Local poker player competes in France

By April Barbe

The days of playing poker in a smoke-filled den or garage with a few rowdy friends have advanced to the computer age, where online poker can result in a paid trip to Las Vegas or France — as one Jacksonville native recently learned.

Danny Ticer, owner of Danco Furniture, left Feb. 6 for his first trip abroad after winning a spot from www.pokerstars.com to play poker on the French Open European Poker Tour in Deauville, France.

“I met some good people,” Ticer said. “There were 424 or so players there, and first place was more than a half-million dollars.”

Ticer didn’t come home with any extra cash in his pocket — he finished in the top 50, but just missed a payout — but he did return with a lot of extra memories.

“They put me up for five days and six nights in this really old, super-nice hotel where a lot of famous people have stayed,” he said.

Ticer won the trip by doing well during online poker games, a hobby he said is “just one of those things.

“Of course I like the opportunity to win money, but it is also fun and challenging.”

Poker is not just a game of chance, Ticer said — it’s a game of skill, and for those who take the time to learn it, it can pay off.

The proof is in the chips, which can pile as high as one can dream sometimes.

While in France, Ticer said he had the opportunity to meet some of those in the poker playing business who have taken those sky-high piles of chips home with them — the 2004 World Series of Poker Champion, Greg Raymer, being one of them.

But no matter how many chips they’ve had in their pockets at one time or another, Ticer said all of the poker stars were very friendly.

Also while in Deauville, Ticer saw the countryside and did some shopping. He said it looks “just like you see on TV, with really narrow roads that zig zag.”

Now that he’s back at home, Ticer said he plans to continue playing poker online and hopes to win a trip to Las Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker. He has already won two trips to Las Vegas to play the legendary game of chance and bluffing known to many as poker.

For anyone interested in online poker, visit the Web site www.easttexaspoker.net.

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