No. 1 with the highest hand ever was Poker Shoot winner Scott Wood!
Arty Bartlett
The last day of organized Club Shooting before our summer hiatus ended on a high note Friday morning, May 31st, with donuts, coffee, and TWO Pair in the Poker Shoot to win the pot! Congratulations Scott Wood! (Darn! I had a winning pair of eights until Scott shot and I forgot to check up his sleeves for extra cards!)
The Setup
Summer hiatus is from June 1 through Sept. 30 because, well, it’s pretty darn hot at the outside gun ranges during that time! So the last day before our break was at Joe Foss Range, May 31, which is our pistol/rifle range up to 50 yards for club target shooting.
We started off with coffee and donuts thanks to members Kirk and Sue Harrison who wanted to make our last shoot special! We were also informed it would end with the, now legendary, Poker-Shoot Competition! (Insert the oohs and ahhs)
The Turnout
We had a great turnout on the last day, and the weather was perfect for shooting. (C’mon, isn’t it always?) We all set up our targets to get some practice time.
There were some with pistols and some with rifles. But let’s remember the Poker Shoot is with pistols, so even the rifle enthusiasts start warming up their pistols to get in on the action coming up.
The suspense builds … the coffee is, well, not Starbucks, but it does go well with the donuts from Sugar ’N Spice (which are amazing by the way).
The rules are stated: Entry fee is $1, so ante up when you get to the front of the line and declare your intent to shoot. (I’m at the back of the line sizing up the competition).
A clean deck of 52 cards are taped, face down, to the target area at 10 feet so you do not know what the card is when you are shooting, and if you can hit it.
You have only 5 rounds (bullets) chambered so the card count can ONLY BE 5 cards max! If you don’t hit all 5 cards, tough luck! That’s your hand. ARGH!
(However the Rules Master did allow us to pay $2 for 2 more cards after everyone had shot to give us a better hand … if we could improve it … yours truly did not. **Sigh**)
Early On We Have a Pair of 2s to Beat!
Then, towards the end, yours truly got a pair of 8s! Woo-Hoo! Could I hold on? That was short-lived as the next-to-last shooter, I said the NEXT-TO-LAST shooter, Scott Wood, shot his 5 cards leaving him with TWO PAIR, Queens high! This is the highest winning ‘hand’ of our club Poker Shoot yet! OMG!
Yes folks, the big winnings amounted to $17! I did not get the big pot of $17, but I know you were rooting for me.
If you are interested in being a part of our (somewhat quirky) gun club, pistol, rifle, and shotgun trap & skeet, please contact our President Steve Bartlett at [email protected]. We would love to have you!
Lastly, a big thank you to the RSOs (Range Safety Officers) who make these shoots possible, fun, and safe!
Thank you all. Hope to see you in the fall!