After 5: A Flush on the Flop

America's fastest-growing card game is attracting a new pool of players. Stockbrokers, attorneys, doctors, restaurant owners, dairy farmers, bar owners and pizza operators are playing in poker tournaments on a regular basis.

Springfield financial consultant Dan Malachowski of Baron Financial Group LLC has played poker for six years and has made the final table at several World Series of Poker events in Tunica, Miss.

"After managing risk in the stock market on a daily basis, I find the world of poker can be similar at times," Malachowski says of his hobby. "You have to know when to pick your spots and have to be aggressive when the opportunity presents itself. And like the stock picks, even the best hands can sometimes end up being losers."

Malachowski secured a seat at the Dec. 4 charity poker tournament at Hammons Tower to benefit the Hamels Foundation. The 2009 Diamond in the Rough casino night is the foundation's first fundraiser since relocating to Springfield from Philadelphia, where founder Cole Hamels plays baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies. The $200-per-person ticketed event featured Texas Hold 'em, blackjack, roulette, craps, a raffle, silent auction, hors d'oeuvres, cash bar and gift bags, with proceeds going to schools in Springfield and in Malawi, Africa.

"I am not only a tournament poker fan, but a huge fan of baseball," Malachowski says of his interest in the foundation started by Hamels, who married Buffalo native Heidi Strobel. "No poker tournament is won in the first few hands. You have to grind it out and be patient. This event will raise money for the Hamels Foundation, which will, in turn, provide funds on an annual basis for a public school in Springfield. It's nice to see a World Series MVP doing something for a community in southwest Missouri."

The foundation has set its fundraising goal at $60,000 and hopes to make the casino night an annual fundraiser through 2013.

Downstream Casino west of Joplin recently held a Border War tournament for the Poker Pub of SWMO. The game came down to nine players, who decided to split the $1,200 up for grabs.

"Maybe at the next Border War, we will be able to declare a champion and decide who is the best poker player in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas," says Leo Magsalin, a Poker Pub member in Kansas City.

Members of the five-year-old Poker Pub are regularly invited to play in tournaments at resorts and area restaurants and bars. Magsalin says more than 6,500 people have competed in the club's no-entry fee tournaments at such establishments as Roadhouse Saloon in south Springfield and Tabu in Branson.

"A few of our players have included Randy Murfin, owner of Murfins grocery store, and Matt Arnall, owner of Fox's Pizza," Magsalin says. "We also had Scotty Nguyen, a well-known professional poker name, play with us."