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Posted by on Apr 6, 2013 in Blog, General Poker, Personal, Politics | 5 comments

The Infamous Watergate Poker Game

 

watergate-photo-by-air

 

The phone rang.  This wasn’t a call I expected.

“Nolan, there’s an open seat tomorrow night in the game,” the voice said.  “You want to come?”

“The game,” I asked?  “You mean — THE GAME?”

“Yeah.”

“Deal me in!”

 

The voice and I agreed to meet the following afternoon at a hip downtown Washington bar on K Street where we discussed more specifics of “the game.”  I was told this game was juicy, and I sure as hell needed the cash.  Some wealthy, well-connected D.C.-insiders made up the regular player list.  The game was spread a few times each month, usually on weeknights.

But what made the game really distinctive was its memorable location — at The Watergate.

Yeah, that Watergate.

*     *     *

Mention “Watergate” and you probably think of Richard Nixon.

Watergate is mainly associated with the political scandal which led to Nixon’s downfall.  He was the only U.S. President in history ever to resign from office.  The scandal was named so because of a late-night break-in which occurred during the summer of 1972 when Nixon campaign operatives (ironically abbreviated as C.R.E.E.P. — which stood for “Committee to Re-Elect the President”) broke into and bugged Democratic National Headquarters.  The DNC offices were located inside the Watergate complex.  The burglars were nabbed and arrested, which triggered a cover-up and two exhaustive years of tumbling dominoes, ultimately toppling President Nixon himself.

But that’s just part of the story.  Actually, Watergate is a five-building labyrinth of business offices and luxury condominiums within the federal district.  It’s anchored along the Potomac River, right next to the Kennedy Center.  For many years, Watergate not only housed many of Washington’s most powerful elite, but it also hosted the first regular pot-limit poker game in the nation’s capital.  And here I was — the latest invitee [FOOTNOTE 1].

Invitations weren’t issued to just anyone.  You had to be somebody and know somebody to get a seat.  Which is why I was surprised my phone rang.

My gentleman caller was Kenneth Adams, a well-connected and highly-skilled D.C. attorney.  Adams once served as counsel to Chuck Colson, the former Nixon adviser who served prison time for his role in the Watergate cover-up (purely a coincidence).  Adams also worked with the star-studded legal team that won the largest single civil lawsuit damages in history (at the time) in the environmentally catastrophic Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill.

Most people in the poker world probably don’t know Adams, nor much about his background.  And anonymity suits him just fine.  To this day, Adams plays a fair number of poker events scattered around the country — including the WSOP in Las Vegas.  In fact, Adams wrote Card Player magazine’s official WSOP coverage for several years during the 1990s, including the story on Stu Ungar’s third world championship.

So, getting back to the big poker game at Watergate; this wasn’t an address one simply walks into.  You don’t brush past building security and then knock on the door and ask to be seated.  You need a valid reason to enter the Watergate.  Well, now I finally had a reason.  I was told to be at Watergate South at precisely 6 pm.

*     *     *

I walked in and introductions were made all around.

First, I met the game’s longtime host.  His name was Tony Hope.

“Hope?  You mean like Bob Hope,” I asked?

“Yeah — that’s right.  He’s my father,” Tony said.

Wow.  Here I was playing in a private poker game with Bob Hope’s son.  Hopefully, I’d end up thanking him for the memories, later.

Tony revealed that no one actually lived in this condo unit.  He and a few close buddies kept the Watergate residence for private poker games.  I’d heard about some unusual underground games and situations.  But keeping a luxury 1,500-square-foot fully-furnished condo a few doors down from Bob Dole’s residence (true story) just for poker games struck me as insane.

The player sitting directly across the table was someone whose name I don’t recall.  But he headed the Airline Pilot’s Association.  Another big shot.

The player sitting beside me was a constitutional lawyer who had (now get this) spent more time arguing cases in front of the Supreme Court than any man alive.  That’s impressive.  If we needed a table ruling, this was our guy.

Others with equally impressive credentials all shook hands, which finally led to the question I dreaded.

“So Nolan, what do you do?” I was asked.

At that point, no matter what I said, it might as well have been the equivalent of — “I wash dishes at Applebee’s.”  If I told them the truth and how much money I really made a year, they’d probably ask me how in the hell I got past building security.

Enough small talk.  It was time to deal the cards.

