Harness Racing Park Plays Its Ace
Card Room Now Open 24/7
COLUMBUS - The chips are down, the cards are dealt—and the new card room at Running Aces Harness Park is now officially open.
It was novices night on Thursday, July 17, when the grand opening of the card room was held.
It was more a case of beginners’ luck than skilful wagering taking place on the tables in the Pacers’ Atrium as the dealers took time to introduce dozens of invited guests to the finer details of pai gow poker and blackjack.
Out in the main, 50-table card room, the more serious gambling was getting underway, as chips flew across the tables, exchanging hands in a blur as the cards were dealt and shuffled.
The card room has been operating since the end of June, offering blackjack, three- and fourcard poker, pai gow poker, Texas hold-em, ultimate Texas hold-em, Omaha and seven-card stud.
Under state law, Running Aces had to be open for racing for 50 days before it could open its card room.
As the ownership wanted to open the card room in time for July 1 (they made it by one day), that meant kicking off for racing amid the snowstorms of April.
“People were disappointed when our race season ended a couple of weeks ago,” explained Jim Druck, the CEO of South West Casinos which is one of the two companies which owns Running Aces.
“We had two tornadoes, snow storms, rain storms and everything else, but once we got sorted, we were packed both inside and outside with people having a good time.” Next year, the race season should get off to a later start as there will be no 50-day opening period with which to contend.
The card room, however, is open year-round. That’s 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. There are 540 full-time staff at Running Aces to make that possible, including Loren Burr, who moved to the harness track’s card room from Grand Casino Mille Lacs, where he was a poker dealer for six years.
He’s currently dealing blackjack at Running Aces, although on grand opening night, he was instructing the beginners on the rules of pai gow poker.
Burr said it took him three months to train as a poker dealer, although he was able to pick up pai gow in about a week.
Appreciating his helpful tips were Barb and Jeff Collins, playing for the first time.
“I’ve never played before - it’s actually really interesting,” said Barb Collins, who works for the radio stations KQRS and Love 105.
Putting the beginners at ease is a large part of the game at Running Aces. There are multiple signs around the card room inviting poker novices to approach staff with regard to a special beginners’ table, where the stakes are lower, the pace slower and the set-up generally less intimidating than a table surrounded by veteran players.
“We are hopefully going to do more training in the future, on all of the games,” explained Audie Christianson, floor person in the card room.
“We’ve found it’s been quite popular. We want to get a lot of beginning players in and a lot of people who have never played before.
“We want to get them really comfortable to come here – we have a very guest-friendly atmosphere.”
Now that the card room is up and running, it can start to bring in some very welcome additional revenue for all aspects of Running Aces.
In fact, next summer’s horses and drivers will benefit directly from the success of the card room, as a percentage of the profits from the tables go into the winners’ purses at meetings throughout the season.
“It will be the catalyst to grow and fund the purse of Minnesota harness racing,” said Robert Farinella, the general manager of Running Aces. “There will be a portion of the funds going from the card room to the purses and so we can have bigger races and more entertainment.”
A bar and restaurant are also on hand at the complex, and the Pacers’ Atrium (complete with Trotters’ Canteen), with trackside views, is available for hire for private functions.
On September 11, a charity poker event led by former Gophers basketball player Trent Tucker will be staged in the card room, with a celebrity sports person sitting at each table.
Then, in November, the Heartland Poker Tour hits Running Aces for a fortnight, with super-serious poker players arriving in town.
For more information on Running Aces and other events at the track, log on to www.runningacesharness.com.