A Poker Player's Hands

Oklahoma Johnny Hale still has a lot of fire left in the belly.

One of seven sons born in the red-clay country of Oklahoma in the pre-Dust Bowl days, Hale grew up on a chicken farm. His father was nicknamed Chicken Hale and he was reputed to be the best seven-card stud player in the county and probably the state.

His Daddy taught Johnny and his brothers how to protect themselves from cheats. He also taught Johnny to respect the game of poker as well as the other players.

I played a lot of poker against Hale in Las Vegas. His favorite casino was The Orleans Resort where he varied between Texas Hold'em and Omaha High-Low. He was known for telling stories and his one-liners. One thing nobody could do was to outtalk Johnny Hale.

We were seated at a table during a break in a poker tournament when he became serious about the game.

He stretched out his hands. 'Do you see these hands?' he said. 'Feel them.' I touched his hands. They were soft as the skin of a baby.

'Outside of my early years on the family farm, these hands have never known physical labor. They played no role in my ability to earn a living.'

Hale grew up playing poker, mostly in Las Vegas, although for a while he was a rounder playing in illegal cash games wherever they could be found.

Although he is fiercely competitive, he takes it easy against construction workers, laborers or other people who work with their hands. He has been known to return the final bet in a pot against such a player.

'I respect a man who works with his hands,' Johnny said. 'They are the ones who made and built this country. I would never do anything to take the bread out of their mouths or away from their families.

'But I am the seventh son of a seventh son. I am lucky. Lucky is my middle name and I mean to stay lucky all the days of my life.' He winked.

Johnny's hands will ever become rough and calloused like the hands of my father. Dad was a coal miner and steel mill worker. He spent much of his life digging and when he retired from U.S. Steel Corp., his fellow employees presented him with a gold shovel. Dad accepted it gratefully.

Dad was never a good poker player, but Oklahoma Johnny Hale could not have made it as a coal miner or steel worker. We are who we are. Let the games begin.

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 ).