2005 November 13 Poker News, Events and Happenings

MELBOURNE - On some days, Florida Tech aerospace engineering student Paul Garza keeps busy with the books. But on Sunday, the 22-year-old was studying his hand. He was one of about 100 people — half the usual crowd — playing nontournament poker at the Melbourne Greyhound Park.

The second event of the World Series of Poker Circuit tournament had 154 players vying for the first place position. The $500 + $50 buy-in Limit Hold’em tournament was played on Friday, one of the first of the circuit events leading up to the actual WSOP events starting in summer of next year. Mark Hight of Tulsa, Oklahoma started the final table with $24,800 in chips, which was less than half the stack of the chip leader…

San Juan resident Adolfo Moya will be heading to next year’s World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, airfare and accommodations taking care of, thanks to a nine hour stretch at playing poker. Early Saturday morning the 46-year-old mortgage broker beat his opponent, 42-year-old Robert Garcia of North McAllen, another mortgage broker, for the big win.
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In South Florida, Dania Jai-Alai manager John Knox watched over a full card room, despite changes in local laws limiting the number of chips on the table. The poker room was a full as usual, according to workers at the gambling spot. Recent law changes have served to reduce the entry fees and the stakes, which means less money to be won by the players. When Knox sued to increase the limits on wagering for poker in South Florida, the courts agreed, and for a time things were going smoothly for FL poker…

It was the New York Times calling, wanting to know what I thought of the nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court. My first thought was, “Yes!! I’ve made it!”
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As I mentioned in a previous column, Las Vegas is going Broadway, with some of the biggest hits from the New York stage coming to town as permanent fixtures. There’s a lot of buzz about Hairspray, which will open at the Luxor in February.
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Carson City, the capitol of Nevada, was named after Christopher “Kit” Carson, famous frontiersman and scout in the 1840s. When gold and silver was discovered around Virginia City, in the mountains high above the capitol, Carson City became a freight center for the mines and miners. Poker has been a popular pastime in the state capitol ever since.
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