Such a Deal : Bargain Hunters Win Big at Sale as Card Room Plays Out Its Last Hand

Auctioneer Fred W. Morris was more than a little disgusted. Surely, he said, the poker tables, cash register, coat racks and other remnants of Benjie’s Card Room would have brought higher bids.

But with the card room business dying out in San Diego, the last hurrah Saturday for the 4th Avenue card room was a pitiful one. Only 12 people showed up to bid on everything, including the kitchen sink, at the poker parlor that has been at 843 1/2 4th Ave. for at least five decades.

The entire building--which faces Horton Plaza and includes the Windsor Hotel above the card room--was bought out last year by the Centre City Development Corp. (CCDC).

The turn-of-the-century building will be refurbished and is scheduled to reopen in September as a revamped Windsor and an as-yet undetermined retail shop, said Bill Haynsworth, owner of San Diego Hardware on 5th Avenue.

Half of the refurbished storefront space will be used to expand the hardware store, which sits back-to-back with the former card room, through to 4th Avenue, he said.

It will cost about $300,000 to refurbish the building and the hotel’s 31 rooms. The rooms will be rented for $210 a month, a CCDC spokeswoman, Kathy Kalland, said.

On Saturday, the acrid smell of decades of cigarette smoke, stacks of wooden chips and seven felt-covered poker tables were all that remained from the dingy Benjie’s Card Room.

“Yes, they had some good games in here,” said Burt Lamberson, once a regular at the parlor as he surveyed the auction. “It was a real good one. Not too many left in this city.”

Most of Saturday’s bidders weren’t interested in the card room equipment but came to pick up household bargains such as vacuums, a microwave and televisions. And bargains they got.

“Will anyone give me $100 to start off? How about $75? Will anyone put a bid on this refrigerator? It’s a good one,” crooned Morris, who was hired by CCDC to liquidate the card room. Anything left over probably will be given away or thrown away.

Cpl. Jeffrey L. Akins, a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, said he got a “fantastic” deal. He bought a vacuum cleaner for $5; a microwave for $25, and a stereo for $17.50.

The neon sign that once glowed “Benjie’s Card Room” in the window was picked up for $20 by Roy Miller, a Mission Hills antique dealer.

“It looks pretty good,” he said. “I just hope it works.”