Ten Things to Know Me Better

10: I wear shorts, year round. If its above freezing; I'm usually wearing a pair of shorts.

9: I rarely wear a tie; but at one point in my life had a collection of over 100 fine silk ties in my closet.

8: If I'm not wearing shorts; I'm in blue jeans. I am very anal about my jeans. I only wear Levis 501's. No Wrangler, Bugle Boy or whatever. Only Levis. Only 501's.

7: I'm a gambler who will bet on the outcome of most anything; but I do not play slot machines or the lottery.

6: I'm a very spontaneous person. I've been known to wake up and drive halfway across the country to see something or someone, on a whim.

5: I was personally invited to both of the Bush/Cheney Inaugural Balls. Why is this strange? I am not a registered Republican and I made no donations to either campaign.

4: I have a degree in political science, but hate discussing politics. My views are extreme enough in both directions, depending on the issue, to make members of both parties squirm.

3: I hate funerals, but have my own planned.

2: I am very much into freedom of expression; but run a very disciplined household. My boys have been given the freedom to explore their own ideals and beliefs; but are amongst the most polite, well-behaved young men you'll ever meet.

1: I go commando in public.

Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenger IV Main Event Results

I've been promising these, but have neglected to get them up here. Here are the numbers from the$5K main event of the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV at the Cherokee Casino Resort in Tulsa.

Total number of entries: 124
Prize Pool: $620K

Final Table and Payouts:

9. Bill Edler Las Vegas, NV $12,028
8. Scotty Nguyen Henderson, NV $15,035
7. Gil George Dallas, TX $21,049
6. Danny Robertson Ft. Smith, AR $27,063
5. Noah Nodine Norman, OK $33,077
4. Gavin Smith Guelph, Ontario $42,098
3. Brant Hale Norman, OK $72,168
2. Raymond Henson Spring, TX $138,322
1. T.J. Cloutier Richardson, TX $240,560

Another successful event for the Cherokee. Best poker room and tournaments in Oklahoma.

Scotty Nguyen IV Main Event Final Table Tonight!

The main event final table for the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV is underway. I should have the final results posted here sometime tonight or in the morning. Lots of big name pros in town at the Cherokee Casino and Resort in Catoosa for this tournament. Complete report coming soon!

My 1st Big Brick and MortarTournament

I thought I'd just write up the days events from here. They have an excellent wireless connection in the casino and I have my laptop, so we should be good.

I spent $330.00 to enter in this tournament. The last count I heard there were 434 entries, which created a total prize pool of $130,200.

The day started out slow for me. I wasn't getting good cards, but did manage to steal a few pots to keep myself alive. The only major pot I won in the first four hours is when my pocket sixes made trips on the flop. There were four players who saw the flop and I led out with a bet and all but one guy folded to me. I checked the turn and he checked back. After the river card fell, I bet out and the other guy folded A-6, face up. I mucked my hand and grinned at him, like I had stolen the pot. I took him out after the break when my pocket Aces went up against his A-K. He got a king on the turn, but no other help and he was gone.

At the first meal break, I was in 43rd place out of 96 people left. Two hours later, at the rest room break, I had moved up to 7th. By the time the money bubble broke and we got another short meal break; I had fallen to 29th out of 39 remaining players.

After the last meal break, I went card dead again. Nothing was going my way. I managed to win a couple of small pots without having to show down and a few people were knocked out and I found myself 17th in chips with 21 players left. The average stack was around 57K in chips. I had just over 12K and the leader had over 300K (about 25% of the chips in play). Then came the end.

A few hands after a restroom break, I was dealt pocket kings in the big blind. Blinds were at 1K/2K with a 200 ante. The chip leader raised from the one off of the button. I had 9100 in chips left and it was going to cost me 6K of that to call, so I pushed all-in. He calls and the cards are turned up. I am semi-relieved to see he has A-K off-suit. I just need to avoid one of the two remaining Aces in the deck to move up to around 25K in chips.

It took less than a minute, but seemed like an eternity. The flop was 6 - 10 - Q. He had picked up additional outs. Now any of 4 Jacks or the two Aces would beat me. The turn card was a 3; another bullet dodged. Then as the dealer was turning the river card face up, I knew my night was over. He hit an ace and I left the table finishing 21st. $1050.00 for my efforts.

All-in-all, I think I played good poker on the day for not having many quality starting hands. I'm probably lucky to have finished where I did. I'm exhausted, but am going to hang out here for a while longer to see if a friend makes the final table. He's currently in 4th place with about 125K in chips. The chip leader now has over 400K and there are 17 players left. The first four players control around 75% of the chips in play at this point in the event, so he should be in good shape

The tournament finally ended at 4:15am. Patrick, my buddy who was also in the tournament, just finished in 2nd place, winning slightly more than $19K. Not too bad for a guy who had never made a final table at a live tournament before. It's now 4:45am and I'm heading home.

Sober Enemies; Drunken Buddies

Sober Enemies; Drunken Buddies


I really don't have any enemies that I am aware of. I could go back and tell a war story or two here, but I never really tried to get along with those enemies. (Die, commie, die!) Ahh, I know where I'll start.

Slightly less than six years ago, I sold my share of a lucrative computer business in Tulsa to my business partner (who still owes me $85K [No. He's not the enemy in this story]) and began working from home. I had spent so much time building this company that it left me little time for my family and almost no time for friends and fun. After selling the business, I started to visit my favorite watering hole, Marty's on a regular basis, again.