*     *     *

Adams warned me that this game was “Dealer’s Choice.”  I figured meant games like Hold’em, Omaha, Lowball, and Stud.  Big mistake.

When the Airline Pilot’s Association head called out “Mad Mike’s Game with a $100 optional buy on the end,” I knew serious trouble was ahead.  That wacko game set the pace for the rest of the evening.  I struggled to learn games I’d never heard of before.  While I played, I tried to remember the nuances of high and low qualifiers, optional card buys, how to declare, and wild cards.  It was a nightmare.  Remarkably, I ended up breaking even, due mostly to folding hand after hand in utter confusion.

For reasons unknown, I was invited back.

Two weeks later, I returned to the Watergate game.  But this time I arrived well prepared.  I made up several index cards with the rules of each game scribbled in plain view.  Then, on the reverse side of each card — I listed some basic strategy notes.  That night, I played poker clutching onto two sets of cards between my fingers — one was a set of playing cards, the other was a stack of index cards.

My poker apprenticeship created some funny and terrifying moments.

At one point, I couldn’t remember the specific rules of the game we were playing.  The pot contained about $1,000.  I found myself in an embarrassing situation where I couldn’t ask anyone about the rules, because it would tip off the content of my hand.  I winged it, held my breath, tabled my hand, and was delighted to discover that I’d somehow guessed correctly.

That second session produced a nice profit of $1,200.  Adams was right.  This was a great poker game.

*     *     *

I played that game off and on for the next few years.

One of the most interesting caveats about my Watergate experience was Adams’ added twist to the betting limits.  We always played something he called “Modified Pot-Limit.”  That meant you could bet any amount in the pot up to a $200 maximum.  This cap was implemented so the game wouldn’t get totally out of control.  Even though everyone in the game (except me) could well afford to drop several thousand dollars, the object of the game was purely for fun.  So, it wasn’t at all unusual to see players betting $200 and then raising another $200 on the final betting round, with $1,500 in the center of the table.  It was almost like the ridiculous scenes you see in the movies.

Adams later wrote about “Modified Pot-Limit” as a feature article in Card Player.  After playing this unusual variant for a while, I hoped and expected it might catch on elsewhere.  But it didn’t.  Nonetheless, I think it’s an interesting middle-ground between Limit poker and Pot-Limit poker which I’d like to see played more frequently.  If it ever does take off, that will be Ken Adams’ great contribution to poker.

I later departed Washington and blasted off to Las Vegas.  But from time to time, I still think about the old Watergate poker game.  The players have come and some have gone.  But the game endures.

Sadly, Tony Hope passed away a few years ago.   Last I heard the game had moved to a different location within the same building.  Few people, except for a few insiders know exactly where it’s located now.  But I’m told the Watergate game is still going strong.  Somewhere.

Maybe next time I’m back in Washington, my phone will ring.  Now, if I could just find those index cards.

COMING UP NEXT:  Playing poker in Washington with a Limit Hold’em novice — who later turned into somebody big.

FOOTNOTE 1:  Some of the famous people who have lived at Watergate over the years included — former Sen. Bob Dole, singer Placido Domingo, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, economist Alan Greenspan, former Defense Secretary John McNamara, former Attorney General John Mitchell, musician Mstislav Rostropovich, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, comedian Ben Stein, and actress Elizabeth Taylor.   Unfortunately, none of them ever stopped in and sat in the poker game.

5 Comments

  1. Great story, please keep them coming! Just curious, what year would your first appearance in the game have been? And Tony Hope seems like a nice guy to have you in his game, but my guess is he liked broadcasting who he was – otherwise why say his last name when introducing yourself to a stranger?!?

  2. Being pedantic, I would categorize this game as $BB to $200 spread limit. Curiously, for a long time this is the way the “no limit” games were dealt in San Jose (California) at the beginning of the poker boom, as city rules mandated a $200 maximum bet. There are other jurisdictions in which this is the rule as well.

  3. Another winner here Nolan. Keep ’em coming sir.

  4. NOLAN REPLIES:

    Hey, I had enough trouble keeping track of the rules of wacky poker games. You presume I also have the skills to negotiate with hookers?

    — ND

  5. Fantastic story Nolan. I am pretty sure I met the Exxon Valdez lawyer when I was a very young finance guy. Keep these stories coming!

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