Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal

Did he have a straight flush or was he bluffing? Morgan won't say.

John Morgan, 71, is CEO of Golden Valley-based Winmark Corp., a successful business that owns Play It Again Sports and other used-goods retailers. Yet he may end up being best known for winning what poker pro Phil Galfond characterized as "the craziest [poker] hand I've ever seen."

On Sunday, during the first day of the $1 million buy-in "Big One for One Drop" event, Morgan was such a cool customer that he forced Moscow businessman Mikhail Smirnov to fold a hand worth $700,000 in chips. Thing is, Smirnov had more than just a pretty good hand -- he had four eights!

Despite having two eights in the pocket and getting two more in the community cards, Smirnov was apparently worried Morgan, who had gone all-in and bet his entire stack of $3.4 million in chips, had a straight flush. The hand's community cards included a jack, eight, and seven of spades, and after contemplating all the possibilities Smirnov apparently came to believe Morgan had the nine and 10 of spades in his pocket.

More »

The agreement allows the Mdewakanton to keep their monopoly on slot machines.

Racino supporters have been trying to pass a bill allowing slot machines at Canterbury Park for the better part of a decade. A new agreement between Canterbury and the Mdewakanton Sioux presumably brings that push to an end.

Today, the Star Tribune reports that the tribe will contribute tens of millions of dollars to the horse-racing track over a 10-year period, beginning this year. In exchange, Canterbury officials and lobbyists will drop their effort to legalize off-reservation slot machines.

The amount contributed by the Mdewakanton to Canterbury will increase over the decade-long period and total about $80 million, the Strib reports.

More »