TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER
TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER
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Atlantic City senior says playing poker keeps her young |
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first time Anne Kolmetsky ever played poker at a casino in New Jersey, she
won $85 and discovered her passion for seven-card stud. And even though she turns 95 on Saturday, Kolmetsky has no plans to cut back on her frequent trips to the Tropicana Casino and Resort, located not far from her Atlantic City condominium. She now goes there six days a week, playing for a few hours and trading barbs with her fellow players and the casino employees who have become her extended family. "The truth is, I can't be in the house all day. When I sit around, I think about the aches and pains and all of that nonsense," Kolmetsky told The Press of Atlantic City. "I'm OK when I sleep and when I'm playing poker." Kolmetsky was 7 years old when her family moved to Atlantic City in 1916, and she held several jobs _ ranging from a hostess at the Flamingo Motel to a cashier at Caesars Atlantic City casino _ before retiring. A longtime card player, her favorite game was blackjack until her niece, a professional poker player in Las Vegas, suggested she try it. "She called me when the casinos first started offering poker (in Atlantic City), and she told me I had to try it," Kolmetsky said. "I went to Caesars and won $85 the first day. I said, 'I have to do this more often."' As her skills improved, Kolmetsky started playing in local poker tournaments. Her best performance was winning $350 for a third-place finish in a no-limit, Em competition held at the Tropicana, and the most she's ever lost was $120. But whether wins or loses matters little to Kolmetsky, who had open-heart surgery when she was 79, followed by gall bladder surgery, a hysterectomy and a bout with shingles. She's lived alone since her husband, Jack, died in 1988, and even though her 74-year-old son repeatedly asks her to move closer to his California home, she can't imagine leaving the area. And the dozens of friends she's made while playing the game she loves hopes that she stays put for many years. "A person like Annie doesn't gamble enough for it to be about the money," said Scott Griffin, the Tropicana's manager for poker and simulcast events. "The people here realize there's more to retirement than rocking chairs and soap operas." |
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