Heartland Poker Tour's Anderson keeps the focus on fun

I don’t know about you, but when my friends and I get together for poker, not a lot of ideas are generated.

Come to think of it, not a lot of multi-syllabic words are generated. The mood is more likely to foster an array of guttural sounds, interspersed with the occasional come-hither hand gesture toward a bag of Cheetos, or the raising of an empty can overhead, the universal symbol for, “Need Beer/Cannot Move.”

Fortunately for Todd Anderson, his poker outings with friend Greg Lang were more productive. It was after one such night when the Fargo, N.D., natives were driving home that they hit on an idea for a poker tour. “We got to talking about why there wasn’t a televised poker tournament for normal poker enthusiasts,” said Anderson. “And later that night, we formed All In Productions. We quit our jobs and put all our savings toward our idea.” And that’s how the Heartland Poker Tour was created, a couple of buddies from North Dakota out playing poker one night and dreaming about an idea they came up with — except they didn’t just dream about it — they made tons of mistakes, too.

“Looking back on it now,” said Anderson, “if we knew it was going to be this difficult, we probably wouldn’t have done it. None of us had any experience in long-form television.” And inexperience can be an expensive maestro.

“Before we even shot the first show, we rented a TV production truck to practice in. Do you know how much those things cost?” Anderson asked, as if still having difficulty believing it himself. “We had no clue what we were doing. Then, it took 300 hours to edit our first show and we were paying $150/hour to a local company in Fargo to do it.”

But if success was unlikely for Anderson, it hasn’t complicated his attitude yet. When contacted for this interview, he was on a hike in the woods of northern Minnesota, just outside where the Heartland Poker Tour offices are located in Moorehead. “It was a nice day,” he said when we talked later, “so we decided to go out for a hike. We really killed it, too.”

It’s this down-to-earth perspective that the Heartland Poker Tour has rode into its fifth season, airing to millions of viewers from coast to coast. The tour stops in Black Hawk from July 6-19 to help celebrate the state’s raised gaming limits scheduled to go into effect on July 2. Anderson expects a great turnout.

“Anybody can play in the tour, it doesn’t cost a lot of money,” said Anderson. “Our tournaments are kind of like a fishing trip: You come to the casino have a few drinks with your buddies, and you may not win, but if you leave on a Sunday night and say you had fun, then that’s the goal.”

Anderson then related a whale of a fishing story about a player from a previous tour in Black Hawk. Morrison resident Kyle Simpson had $300 to his name and a mortgage payment due. He drove his $300 up the hill to Black Hawk only to discover the entry fee for the tournament was $340. Like a true, resourceful Coloradan, Simpson didn’t panic. He walked over to the slot machines and, after going down about $100, hit a jackpot that lifted him up to $360, enough to enter the tournament and still have $20 left over to tip for cocktails. Two days later, after an incredible run of cards, energy drinks and sleepless hours, Simpson took down the HPT championship for a cool $191,000, allowing the 28-year-old to catch up on his mortgage and enroll in college.

“Poker is a great equalizer,” said Anderson. “I tell people, ’Don‚’t be intimidated,’ it’s a skill-based game, but anybody can learn. You can play golf against Tiger Woods one million times and never win. But you can play poker against the best player in the world and, who knows — that one hand — you might win.”

Or, you might just get a crazy idea for a new business.

~ by Sam DeLeo: sdeleo@denvernewspaperagency.com

What: Heartland Poker Tour Tournament
Where: Golden Gates Casino, Black Hawk
When: July 6-19, 2009
How: Enter at Golden Gates Casino in Black Hawk from July 6-18.
Entry levels: $85, $180, $360 or $1,650 (main event)
How Much: possible $1 million pot, with a $300,000 grand prize
Info: For more information, visit heartlandpokertour.com.