Chico’s poker queen

Reclining in her chair at an open poker table, Angie Harris’ face beamed as she recollected the 14-year history of Angie’s Poker Club. She laughed easily—no seriousness here. Indeed, spend five minutes with Harris, and her poker face goes out the window. Angie’s Poker Club just celebrated its 14-year anniversary, as the Chico-bred card business took its first breath in October 1997, when Harris became the last person in the state of California to obtain a card-room license. Harris has continued to maintain the card business while successfully pushing for an image of continuity and community between card players who come to participate. If anyone is interested in taking a shot at the pot, call 892-2282 or go to www.angiespokerclub.com.

What does Angie’s Poker Club bring to Chico?

Well it’s definitely a place of adult entertainment. And we’re a place where people can come and play safely, and know that they will get to their car with their money, you know? They’re going to get paid, they’re in a safe environment. It absolutely is a social club for adults. Everything can’t be for kids, right?

When did you know that this would really be a success?

It was kind of a no-brainer, because there were three casinos that were in Chico. One was running seven-card stud, pretty much exclusively. One was running Omaha and games like Crazy Pineapple and the like, and one was a combination of Omaha and seven-card stud. And it looked like, of those three places, only one might survive the state regulations. Which meant that there were two entire businesses of people that were going to have nowhere to go! So I happened to get really lucky and fill a niche at a particular time when these people were looking for a game.

What do you see for the future of Angie’s Poker Club?

Well, we are hoping to be in a new location by June. If we can find a new location, which we are actively looking for, then we’ll do it soon. It’s very, very difficult to find a new location. We have to be 500 feet away from any schools, residences or churches. We have five tables, but when we move to a new location we’ll move to eight tables. So we’re going to be pretty much doubling or maybe tripling our staff. In our new location we’re going to have a full bar, and we’re going to serve food, so we hope that then we’ll become the adult-entertainment mecca that’s no longer a secret.