One night while sitting on my usual perch and speaking with the bartender, Sheila; a guy pulls up a stool next to me and sits down. Sheila leaves and I introduce myself to Joe. We talk for a bit and I realize that he is Sheila's ex-husband when he asks:
"What are you doing flirting with my wife?"
I explained that we were just talking and besides; she had said she was divorced.
"Well, that's not final, yet" he said.

At this time, my goatee was better than a foot long. The longer Joe and I talked, the more irritated he became with me. (Imagine that?)
"How about I grab you by that beard and drag you out into the parking lot?" he screamed.
I just grinned, stood up, put one hand on his shoulder and calmly told him to try whatever he liked, but he might not enjoy the end result.

He sat back down, thought for a moment (I'm six inches taller and 50 pounds heavier than this guy), and bought me a beer. By the end of the night we both were drunk and laughing at everyone else in the bar. He still was not my friend.

The next time our paths crossed, Sheila and I had become great friends. To make matters worse she was dating one of my best friends, Mark. Joe sat across the bar and stared at Mark and I; daring me to come over and try something.

I normally take the short cut to the restroom between a cooler and the open end of the bar. This night, I took the long way around so that I would have to pass by Joe.
"Hey, Joe! How's it going tonight" I said as I slapped him on the back.
He sat there, motionless.
"Sheila!" I called to the bartender. "Get this man a beer! Hell, get everyone a beer! We all need to loosen up a bit!"
A chorus of "thanks for the beer," echoed around the bar. Joe looked up at me and mumbled; "Thanks, Mother fucka." under his breath.
After he had a few more beers, he came to the other side of the bar and joined us in a few games of darts (won by me, of course).


As time went on, Joe found himself a girlfriend and had a child with her. Sheila quit the bar. She and Mark moved in together and later were married. Joe and I threw darts against one another several times but never became friends.

Occasionally, Joe would make a threat to me. These were always met with a stone cold gaze; or a subtle word of warning back to him. Eventually, beer would be bought and we would be drunk and making fun of the other dumb SOBs in the place.

A year or so ago, before a Sooners football game, Joe and I (both very much sober at the time) sat down and had a talk.
"You know Gary," he began, "I throw better darts against you than anyone here because you're the best here and it makes me want to beat you more."
I laughed and told him that I was aware of that (him throwing better against me than others) and that I kicked my game up a notch against him, as well.
"And you're such an ass about it." he continued.
"You're an asshole, at times, yourself, Joe" I shot back. "But that's why we try so hard against each other; neither of us wants our face rubbed in the others shit."
Joe smiled and ordered us both a beer.

"You know, Gary, if we teamed up in here no one would ever have a chance." he said, after a couple more beers. " Against a couple of two-fisted, dart-slingin', beer-drinkin' Irishmen like ourselves: no one could beat us."

"You're probably right, Joe; you friggin' asshole! Here. Let me buy you another beer."



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Scotty Ngyuen Challenge Update

Sorry, folks. Just when I was starting to get this thing moving in the right direction, I get sick. I'll be back to give you more coverage of the poker scene here in Oklahoma tomorrow.

I plan on being at the Scotty Ngyuen Challenge IV for a couple of events, including the final table of the main event. According to my sources at the Cherokee Casino Resort, there are definitely some big-name pro players coming once again for this years events. Should be a great series whether you are going to play or just go and railbird your friends or favorite pro.

More from the Cherokee next week, plus many more exciting poker events coming up in the state of Oklahoma.

If you know of any big events coming up leave me a comment or hit me up on my gmail and I'll be sure and check it out.

Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV

The schedule is out for the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV at the Cherokee Casino Resort in Tulsa. The dates are November 1-20, 2007. I know this is a bit of a short notice, but I have been neglecting my blog here for sometime. No more. I'll try to post something new everyday.

Buy-ins for the preliminary events range from $120 to $2080 with most being less than a grand. The main event entry is $5000 + $150. Click here for a complete schedule of events. Total payout for all events is expected to exceed two million dollars! You can even pre-register on-line by clicking here.

Kido Pham, who won $176,359 last year, is the defending main event champion and is expected to return. Some of the others who have played in past challenges include: Mike "the Mouth" Matusow, Bob "the Coach" Ciaffone, Todd Brunson, Kathy Leibert, Mike Sexton, David Levi, Morgan Machina, Tom Franklin and Mike "the Grinder" Mizrachi. Past WSOP main event champs T.J. Cloutier, Barry "Numbers" Johnston and, of course, Scotty Nguyen have also played in the event.

The main event winner, in addition to the cash prize, also receives a gold bracelet encrusted with diamonds and rubies valued at over $30.000 and designed by Scotty, himself. Everyone at the main event final table receives a Cherokee Casino varsity style leather jacket.

There are also several seven-day Mexican Riviera cruises being given away to the winners of some of the lower buy-in tournaments. These packages include airfare and accommodations for two and are valued at more than $3000.

If you don't want to pony up $5K, there are several single table satellites and super-satellites running from now until November 17th for entry into the main event. Buy-ins range from $230 to $550 for these events.

Check the Cherokee-Tulsa poker room for more information on all of the upcoming events there.