Last weekend, there was no real football for the first time since August, but Eddie Rhodes’ Block Party and the Rotary  Poker Tournament kept many of us occupied on Saturday.

    The Food Trucks were a big hit at the Miami Springs 85th Birthday celebration last summer and it was smart for Eddie Rhodes to bring them back for a six-hour party along Canal Street. There are rumors that others in the area are contemplating similar events and Rhodes may have another soon.

    And why not! The Food Trucks draw people from the outside and that only benefits our local businesses. The Food-Truck fad may die out, but if Saturday’s crowd near Eddie’s Riverside Grille was an indication, it has not happened yet.

    Other than a quick drive-by, I was not able to partake in the block party because poker happens to be my passion, especially the week before the Super Bowl when there is no football action. And it was close to 10 p.m. before I was finally knocked out of our 4th Annual Hialeah/Miami Springs Rotary Poker Tournament.

    There were  80 poker players  entered in the tournament; it was the goal of everyone to reach the final table and then win the first prize of a trip to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas next summer. Congratulations to the winner, Jose Sanabria, but it should have been me!

    I did make the final table but could not accomplish my goal of winning, finishing in eighth place. Sanabria took me out about 9 p.m on Saturday night and used my chips to beat the other six players at the final table.

    I was able to outlast Mayor Zavier Garcia, former Mayor Billy Bain and my two lady Rotary nemeses, Sydney Garton and Margie Palmer. But, alas, a new lady in our Rotary Club, Sue Perez, finished second and now becomes my target for next year.

    Palmer, who bad-beat me out of the tournament in 2011 finished just behind me in ninth place, while  Garton, the octogenarian who was the last Rotarian standing the last two years, went out early and spent the next three hours telling everyone how her “three of a kind” got beat on the river by a “straight.”

    Congratulations to the others  who made the final table:  Michelle Plant, Ray Figueroa, Rick Aguila, Sean Clark, Dar Pace, and Harald Bergan.

    The “no football” Saturday in Miami Springs was well spent among the Food Trucks and/or with other poker players. If you missed the Food Trucks, you won’t have to wait long for another opportunity to enjoy them. But you’ll have to wait until Saturday Jan. 26, 2013 to partake in the next the Hialeah/Miami Springs Rotary Club Charity Poker Tournament.