Presque Isle banker earns shot at poker payday

When the chips were down, Jason House simply raised the stakes.

The Presque Isle commercial banking officer earned himself a place in the finals and a chance at a $5,000 payday with his aggressive playing style in the Skillful Poker Showdown, Maine’s first-ever televised poker tournament.

The Lincoln native made it well worth his 51/2-hour drive from Presque Isle to Portland by winning his 30-hand game by bluffing as well as calling others’ bluffs at the right time.

“They have a couple radio guys from Portland [narrating] the shows and one guy really didn’t think much of the way I played,” said the 32-year-old House, who works for First Citizens Bank. “He thought I was taking too many chances and being way too aggressive.”

Yet it was that strategy which landed House in the finals as he built up a good “stack” of chips by adding to the 10,000 each player gets to start the game en route to winning the largest pot of the entire series so far: 56,000 chips.

“I won with a pair of kings. I didn’t know what the other guy had, but I raised two or three times, and I didn’t think he had a straight based on the way he was betting,” House explained. “He ended up going all in with about 20,000 chips and I figured it was too far along where I had to stay with it, even though I still would have had a good stack of chips if I folded.

“I really thought about folding, but the thing that made me think twice about it was that it was an enormous laydown and I knew I’d see his hand on TV and likely regret it.”

House’s opponent had an ace and a nine, House had a big payoff and two hands later, he was the last man standing … well, sitting at the table.

The eight-episode series, produced by Portland TV station WPXT (Channel 51) matches up six players from around the state per episode. The winners from the first six episodes will compete in the May 13 final with the winner grabbing a $5,000 grand prize.

House has been playing poker since his father Arnie taught him when he was 6.

“We played with pennies, mostly just five-card stud and five-card draw and later some seven-card. The minimum bet was one penny and maximum was two,” he explained.

House fared much better than University of Maine-Presque Isle college roommate and fellow Mattanawcook High School graduate Luke Libbey. The 27-year-old Mattawamkeag native, who happens to play poker fairly regularly with House, also was picked to be one of the 36 Showdown participants after registering online as an entrant.

Libbey, a travelling rep for the UniFirst Corporation, was the chip leader for much of his game, but his luck faded down the stretch of a marathon game.

“My game lasted something like 80-something hands and 61/2 hours. It was painful,” said Libbey, who wound up as table runner-up. “Coming down the stretch, I couldn’t catch a good card. It just wasn’t my luck. I came in second at my table.

“Oh well, that was my 15 minutes of fame. It will probably be my application tape that I send in to Survivor.”

Skillful Poker Showdown airs Saturdays on WPXT at 8 p.m. and Tuesday’s at 10 p.m. on Portland’s WPME (Ch. 35).

Bosox vs. Bombers on DVD

Is spring training action not intense enough for you? Are those NESN “Reliving the Rivalry” Red Sox-Yankees reruns growing tiresome? Counting down the days until May 1st? Well, Major League Baseball Productions and Shout! Factory may have just the thing for you as they’ve teamed up to create a DVD titled “Red Sox vs. Yankees: The Ultimate Rivalry.”

The 95-minute DVD carries a suggested retail price of $19.98 (plus tax) and will be available at selected stores and chains nationwide May 2.

It contains exclusive interviews, footage from as far back as 1949 and in-game sound bites, but focuses primarily on three seasons (2003-05). It also features selective narratives (viewers can pick either one) by Sox manager Terry Francona or Yankees manager Joe Torre.

Oh, and for those of you counting down the days until the first Sox-Yankees game of the regular season, there are 10 and counting.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net.