Dave Gafford, the winner of the IP Classic, doesn't fit any of the poker player stereotypes. He's never been to Vegas. He's a family man who home schools his children. And he didn't learn the game sitting at a computer.

Poker is both a social event and serious competition for the winner of the Coast's first poker circuit event. Gafford was down in chips by a 6-to-1 ratio when he was one of the last two players at the final table, but he came from behind to win $51,122 in cash and a $25,000 buy-in seat at the World Poker Tour, plus $3,000 in traveling expenses.

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Gafford began playing about three years ago in local tournaments at Mike's Bar and Grill in Baton Rouge. When the state cracked down on poker games in bars, the action moved to his house and then to the Love Shack. That's what the family calls their place in the country, and it's become Gafford's trade name.

"We bought our dream property over a year ago," he said. "We bought 28 acres where we live. The hurricane came this past year so we sold our house a lot sooner than we thought we would. We had to find a place to live. We moved a 20-by-22-foot building onto my property. It was actually a friend of mine's game room."

He and his wife added on a bathroom and a master bedroom for them and their three children.

"We call it the Love Shack because you got to love one another to live there," Gafford said.

He continued holding poker games in the small space.

"Sometimes we'd have 30 people in my little Love Shack," he said.

Playing against both friends and strangers, Gafford has learned how to read body language and bluff with the best. Gafford, who owns a windshield repair business and a vending operation, began playing professionally about a year and a half ago.

Sunday night, he made five aggressive all-in bets before he finally lured in chip leader Josh McCallie of Dallas.

"He had the chance to take me out," Gafford said. "Once he didn't do that, I kind of knew I could outplay him. He didn't want to win. He was playing not to lose, and that's never good."

Souce: The Sun Herald