Every other week or so, a hidden treasure takes place on a Sunday afternoon at The Mint. The bi-weekly Pinochle tournament is a gathering of locals and newcomers joining in friendly games of pinochle throughout the afternoon. My wife has been playing for several years after being introduced to Pinochle at the Larry Bitz family farm nearly a decade ago. There is a collection of regulars, but newcomers and novices are always welcome.
Maggie Cline explained that the Sunday afternoon card game has been taking place since around 2014, but The Mint card game goes back much farther. "The guys started playing it on Wednesday nights some time before that... it was Luke Ophus, Johnny (Cline), Shawn Webster, and Micah Griffith. Those guys would played in the evenings until wee hours of the night. Then Johnny and Luke Ophus decided, 'We need to get a group playing during the daytime. Johnny, with Nora's help, started putting up fliers around town, and that's how they got the Sunday afternoon crowd going."
Sunday afternoon tournaments can range between 8 and 20 players, once in a while attracting enough players to fill 6 tables. The core group is around 6 to 12 regulars, but anyone is welcome to join. "Anybody can come and play. We welcome newcomers all the time." They even expressed a willingness to teach the game to new players. The buy in is $5 for the afternoon, with [at least] the top three players winning the pot, and the last place player receives their $5 back.
The afternoon is about more than just the card game. Charlene Silvan-Moravec explained that she comes for the people: "It's fun, and I like people. That's my thing... I don't play to win or lose. I like to visit." Charlene, like many of the other Sunday Pinochle regulars, has been playing since she was young. "A lot of the old ranchers would get together and just play. We just had a radio in the corner. We didn't have a TV or high speed cars that took you halfway across the state. We made our own entertainment. We played from the time we were five years old." Stories of neighbors gathering for card games are common in Big Sandy lore. The most senior regulars I spoke with explained that their parents played and that's where they picked it up. Charlene explained that, "I knew it from when I was a kid. My folks played it. It was a Czech thing. They would start at night and sometimes play until six in the morning." Charlene made sure to point out that she wasn't not Czech, but rather a German. The game itself has its origins in Europe, possibly Germany or Switzerland. It was likely brought to the United States and popularized by German immigrants in the latter half the 19th century. This coincides with the land rush and settlement of the area towards the end of the 1800s and early 1900s.
Other players waiting for the afternoon game explained that they come out to pass the time or sit around and talk with the other players. For other regulars, the Sunday afternoon card games are for the love of a good game of Pinochle. Mary Landinger explained that she really enjoys the game, which she has been playing since she was young. She especially enjoys getting paired with the right partner, being able to read them in the bidding process.
Sunday afternoon tournaments begin at 2 and generally happen every other Sunday at the Mint. Schedules for the games are often posted in the Mint or at The Grocery Store. You can also speak with Nora Grubb, Maggie Cline, or Jessica Sietsema about when they are taking place. Everyone, including novices, are welcome to join the tournament. The next tournaments are scheduled for August 7th & 21st.
