The weekly poker rankings don’t lie.
Woody is in 27th place with 180 points. He’s tied with Cigar Chris and only 20 points behind Papa Gino. Every night is another opportunity to move up.
The crowd is already starting to shuffle in on a humid Monday evening in downtown Gulfport, Fla.
The first deal starts at 8, but players are signing up by 7:30 in order to get the 500 bonus chips awarded to those half an hour early.
Amid the hustle and bustle, Showdown Poker owner J.W. sets up tables and chips, anticipating his large Monday night crowd at O’Maddy’s Bar and Grille.
Slowly walking down 54th Street toward the restaurant is George Wood, or Woody.
His eyeglasses hang from his red-checkered golf shirt. Unlike the rest of the table, he doesn’t wear a hat. He has no good luck charms. Instead, he says, “I wear my luck on my sleeve.”
Woody, 60, has been playing poker for 45 years and rarely misses the chance to participate in the nightly Showdown Poker tournaments.
The league games, held six nights a week at different spots around Gulfport and St. Petersburg, are free to play. The prizes on a normal evening are bar tabs and gift certificates supplied by the local venues.
Nearly 250 people are involved in the Showdown Poker league, and the more times each week they come out and play, the more points they receive. At the end of the league’s eight-week circuit, the top 56 players meet at the championship for a chance to win an engraved bracelet, a $200 Visa gift card and other prizes bigger than a bar tab.
On normal Monday nights, the prizes may not be as large as the championship round, but the stakes remain the same.