Local businessman, gym owner invents new poker card game
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers NEW DEAL- Ron Finnerman demonstrates his new card game, Pittsburgh Poker/21. The game, a blend of Texas Hold 'em and blackjack, has been officially registered with the state gambling board and will soon be available to players at a casino in Gardena.

One day last November, Ron Finnerman was playing Texas Hold'em poker at his Calabasas home. After a while, he switched to blackjack. In that moment, a new game was born.

"I got bored of playing Hold'em and started to play blackjack, but I lost focus," said Finnerman. "I kept playing and then started to wonder, 'Who's favored here?'"

With no intention of creating a new card game, that's exactly what Finnerman has done. Pittsburgh Poker/21- a mix between Texas Hold'em and blackjack- has been officially registered with the state gambling board and will be open to gamblers soon at the Normandie Casino in Gardena.

"I'm not an inventor," said Finnerman, 48. "It just came to me. A muse just hit me on the shoulder, and now I have a game going into a casino."

For card players who know the two games, Pittsburgh Poker/21 is simple to learn. Seven hands are dealt as all the players- who put up an ante to receive their cards- are pitted against the dealer. Two cards are dealt face down to each player- and two cards are dealt to the dealer blackjack style- one face up, one face down.

The player who decides to play can bet up to 20 times his ante before flipping his cards face up. The dealer then turns his down card over and proceeds to draw cards is if playing blackjack. As soon as the dealer hits 17 or over he stops drawing cards. All of those "blackjack" cards- there can be two or there can be many- contribute to the dealer's poker hand, along with five additional cards that are dealt across the middle of the table.

The players win or lose to the dealer as determined by the Hold'em hands they construct using their own down cards and the common cards on the table. Winning hands with three cards or better pay 2-to-1 and four cards or better pay 8-to-1.

"I'm excited about this," Finnerman said. "Everyone I've played with loves it and says what a fun game it is. You can think you have garbage and get paid, or you can think you have a lock and it doesn't work out. That's what's fun about gambling."

After playing his new game with some friends, Finnerman had a mathematical analysis, which is necessary to sell the game, prepared on Pittsburgh Poker/21. Typically a game needs to be favored by the house 2 to 5 percent fo rhe time. Pittsburgh Poker/21 favors the house 2.3 percent of the time.

Following some fine tuning, Finnerman proceeded to sell his new game.

"I took it down to the Normandie Casino in Hollywood Park, and they loved it," Finnerman said. "Now the only challenge is getting people to sit down and play a game they don't know. Any game, it doesn't matter how good it is, no one's going to play if there's no one else to play with."

Finnerman said there are two main elements to a successful card game: The player needs to have a chance of winning in the short run, and they can't get cleaned out too quickly. It also has to be fast moving.

"The players can't lose everything too quickly or else they won't want to play," Finnerman said. "With this game, you can play 30 to 40 hands in an hour. The more hands you play, in the long run, the more money is won by the house."

When the game opens at the Normandie, instructions will be readily available. Finnerman also plans to invite many of his friends down to play and host some special events to get people interested.

"Regular gamblers will hopefully hear a lot of cheering and come over and play it. If it starts off with some momentum, even if it's slow, it will grow exponentially."

In addition to his new title of inventor, Finnerman runs a wireless company and a fitness center in the well-known red, white and blue house on Mulholland Highway in Calabasas.