Poker fund-raiser in cards for Rockland girls hoop

ROCKLAND Steven Dionne of Rockland held his two-card hand face down on the table, gazing without expression at the other poker players through dark sunglasses. Despite his stoic "poker face," Dionne, 19, was feeling the adrenalin at Friday's "Texas Hold'Em Tournament" held at VFW Post 1788 at 22 Church St. Dionne prefers this type of game to traditional poker like Five Card Stud.

"This is a much better game. It's my favorite game, and it's the most exciting," Dionne said. Sponsored by the Rockland Girls Community Basketball League, it was the second poker tournament fund-raiser the league has held this year drawing upon the latest card game sweeping the nation — Texas Hold'Em. League Treasurer James Kirslis said two summers ago he observed a poker tournament fund-raiser for the Stoughton Girls Softball League and decided to give it a try in Rockland.

"The first time we did it we had no idea how to advertise it," said Kirslis. "You basically put up fliers all over the town. We hoped word of mouth would get the players in." In April's tournament there were only 40 players who signed up. Kirslis said the league had planned Friday's tournament to have at least 80 players in attendance and a first-place gift check prize of $3,000. With a $100 "buy in," half of the proceeds would have been for prizes for the three top chip holders. The other half would have gone to support the league, Kirslis said. But only 28 players signed up for the tournament Friday and the first-place prize dropped by two thirds to $1,000. The prize for second place was $500 and $175 for third place. The league received about $1,125.

Kirslis said many players could not participate Friday because of prior obligations. "No matter what happens, we're having a good time," he said. The rules of the game are simple: the overall objective of the game was to be one of the top three chip leaders after five hours of play. According to the house rules, "The objective of each hand is to make your best five card hand using any combination of the five (common hand) cards on the board and the two in your hand." Like straight poker, winning hands include a Royal Straight flush, Straight Flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pairs, one pair, and high card. Only five cards are used to determine any hand.

Also during play there are two "forced bets" for every hand called "blinds." "There is a small blind, which is one half of the low limit bet size, and a big blind, which is equal to the low limit bet size. Before the hand begins, the player to the immediate left of the dealer is forced to post the small blind, and the player to the left of that person is forced to post the big blind," the rules state. For $100 each player received $3,300 in poker chips. After five hours of continuous play the top eight players competed for the top three prizes. Of all the players, most were men.

Observing the action, Cheryl Gallagher of Rockland said she is an avid watcher of Texas Hold'Em tournaments on ESPN, where top players compete for multi-million dollar prize purses. "I watch it on TV all the time. It's pretty interesting. They're into pretty big bucks," said Gallagher, a poker player herself who tried her hand at Texas Hold'Em only once before. "It was pretty fun. Some people play really seriously," she said.

Dionne, a poker player for the past four years, was among the youngest at Friday's tournament. A self-described "average" player, he has played at Foxwoods in Ledyard, Conn., and at other tournaments. "I'm a tight player. I play the cards I have," Dionne said. "I've won at tournaments but I've never won a chips prize.

"Seated at the same round table was Edward Kimball of Rockland, who was down to his last stack of chips. The dealer then drew a five-card "common hand" showing the Ace of diamonds, 8 of diamonds, 2 of clubs, 5 of spades, and Queen of clubs. To his delight, Kimball held the winning hand with two pair: 2 of spades and 8 of clubs. Using both hands he raked the pot over to his side of he table. "I feel better now," he said.