#629 – I’m Going to Biloxi!

I recently found myself in the uncomfortable position of having to persuade someone I didn’t want to persuade to let me do something I didn’t want to do. I worked up the nerve to ask Uncle Tilty to send me to Biloxi, Mississippi, to write about the Southern Poker Championship, culminating in a World Poker Tour Event at the Beau Rivage on January 14-17. I was thrilled/confused/disappointed when Full Tilt agreed.

Based on the fact that Full Tilt seems pleased with my work (and hasn’t fired me) I really didn’t want to rock the boat. Furthermore, because my actual contact with people from Full Tilt is pretty limited, I generally don’t want to make a bunch of expense-account requests. Certainly not in these economic conditions.

I am also ambivalent about leaving home. I’m fifty, I’m lazy, and I found a way to play poker somewhat profitably without wearing shoes. But this blog is about poker, and I can see only so much of it through my computer screen.  I know that I have to get back to playing in live tournaments and interacting with my friends among the pros to give you the kind of reporting you can’t get anywhere else.

I settled on the Southern Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi. It is the first WPT event of 2009, and after the fireworks I was able to experience only second-hand from the final WPT event of 2008, I figured there would be some great tournament poker and a lot of familiar faces.

Plus, I have never been to Mississippi. I am somewhat proud of the fact that I have visited almost every state in the Union. (I think it “counts” as visiting a state if you have at least one story or memory from your trip. For instance, I have spent less than two days in the state of Washington, but on the trip there, I managed to meet Walter Mondale and Heidi Fleiss on the same day.) Just on principle, I like that I can cross Mississippi off the list.

In doing some background research – okay, Wikipedia – I am starting to realize why I had never been to Mississippi. Mississippi was the last state to repeal the prohibition of alcohol, has the highest rate of obesity, and is first in high blood pressure, diabetes, and adult inactivity. It also has the lowest per capita income in the US and ranks last in academic achievement, SAT scores, and school spending per student.

Nevertheless, I am excited about visiting the state for the first time. First, as a poker player living in Arizona, I shouldn’t be throwing stones. Arizona’s schools are way at the bottom of all the lists nationally, for living in such an affluent area we spend a tiny amount of money on our schools, and I personally moved three school-aged children from one of the highest-regarded school districts in the United States so I could play golf more often. (And I haven’t played a round of golf here in two years.) With the relative “healthiness” of the poker lifestyle, the state of Mississippi is actually a fitting place to go for poker; if they held more poker tournaments there we would probably drag them down further in health statistics.

Second, I am impressed by what I have heard about the area rebuilding itself after Hurricane Katrina. I want to see how it looks, what they’ve done, and share some of the spirit that has encouraged them to move forward.

Third, Mississippi has something that Arizona will never have: heritage.  (Jo Anne, who is a history teacher, while hearing me read this, erupted into some kind of diatribe about Barry Goldwater, Mo Udall, and Stevie Nicks.) Oprah, Elvis, Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Medger Evers, Walter Payton, Henry Aaron, B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters … Faith Hill. Robert Johnson, King of the Delta Blues, was born in Mississippi and supposedly traded his soul to the devil for blues immortality at a crossroads in Clarksdale. I know almost nothing of Johnson’s story but I have to try to tap into that.

Then there is the poker. Just like the Delta Blues, American poker started in Mississippi. The area has a rich gambling tradition and I owe it to myself (and you, my readers) to learn about and experience it. I think I will play events this Saturday (Hold ‘Em) and next Monday (HORSE). I will also play a mega-satellite to get into the WPT Southern Poker Championship, which runs from January 14-17. In the event I don’t play it, I will try to write about it.

Although I was at first pleased that Full Tilt was sending me to Biloxi, a look at the poker schedule gave me second thoughts. Because I am going to Biloxi, they will NOT be sending me to Paradise Island in the Bahamas or Melbourne, Australia, both of which also have big tournaments going on at the same time. (I really should read the poker schedule more carefully before volunteering next time.)

I also just learned that the crossroads in Clarksdale are 360 miles from Biloxi. But if I manage to win an entry into the WPT main event, you can bet I will rent a car and race through the 720-mile round trip. I’ll need all the luck I can get.

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