The Champ's Perspective
Playing in the Polar Poker Challenge
By Jerry Yang

Recently, I was invited to play in a charity tournament at Lake Minnetonka, Minn. I was informed that the tourney would take place on a frozen lake and that I would have the opportunity to do some ice fishing too.

When I first heard of the idea, I said, “Cool. This should be very fun.” Little did I know I was in for a real challenge. Having lived in California since 1983, I have had very little exposure to the snow. I’ve taken my children to see the snow in the mountains a few times, but it was no big deal. They enjoyed seeing the snow and throwing snowballs at each other. It was a one-day fun trip. Minnesota was different. And, boy, I was in for the real deal.

When I arrived in Minnesota, I was wearing a pair of jeans, sneakers, a cap and sweater. The people who picked me up looked at me like I was weird. They probably wondered why I was not wearing much, especially with no thick coat. They asked if I brought a thick coat, gloves, and boots. You guessed it. I was not prepared for the weather. The weather was below zero and it was freezing cold. I felt like every part of my body was going to turn into ice.

On the way to my hotel I spoke about poker with the gentleman and lady who picked me up. At one point, they asked me what I would do if I flopped the nuts when playing no-limit Hold’em. I said that I would come out and make a bet to disguise my hand and make my opponents think that I was trying to steal the pot away. As I finished my sentence, I added that I didn’t feel like having the nuts today due to the freezing weather. They both understood what I meant and we all laughed.

As I thought more about the tournament I realized that I must get a real coat, boots, and gloves in order to survive even an hour of poker play on the ice. I asked one of my friends who lived in St. Paul to take me to Burlington Coat Factory the next day and picked up a nice thick coat, a pair of gloves, boots and scarf. I felt much better after putting them on!

On the day of the tournament, we drove to Lake Minnetonka. It was four degrees that day. A tent was set up on a frozen lake with poker tables and dealers. It was amazingly cold despite having the tent around us. We received 5,000 chips and the blinds started at 25/50.

My goal was to survive as long as possible so that most of players would have a chance to play against me. They were happy to see me and I was happy to see many of them coming out to support the Miracles for Mitch Foundation for children with cancer.

To make a long story short, I didn’t last very long physically. After an hour of play, I said to the tournament director, “Can we go and play inside because I feel like every part of my body has turned to ice? I’m not going to have the nuts if we keep playing out here.” Everyone burst out with laughter. Well, they agreed and we all packed our stuff and went inside to continue our polar poker challenge.

Ice fishing and poker at the same time can be exciting. I was skeptical at first, but after playing and fishing for an hour, it was enough for me. I began to appreciate the beautiful sunny skies we have here in California. Snowy country is indeed beautiful, but not for me. I do enjoy visiting the snowy mountains with my children and playing with them, but to actually live in a snowy environment … ah, not for me. I like to keep my nuts warm while I play poker, not to have them frozen.