I don't know if Arizona is ready for me, but I am ready for Arizona.
When I was a child growing up in Sutersville, PA., a small country town 20 miles from Pittsburgh, I began collecting copies of Arizona Highways Magazine.
The magazine's pages were full of photos of the desert in bloom. Magnificent color shots by the magazine's top photographers filled the pages.
To me, Arizona was a dreamland where I wanted to be. I fancied myself on a horse, panning for gold, or exploring an ancient outlaw cave.
At age 19, I bade a tearful farewell to my family and headed west in a beat-up Dodge with four used tires. I made it as far as Tucson before the tires gave out, forcing me to walk the last two miles carrying my baggage.
I fell in love with the smell of Arizona before I learned to love the land itself. Citronella, hibiscuis and jasmine aromas permeate the desert air. Wild orange trees grew everywhere, adding to the mysterious smell of the desert.
I made my rounds in the Valley of the Sun after I had secured employment on a newspaper. The Westward Ho Hotel had a bar it called the Copper Room, where the bartender served a wicked drink called the Copperhead.
My favorite drink in the room was a Cuba Libre. Made with rum, Coco Cola and a sprig of lime, the drink made me think like a pirate. I researched the drink and discovered Blackbeard, the Pirate, had plied his men with rum before they assaulted a merchant ship.
Rum has a lead base and when it is consumed in great commodities, things tend to happen to a person. I won't go into detail, but rum drinkers know what I am talking about.
But if rum is sipped in a wise manner -- not too much, just enough to be comfortable -- wonderful things happen to the mind. Rum gives you a feeling of well being and power. It makes an attractive girl look even prettier, and it certainly improves the gift of conversation.
Well, I am returning to Phoenix this week and will resume my nightly attacks on the green felt poker tables in the card rooms of two competing casinos -- Talking Stick and Wild Horse Pass.
Talking Stick is in Scottsdale and Wild Horse Pass lies 20 minutes away near Chandler. I like both card rooms and sometimes have a problem deciding which one to head to.
Wild Horse Pass is the smaller casino and has fewer poker tables than Talking Stick. Its daily poker tournaments command a $50 entry fee and first prize is around $1,200 depending on the number of players. I won one of the tournaments and hope to repeat my performance.
Then there is Talking Stick which lies close to a sports arena where the Arizona Diamondbacks train. It sets in a beautiful setting where wild horses often rroam.
Talking Stick has a poker game that is rarely spread in card rooms. It's a mixed $6-12 game of Omaha High-Low and seven-card high-low and it's hugely popular. When I first played the game, I did hugely well. My success slackened off before I left Arizona last year, but I think my game is back on target. I expect I will find out soon.
No, the mystique of the Arizona desert stays with you. When I first moved out West, a friend warned me not to stay too long.
"If you wear out a pair of boots in this country, it will hold you in its grasp forever," he said. He was right. I learned to ride a horse in Arizona, I panned for gold and I even entered weekend rodeos as a bronco rider.
I improved my poker game by joining the American Legion and playing in the back room where Carl Collins, a troubleshooter for Salt River Project power company, ran a dealer's choice game. The games were all cash -- we never used chips. Although gambling was illegal in Phoenix, we didn't worry about being raided since a captain on the police force was one of our regular players.
Anyhow, what I started out to say in this column is that I am going back to Cuba Libres for part of my strategy. Before I start each poker session, I will order a Cuba Libre. Then I'll probably order a second and rest on that until I see how Lady Luck is treating me today.
Well, I'm off to bed for a good night's sleep before I hit the road tomorrow. Enjoy your week and good luck at the tables.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
