the confluence of the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers; inc. 1859. The rail, trade, and processing center of an agricultural and dairy area, it grew as the supply point for nearby Fort Riley, , Creswell and Oakridge. Springfield had one, but let it expire in the mid-1990s after city police raided a number of establishments and found numerous rule violations and some outright cheating, police Chief Jerry Smith Jerry Smith may refer to the following people:
The biggest problems then were the requirement that there be no house bank and that the deal always rotate among players. Blackjack isn't as attractive under those rules, and that led to violations when professional dealers would control tables and run the bank. Texas hold 'em is different. Players pay a "buy-in" amount that gets them a certain amount of chips and then wager with the chips, not money. Play usually involves several tables, and players play until only one person remains; the buy-in money is then awarded as prize money to the top finishers. That way, the chips themselves don't have any specific monetary value and the only bank is the buy-in money. Buy-ins typically range from $10 to $50, sometimes with opportunities to buy additional chips. A host of restrictions Club owners say they're being especially careful about hosting the games. They know that both their liquor and state lottery A game of chance operated by a state government. Generally a lottery offers a person the chance to win a prize in exchange for something of lesser value. Most lotteries offer a large cash prize, and the chance to win the cash prize is typically available for one dollar. licenses would be on the line if games are not legal. "I absolutely will do nothing that will get us in trouble with the OLCC OLCC Oregon Liquor Control Commission OLCC Our Lady of Corpus Christi (Corpus Christi, TX) OLCC Online Library Cataloging Center (national cooperative library cataloging service in China) before I know exactly what it is legal for us to do," said Deanna George, general manger of The Old Pad, which held its first poker tournament A poker tournament is a tournament in which the winners are decided by playing poker, usually a particular style of poker. Contrast this to a ring game, where the game is ongoing with no formal structure to determine a single winner in a certain length of time. Sunday. Eugene's ordinance sets out a list of rules. Among them are requirements that the business owner or designated agent
Others rules mandate that games be played in plain view, prohibit the game supervisor from accepting payment and bar the establishment from charging players more for food and beverages F&B is a common abbreviation in the United States and Commonwealth countries, including Hong Kong. F&B is typically the widely accepted abbreviation for "Food and Beverage," which is the sector/industry that specializes in the conceptualization, the making of, and delivery of foods. than nonplayers. Administrative rules also limit the maximum bet to $2 and limit players to a maximum of three raises per hand. Business owners can't be paid for hosting games; they make money by having more customers. To keep the proper arm's length arm's length adj. the description of an agreement made by two parties freely and independently of each other, and without some special relationship, such as being a relative, having another deal on the side or one party having complete control of the other. from the games, they typically have an individual, poker club or one of the newly formed poker tournament organizers arrange the game, providing the advertising, cards, chips and tables. Garret Braun parlayed his love of poker into a start-up business, Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley (pronounced [wɪˈlæ.mɪt], with the accent on the second syllable) is the region in northwest Oregon in the United States that surrounds the Willamette River as it proceeds northward from its Poker Tour. He organizes games at Bada Bing's, Kowloon Restaurant and the Brew & Cue, providing professional-quality chips, regulation tables and a video monitor to track the game and betting. Braun said Texas hold 'em isn't like the poker games shown in old Westerns, played in smoky back rooms by grizzled griz·zled adj. 1. Partly gray or streaked with gray: a grizzled beard. 