Poker players punch Vegas ticket

Philip Cole, 75, didn't start playing Texas Hold Em until three years ago and Elmo Mariathasan, 49, didn't even hear of the game in his native country of Sri Lanka.

Yet, in less than two months, the two Southwest Florida residents will be off for Las Vegas to compete at Harrah's World Series of Poker.

They'll be joined by 6,500 others including Mitchell Smith of Cape Coral and Eddie Irizarry of Naples.

The four poker players were the finalists in a tournament held at the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track on May 10. Another tournament, with a $550 buy-in, will be held at noon Saturday inside the track's poker room.

Cole, a Naples resident and former stockbroker, said he played poker once in a while, but didn't start playing Texas Hold Em until three years ago.

"I read about a half-dozen books about it and I have a friend who's been playing for years and years," Cole said. "He told me the only way to get good is to just sit down and play."

And that's just what Cole did. Two years ago, he sat down at one of the dog track's poker tables and started playing.

"I've won about five or six tournaments there and now I go out to Vegas about three times a year," he said. "I played in this one single table tournament where T.J. Cloutier (a Poker Hall of Fame inductee) was playing and I knocked him out. When he was leaving the table he said, 'I don't know how to read you.' That's the biggest compliment I've ever had."

Elmo Mariathasan's introduction to Texas Hold Em poker also came at a late age. Growing up in Sri Lanka, poker wasn't a big game.

"I was a craps player," said Mariathasan, who now lives in Fort Myers. "When I moved here from New York, I was looking for a casino and someone told me about Immokalee. Well, they didn't have craps there, but

they had poker."

Little by little, Mariathasan learned the game. While he said players have to know the cards, the key to being a successful poker player is "reading people and understanding when to play your cards."

Mariathasan said playing in the World Series of Poker has been a dream of his for the past several years and plans to make the most of it by heading to Vegas with seven friends.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "I can't wait."

Even experienced players like Mitchell Smith, 40, of Cape Coral - who also earned his World Series bracelet at the dog track on May 10 - is excited.

"I've been playing for 20 years," said Smith, who has 14 cashes in tournament play. "I think for successful players, it comes down to reading people, knowing their tendencies. You look at their eyes, watch their betting habits. For me, it's more about the hands you don't play than the one's you do play.

"The tournament at the track was great," he added. "After I was one of the final four, I was ready to jump on a plane and go right to Vegas."

"Spaghetti" Eddie Irizarry, 49, was the fourth poker player - and perhaps the most successful - to earn a bracelet at the track. Irizarry, a Naples residents and owner of a swimming pool repair and maintenance company, has been playing tournament poker for nine years.

During that time he's won several tournaments including a $250,000 grand prize at MGM in Las Vegas.

"It's a stress-release for me," he said. "I think when you're playing poker, patience is the key. You learn by the mistakes you make," he said.

Irizarry said the three other winners are all good poker players.

"Elmo is good," he said. "They're all good, smart and patient players."

The tournament on May 10 began at noon and the first hand at the final table was dealt at around 9 p.m.

"Before the day was over, I think everything came into play - positioning, bluffing, everything," recalled Cole. "When I got to the final table, I think I had the most chips, so I didn't have to take much of a risk."

For others, like Mariathasan, the tournament was a bit nerve-wracking.

"I finished second in a tournament in Sarasota and they were only awarding one seat at the World Series," he said. "I didn't want this to happen again. I didn't. Now I can't wait."

Irizarry explained that at the World Series, he'll be patient at the beginning.

"What I'll do is fold down at the beginning of a tournament just to see how people are playing, but if I get the cards, I'll play 'em.

"Playing in the World Series of Poker has always been a dream of mine," he said.

News Press

News Added: 24 May, 2008

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