The Crystal Lounge is down on the corner of 1st and Broadway in
Billings, Montana. Liquor in the front, poker in the rear. 3/6 Texas
Holdem these days. This place has the distinction of being the first
place I every played Texas Holdem. It was 1984 and I was drifting
through Montana, working here and there. Poker was something a guy
who didn't know anyone in town could do to socialize a little. I had no
clue what I was doing back then, but did manage to have a winning
night every once in awhile. It would be another 8 years before I seen
poker as a vocation.
I've stopped in a few times since then. The last time was about 6 years
ago. The only thing that has changed in the place is the faces.
Everything else is the same. If you follow poker on TV, then you may
know who Annie Duke is. The Crystal is where she started. Her
husband was from Montana. Needing to make some money she got her
world class poker playing brother, Howard Lederer, to school her on the
subject. Then she proceeded to clean up Billings. Howard later talked
her into going to the World Series of Poker and I guess she has never
looked back.
So I've had lots of fun, but it is getting old fast. Every time I leave
Nevada I get a good dose of reality. These people expect me to pay my
own rent, buy my own meals, and even buy my own beer. In short, I
am not being kept in the manner of which I have grown accustomed.
Some people have a lot of nerve. Speaking of which, If I want my free
ride in back, I guess I'm gonna have to come up with the nerve to face
off that baby factory in Wendover.
