Poker Match Pits Skills and Nicknames

The game: Texas Hold ‘Em.

The stakes: a kitty of more than $34,000, with more than $13,000 going to the winner.

And the battle till the wee hours Wednesday at Gardena’s Horseshoe Club matched not only skill at the card table, but wit, intelligence, math, psychology, character--and nicknames.

When the smoke cleared--and there was a lot of smoke--it was the Catfish who beat out the Cowboy, the Canadian, Austin Squatty and a host of other comers for the money and boasting rights on the first night of the World Omaha Championship Poker Tournament.

At the Horseshoe, where 59 players from around the country paid $300 each to play Texas Hold ‘Em--a variation of traditional 7-card stud poker--neither offbeat characters nor money was in short supply.

There was John (Austin Squatty) Jenkins from Austin, Tex., with his broad-brimmed Stetson and Texas-sized stogie. But his bespectacled face spoke more of his “real job” as a publisher and rare book dealer than his spare time at the card table.

‘Never Lose Control’

“I sit on my feet when I play,” said Jenkins, 48, explaining his nickname. “I’m best known for being a steady player. I never lose control.”

The game’s appeal, Squatty said, includes “qualities that exceed games like chess and bridge. Poker’s the perfect balance between intelligence and psychology. It helps to be intelligent and to know math, but more than that, a poker player has to have maximum self-control.”

Less mindful of self-restraint, perhaps, was John (Catfish) Bullard, 48, a store owner from Texas by way of Alabama. When the stakes got high, the former catfish farmer invoked his namesake in an intimidating, Southern-accented holler at opponents:

“There’s no known cure when the Catfish bites!”

Marsha Waggoner, a Horseshoe Club hostess who is also a professional poker player, was one of two women in the event. Waggoner, a polite, well-dressed brunette, said some women shy away from high-stakes poker games--but not her.

“I tend to like the challenge with the men,” said the soft-spoken Waggoner. “I’ve made a good living playing poker. You have to win--or you have to get another job.”

The Horseshoe contest was only the fourth tournament for George Roumanis, 40. Dressed in a conservative gray, pin-striped suit, the Greek-Canadian came from Vancouver for the contest.

“I’ve been playing since I was born,” he joked.

And there was the Cowboy. A former professional rodeo man, Cowboy Wolfer, as he is known, was philosophical about the game, comparing it to his former, more physical career riding horses and roping steers.

“It’s about the same thing,” said Wolfer, 57, who as a youth learned poker with his rodeo colleagues in Tyler, Tex. “You need a break either way.”

For three of its four nights, the tournament features Omaha poker. But on opening night, the game is Texas Hold ‘Em, where each player is dealt two cards face down, then five are dealt face up in the center of the table. The players share the table cards.

The players buy $300 in chips to enter the game. If they lose more than $200 in the first hour, they can buy another $300 in chips to stay in the game. When players have no chips left they are out. Prize money is awarded only to the final six players left; others walk away empty-handed. First prize was $13,800, with lesser amounts going to those who placed.

Bowing Out Early

For some players, the breaks came early and the luck was bad.

Cowboy finished 18th--and out of the money. Waggoner placed 11th and also bad-lucked out of the prize winnings. Austin Squatty, however, finished third and took home more than $5,175.

By 2 a.m., seven hours after it began, two players remained, surrounded by spectators and facing each other across a green felt-topped table: Roumanis and the Catfish.

When the dealer dealt the final hand, the table cards were a king, jack, 10, 9 and 8. The Canadian was holding a pair of 6s, but Catfish had a 10 and an 8, giving him two pair--10s and 8s.

“They told me there was gold in these hills,” the Texan grinned, counting his earnings.

Roumanis’ second-place winnings were $8,625.

The tournament, which began Tuesday, continues through Friday. It begins each night at 7 p.m. and is open to the public.