June 16th, 2007

Ladies' Pistol Poker Shoot

In looking for an event with enough appeal for novice and experienced shooters to bring ladies out on a Saturday night, our match coordinator chose a pistol poker shoot of Seven Card Stud played at leisure to allow for socializing, eating and the late arrival of shooters stuck at work or with babysitting duties. 

Given five official poker deck targets at registration, ladies could practice then submit one of the five as their best hand.  The rules were kept simple:  Seven shots per target, one shot per card at a distance of 33’.  You’d be surprised how miniscule a deck of 52 cards appears at that distance even to those blessed with 20/20 vision.  Even the most determined card counter would be discouraged at that distance.  Each shooter designated which two shots to discard when self scoring her five card hand.   To keep the playing field as level as possible and maintain the element of chance, no one viewed the targets until registering to shoot.  Since no poker playing experience was necessary to participate, each shooter received a guide showing the hierarchy of possible poker hands from Two Pairs to a Royal Flush.   All scoring was done on the honor system.

 To encourage participation by the card sharpshooters among us, two targets were constructed for the High Aces side match where careful shot placement was a key to success.  Again to keep the rules simple, targets were shot at 33’ with no time limit.  Four ace cards per target representing each suit.  One shot per card.  On the second target with a single Ace, one shot per card.   Closest shot to the center of each card wins.  

 A banquet of homemade card night snacks and cold drinks kept shooters, guests and volunteers well feed and watered.  

 A survey was prepared and handed out in part to gauge interest in future events but judging from the smiling faces, all who came out appeared to have fun, were challenged,  experienced the comaraderie of a girls night out at the range, and got the opportunity to try something different.  Lady Luck smiled particularly on two ladies:   Lynne Roberts earned the poker pot for her high hand, while Jen Passos, a novice shooter, went home with the side match ante in her pocket.   Not a bad way to spend a Saturday night.  

Good times in the club house

On the line