Copyright © 2004 Republican-American
Chuck Petruccione looked like a character out of "Guys and Dolls," resplendent in black shirt and printed silk tie decorated with the faces of playing cards. He clutched a clipboard in one hand, and sported two silver bracelets on his right wrist.
It wasn't easy, but he managed to maintain order over 60 poker players anxiously seated at round tables, all of them nervously handling $2,000 in play poker chips.
This was the final night of the first season of the Connecticut Poker Tour, the oldest established permanent floating card game in the state. The 59 players that gathered Saturday night at the Polish American Club in Naugatuck represented the largest crowd for monthly gatherings of the tour.
And the evening promised to be a bountiful night for at least one player. The tour's treasurer, Rocco Guerrera, elicited shouts of delight when he announced that nine players would receive a cash payout, with the overall champ taking home $788. The total jackpot approached $2,500.
In case you'd like to know how you can buy in when the 2005 tour gets under way in January, the sad news is you can't. This is a closed tour. It began four years ago, before the no limit Texas hold 'em craze took root on .
Please turn to 5C, CARDS
cable TV. A bunch of friends gathered each month to play poker. They played any and all varieties of the game, and when they first sampled no limit hold 'em, it quickly became the game of choice.
The tour didn't start as a tour. It was little more than a dozen guys who gathered to play once a month. Soon a few friends joined in, then a few family members, and then a couple of co-workers. If you don't fall into one of those categories with this crowd you ain't getting asked.
What began as a house party in a basement or garage has grown into rented halls in Naugatuck, Waterbury, Torrington, Farmington, Wolcott, Norwalk and Stratford.
"We thought, 'Wouldn't it be cool if we did our own tour and modeled it on the World Tour of Poker?'" Petruccione recalls.
Yes, way cool. The final night of the 2004 tour was handled in style, with a catered pasta dinner and a gold bracelet going to the winner. Petruccione wears both his silver bracelets at tour events, which signify his two wins this year.
The buy-in is cheap, just 20 bucks. You can't lose any more than that, and you can hardly go to the movies and buy some popcorn for that price.
Because Saturday night was the tour's grand finale, the buy-in was 40. That's what attracted a crowd.
"This is the largest turnout we've ever had," said a delighted Petruccione, who explains that a poker night is perfectly legal under Connecticut law as long as the pot isn't raked for the house and all money is paid out to the players.
This isn't a domain for males or even young men. About 20 percent of the competitors were ladies. The oldest player was the still sharp 90-year-old Dominic Capozzi. While husbands played, moms dandled tykes on their knee or caught up on their crocheting.
Speaking of Capozzi, you couldn't miss bumping into one Saturday night. Al Capozzi, 36, from Carver, Mass., plays his poker to the sounds of soothing music.
"When I listen to music I don't play as many hands. That's the key to this game," said the man who drove 2 1/2 hours to compete against this crowd, ultimately finishing second.
Isn't there a game closer to home where you can win, or lose, some money?
"This game has nothing to do with money," he explains. "It's about friendship, fellowship, and the love of hold 'em, not necessarily in that order. The buy-in is small, and that makes this a cheap night's entertainment."
Along with a monthly family reunion.
"There are a dozen people in this room with the last name of Capozzi," he adds, "and four or five others who are related."
Play is nothing if not spirited, social and congenial. It took all of seven minutes for the first player to be eliminated. Moments later the tour president's mom, Kathy Petruccione, was "busted out. I went all in," she said with a shake of the head about losing with a pair of aces "in the hole. Someone else had a pair of sevens, and then another seven came up on the turn card. I was done."
Turn card? Flop? River card? It was all very confusing to a novice. Everyone was looking for the "button" and "hitting the blind." They were a friendly lot, though. Whenever someone discovered that I knew nothing about poker, they insisted that I should play.
Aren't they nice?
Torrington's John Krayeski, who once finished 10th in a major senior competition at Foxwoods, calls the tour "a good night out," and an event that is "an even playing field for everyone. I can't play basketball or baseball against these guys any more," said the 58 year-old, "but in this game, it doesn't matter how old you are, or if you are a man of a woman."
Each month, 20 percent of the field makes money, and everyone gets a hot meal. Now that's a night out that doesn't sound like a gamble to me.
Joe Palladino is a Republican-American staff writer. He can be e-mailed at jpalladino@rep-am.com
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