Charity Poker: Terrible Play, Worse Dealing = Possibilities

Taking advantage of Illinois's Charitable Games Act, the Chicago based company Main Event Charity Games organizes what they classify as "upscale Vegas-style poker tournaments" throughout the year around the Chicagoland area, including a locally televised series of tournaments called the Windy City Poker Championships.

My friends from the Hammond WSOP weekend told me that Main Event Charity Games had an upcoming event slated for the Halloween weekend at Tutto Italiano, 501 S. Wells St., where a full day's worth of low level tournaments and cash games was expected.

Now I'm not a lawyer. I have read the Charitable Games Act and I honestly have no idea if Main Event Charity games and the Windy City Poker Championships are totally legal.

They seem legit--their website told me so--but there are a few sections of the Act I'm still unsure about, so in order to make sure nobody gets in trouble over my words American dollar amounts will not be mentioned in this piece. Instead I'll refer to all bets, buy-ins and winnings in thinly veiled units called "arbitrons" or "A$."

And let me tell you, I was proud to donate my arbitrons to that night's chosen charity, the Veterans Outreach Program; I hope my "money" serves you well in whatever veteran outreach projects you might currently be working on.

Anyway...

My roommate--the loveable Goose--and I decided to try out this particular brand of poker on Halloween day and registered for their "early bird tournament," a A$20 Texas Hold'em event with a A$5 add-on, which started at 1 p.m.

Not much to report with the tournament I'm afraid. After being the chip leader at my table in the first level, I busted middle way through the second, getting a combined 20 minutes of total tournament play for my A$25 investment--hey you get what you pay for.

The Goose ended up a little bit more successful and rode his early success to the final table bubble where he busted with trip kings versus trip kings with a better kicker in 11^th place.

Ah, well. What can you do? (Correct Answer: Play better)

One thing I did notice during my brief run in the tournament was the almost unbelievably poor play of many of the players who had ante-upped their hard earned A$25 to play in what they admitted was their first poker tournament.

This meant, then, that I had to play in the cash games--you know for observational purposes only.

So while the Goose traveled back home to partake in the Halloween holiday festivities, I decided to take A$200 to the A$1-A$2 game and see what I could turn it into.

After five hours of witnessing some of the worst play I've ever come across coupled with my own dry spell of cards I left the table A$76 richer and with what I'm sure was a very puzzled look on my face.

Wait let me correct myself. I actually left A$75 richer, but that A$1 wasn't lost playing the game.

Let me explain...

The Problems with Bad Dealers

A "proposition bet" or more simply "prop bet" is a wager made between gamblers regarding pretty much anything.

To give a famous example...

High stakes poker and pool player Johnny "World" Hennigan was once bet a six-figure sum that he couldn't briefly leave his high stakes lifestyle and live instead in Des Moines, Iowa for one month. Hennigan lasted two days in the state made famous for large truck stops and tall cornfields before paying off his rather large bet, in what I'm sure was a massive blow to the Iowa State Tourism Board--wow! Is the Hawkeye state really that bad?

These bets are usually made at the poker table and can be used to liven up a game that has gone a bit dull.

Well late in the day, after my fellow poker players and I had witnessed some of the strangest dealing I've ever seen, the player immediately to my right. trying to liven up the game, offered me a A$1 bet that the dealer would misdeal within the next ten hands.

Sure, I thought, the dealing had been awful--there had already been 11 misdeals by my count, ten more than what I would consider an acceptable number over the course of one session--but yet another misdeal so soon seemed unlikely.

"Book it!" I told the gentleman and astonishingly two hands later I was one arbitron poorer when the dealer failed to realize where the button was suppose to be and dealt a entire round two places in the wrong direction.

What I'm trying to point out is having good dealers is more important than I think people realize.

My table was talkative, friendly and stocked with plenty of poor players; it should have been a fantastic time.

However, poor dealing led to a slow, dull game filled with moments of mind burning frustration.

I know it was just a charity poker game, but I'd at least like to have some fun as my arbitrons are raked in to benefit whatever worthy charity is hosting.

It was truly a disappointing situation.

Still Worth a Second Try

In spite of an overall very frustrating experience, I can still see how charity poker could work well.

By simply fixing the dealer problem, which was really the only complainable issue I saw, my day would have been infinitely better.

So yes, I will bring my stack of arbitrons to the next Windy City Poker Championship event that fits into my schedule and I suggestion any other Chicago poker lover do the same at least once, it could turn out to be a really fun experience.

One more day of frustrating problems however, and I'll take my hard earned arbitrons elsewhere. Mark my words!