Southern Poker Report

BY: Ashley Adams
Contact at: (Asha34@aol.com)
Author of Winning 7-Card Stud

So many of us take poker for granted that we forget that in many parts of the country it is tough to find a game. Of course there's always the Internet. And everyone gets to watch it on TV. But if you're in one of a number of places in the United States you can't easily find poker action.

I entered one of these poker "dead zones" last week when I visited my daughter in South Carolina. I also took a side trip to Georgia to visit some friends and see if I could find any decent poker action to write about. My experiences may prove insightful for any of you fellow travelers as you look for games in cities you're passing through.

South Carolina has no legal poker rooms. In that sense it's like Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island - the states in my neck of the woods that don't have a casino. In that sense, every place without legal casino gambling or poker rooms is a poker dead zone. It strikes me as hypocritical to the extreme that you can buy lottery tickets, play BINGO, bet on horse racing, and play the stock market but you can't legally play poker. But enough of that rant. This is about finding a game.

In South Carolina I relied on my daughter to find me some games with college kids. That worked out OK, except here I was, a 48 year old man, playing poker with teenagers. I wanted some adult competition. It wasn't easy to find.

I went into the police station. I figured that if there were any decent games around that they would know. I've had success in the past by asking the cops for poker venues. Not so in Columbia, South Carolina. They looked at me funny, cautioned me by telling me it was illegal, and then suggested I try driving up to Atlantic City. "Thank you very much officers!"

I then tried an old tried and true method. I went in to a Knights of Columbus Hall. Sure enough, I found a game. A woman in the auxiliary, next door to the K of C Hall, directed me over to it. But when I arrived, the guys upstairs who guarded the game denied that there was a game and told me that poker was illegal. They said it all with a wink, but with the message that an outsider was not welcomed. So much for southern hospitality.

It wasn't until late that night, when my daughter and I were grabbing a hamburger at a downtown diner that I found what I was after. Gregarious sort that I am, I struck up a conversation with someone on the next stool. He was typing away on a laptop and I asked him if he was playing poker. I knew he wasn't but I figured that he might take the bait and start talking about his play. Sure enough, we got into a conversation about the best on line sites. He then invited me to a home game the next night. It was a $.25/.50 no limit game. $10 buy in. 9 players. They took it very seriously, as did we. My daughter and I gladly went, played, and had a great time.

I've learned over the years that it pays to accept nearly every offer to play poker - even if the stakes strike me initially as too low. For one thing, playing low stakes poker is more fun for me than not playing at all. For another, I've found that I have often found games by going to games. Even if the game I'm invited to is boring or slow or uninteresting, it is often a networking opportunity - as players often know of other games.

My experience in Atlanta was a bit more challenging. The one guy I knew, whom I had driven to meet in fact, wasn't a poker player, didn't hang around with any, and was unsuccessful in turning up a game. I had to do it on my own.

I started by looking in the newspaper for charity tournaments. I figured that there might be some advertised as they are in Boston. No such luck. I checked three papers and came up empty.

I then went to a games store. They specialized in comic books, miniature action figures, and strategy games. I figured that someone either working or shopping in the store might know of some poker. I was unsuccessful. They all had the same answer, "Poker is illegal in Georgia sir."

I went up to a couple of police officers in different areas of the city. None admitted to knowing of any poker games. Similarly so with the two bookstores I ambled into. They knew nothing or were pretending to know nothing. I stopped into a couple of the larger hotels in the downtown area. I asked bellman, receptionists, clerks, and concierges. They looked at me as if I were asking for a brothel. There was a hint of recognition but none dared offer me any helpful information. The same was true for the three cabbies I spoke to. A universal nothing.

Finally, out of options, I stopped in to a motel lobby to use the bathroom and make a couple of calls to confirm dinner plans. While I was there I struck up a conversation with the custodian in the lobby - a guy about twenty. I mentioned my interest in finding a poker game in this city - and noted my failure to do so.

He immediately told me that he knew of a game in a restaurant - a tournament that ran twice a week. He wasn't sure, but he thought it was running tonight. My face lit up like a beacon as he fished out a phone number and an address. I nearly kissed him out of gratitude.

I called the restaurant. Sure enough, their tournament started in 30 minutes. It had taken me over ten hours, but at last I had found some poker action in Atlanta.

I immediately left, arrived at the tournament with five minutes to spare, and played in a freeroll that paid the top three finishers in gift certificates good at the restaurant. First place was $80, second $40 and third $20. 30 people entered. The only catch was that you couldn't use your script that night, but had to return on another night to redeem it. If I finished in the money I'd have to either sell them to some other patron or give them away.

The restaurant was really more of a pub than anything else. TVs were on showing the latest sporting events. People were smoking everywhere. The lighting was so dark that I could barely see my cards. Even so, it was a blast.

The players were young professionals and students. The three tables I ended up playing all had players who did this twice a week. It had become a social ritual for nearly all of the players in the game. They knew each other well, were friends, and liked to compete in these events. It was more like a meeting of a poker club than a typical poker tournament. I was the only outsider.

The competition was pretty soft - though the players were pretty earnest (though some of them were completely drunk by the end). It took three hours before the final table of six was formed. I had to drive back to Columbia that night - a good three hour haul. I didn't want to leave after midnight.

Sure enough, armed with a good excuse for losing, I managed not to play my best game and ended up fourth - with no prize but with a great experience. If I'm ever in Atlanta I'll go back and play. But this time I'll go there first and try to make some connections for some real money games.

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