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MEET THE POKER ROOM MANAGER: VINCE CONTAXIS, HARVEYS LAKE TAHOE
Nov 12 2010 07:25 PM EST
Harveys Lake Tahoe is the sixth stop of the 2010/2011 WSOP Circuit. In 2009, WSOP.com spoke with Harveys’ poker room manager, Vince Contaxis, who has seen a lot over his twenty years at the resort.
Contaxis: I was born in Oakland, CA. and moved to Lake Tahoe in 1975. I've been married for 21 years and currently have a daughter in college and a son that’s a junior in high school.
WSOP.com: So, how did you get your start in the gaming industry?
WSOP.com: Do you play a lot of poker yourself?
Contaxis: I have been playing poker for as long as I can remember. My father had a poker game with his friends and he taught me how to play. I have always enjoyed the game.
WSOP.com: How good of a player do you consider yourself?
WSOP.com: What is one of the biggest changes, if any that you’ve seen in poker rooms over the past decade?
WSOP.com: What’s it like running a poker room in Lake Tahoe. How big does the action get?
Contaxis: Our room is a great place for meeting new guests, and we have a clientele that returns to visit us each season. We also have a great group of local players that enjoy living and playing at Lake Tahoe, as do I.
WSOP.com: For those not sure whether they have the chops to play in a WSOP Circuit Event, what do you have to say to them?
WSOP.com: Who are some of the big names that frequent your poker room?
WSOP.com: Do you have any funny stories to share?
Contaxis: One of our local players once hit a $3,000,000 slot jackpot while on a ten minute break from one of our weekly tournaments … it was a good break for her. I did have to inform her that if she did not return to her seat in the tournament she would have to forfeit her $25 buy-in.
Next time you’re in Lake Tahoe, feel free to stop by the poker room at Harveys and say “hello” to Vince.
WSOP.com: Would you care to tell us a little about yourself? Where are you from originally? Married? Kids?
Contaxis: I was born in Oakland, CA. and moved to Lake Tahoe in 1975. I've been married for 21 years and currently have a daughter in college and a son that’s a junior in high school.
WSOP.com: So, how did you get your start in the gaming industry?
Contaxis: When I found out from a friend at Harveys they were planning on opening a Poker Room, I wanted to get in. That friend was able to get me a job at Harveys. I started as a 21 dealer in 1986 then transferred when they opened the Poker Room in 1988. I’ve been involved in poker to this day.
WSOP.com: Do you play a lot of poker yourself?
Contaxis: I have been playing poker for as long as I can remember. My father had a poker game with his friends and he taught me how to play. I have always enjoyed the game.
Before I started at Harveys, I played poker at the local poker rooms, never any of the other casino games. I can honestly say I have only played 2 hands of BlackJack in a casino, my first hand I had 20 and lost the second hand I had 21 and pushed, from then on I stuck to poker.
WSOP.com: How good of a player do you consider yourself?
Contaxis: I consider myself a decent player. I always say “I’d rather be lucky then good”
WSOP.com: What is one of the biggest changes, if any that you’ve seen in poker rooms over the past decade?
Contaxis: The popularity of No Limit Texas Hold’em and Tournament Poker thanks to television.
Contaxis: Our room is a great place for meeting new guests, and we have a clientele that returns to visit us each season. We also have a great group of local players that enjoy living and playing at Lake Tahoe, as do I.
As far as our action we pride ourselves on a low buy-in, low limit recreational room, but we do play on occasion $25-$50 Blind No Limit Hold’em with a $10,000 buy-in. During the peak season we offer a great $3-$5 Blind No Limit Game that our local players and guests enjoy.
WSOP.com: For those not sure whether they have the chops to play in a WSOP Circuit Event, what do you have to say to them?
Contaxis: You will never know until you give it a try, but if you are an avid poker player I can almost guarantee that you will enjoy the experience.
WSOP.com: What would you say to online players in the region who have yet to step inside a live poker room?
Contaxis: They don’t know what it is like to look their opponents in the eye, feel their cards, and the feeling of moving their chips into the pot. It is much more exciting.
WSOP.com: Who are some of the big names that frequent your poker room?
Contaxis: During our WSOP Circuit Events we have had some very big name players visit our room like Chris Ferguson, but not many on a regular basis.
Contaxis: One of our local players once hit a $3,000,000 slot jackpot while on a ten minute break from one of our weekly tournaments … it was a good break for her. I did have to inform her that if she did not return to her seat in the tournament she would have to forfeit her $25 buy-in.
Next time you’re in Lake Tahoe, feel free to stop by the poker room at Harveys and say “hello” to Vince.