2. Having fur or hair streaked or tipped with gray. old-timers and card sharks This article is about a television game show. For the standard use of the term, see Card shark. Card Sharks is an American television game show in which contestants guessed whether a playing card was higher or lower than the card that preceded it. . "It's so diverse," he said. "We get 60-year-old people that bring their moms in to play. We get younger people that have only played on their Super Nintendos or Xbox or whatever. We get people brand-new to it that play." And from all appearances, games are friendly. None of the club owners reported any problems with the games or the players, and game organizers say it's all good fun. "I think this is a fantastic game," said Keith Simonson, who's gone full time with his tournament business, Cascade Poker Tour. "Heck, we have young girls, we have older ladies, we have young guys, old guys playing it, and they love it. `And everybody has a good time." A competitive game Treston Docker, who helped organize the Eugene Rounders round·er n. 1. One that rounds, especially a tool for rounding corners and edges. 2. One, such as a security guard, who makes rounds. 3. A dissolute person. 4. Sports a. poker club, said Texas hold 'em is a game of skill and strategy that people simply enjoy playing. "It's a competitive sport," he said. "We just do it mainly because of the sport of it. I just love poker." The game is proving competitive in more ways than one. All three tournament organizers - Foster, Braun and Simonson - are jockeying for tables at local clubs, and Simonson hopes to get social gambling laws passed in Springfield and Florence. That adds up to a lot of poker. Whether Texas hold 'em stays in the game or goes the way of other fads is still to be seen. But for now it's giving Eugene clubs some extra exposure that owners hope will pay off, even if the game craps craps: see dice. craps Gambling game in which each player in turn throws two dice, attempting to roll a winning combination. The term derives from a Louisiana French word, crabs, which means “losing throw. out. "Will we have it forever? I have no idea," Abatangelo said. "But at least it's a way to get people into my restaurant and see what we have." Greg Bolt can be reached at 338-2369 or gbolt@guardnet.com. READ 'EM AND WEEP A number of Eugene venues offer Texas hold 'em games and more are starting all the time. Here's a partial list of what's out there: Brew & Cue, 2222 Highway 99N: Sunday, noon sign-up, $30 buy-in Bada Bing's, 440 Coburg Road: Tuesday and Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. sign-up, $30 buy-in; Saturday, noon sign-up, $30 buy-in; Sunday and Monday games planned Cafe Paradiso, 115 W. Broadway: Next game April 22, 6 p.m., $30 buy-in Diablo's/Downtown Lounge, 959 Pearl St.: Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. sign-up, $10 and $25 buy-ins; Sunday, 3 p.m. sign-up, $25 buy-in Eugene Rounders, 1645 High St.: Saturday, 5:30 p.m. sign-up, $40 buy-in The Jungle, 23 W. Sixth Ave.: Saturday, 2 p.m. sign-up, $30 buy-in Kowloon's, 2222 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.: Tuesday and Thursday, 6:30 p.m. sign-up, $25 buy-in The Old Pad, 3355 E. Amazon Drive: Sunday, 11:30 a.m. sign-up, $30 buy-in Rock 'n' Rodeo rodeo (rō`dēō, rōdā`ō), public exhibition of the skill of cowboys in various activities. Events include riding broncos, riding steers, "bulldogging" steers, roping and tying steers and calves, the use of the lasso, and , 44 E. Seventh Ave.: Days and times to be announced To be announced (TBA) A contract for the purchase or sale of an MBS to be delivered at an agreed-upon future date but does not include a specified pool number and number of pools or precise amount to be delivered. In addition, two local poker clubs also offer games: Eugene Poker Club: Plays at Mallard mallard: see duck. mallard Abundant “wild duck” (Anas platyrhynchos, family Anatidae) of the Northern Hemisphere, ancestor of most domestic ducks. The mallard is a typical dabbling duck in its general habits and courtship display. Hall, 725 W. First Ave.; www.eugenepoker.net Eugene Rounders: Plays at Eugene Garden Club, 1645 High St.; www.eugenerounders.org CAPTION(S): Poker players gather for a game of Texas hold 'em during one of the regular weekly tournaments at Bada Bing's nightclub on Coburg Road. "We get 60-year-old people that bring their moms in to play. We get younger people that have only played on their Super Nintendos or Xbox or whatever. We get people brand-new to it that play." - GARRET BRAUN, OPERATOR, WILLAMETTE VALLEY POKER TOUR |
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