Well, last year my plans to visit Westfest fell through, so I made a point of buying my plane ticket early this year.  My plan was to fly into Dallas, rent a car, drive to West, win the Taroky Tournament [yeah, right], drive back to Dallas, and fly home.  There was one glitch.  On my birthday in June, I forgot to renew my driver's license!  No one would rent me a car with an expired license and it was 1:00AM and there was no one to call.  Next year for sure!  Well, pretty sure anyway:)

 

LODGE 29, TAYLOR, TX
In Taylor, turn from Highway 95
onto East 11th. Turn left on
Washburn at the "T". Veer right on
Thorndale Road. Go 1.8 miles to the
lodge on FM 619. (From Highway
79, turn left on FM 619, go .8 mile to
the lodge.)

Lodge Hall: (512) 352-9139

Subject: 
tournament
Date: 
Mon, 3 Dec 2001 15:21:06 -0600
From: 
"F SCHLESINGER" 
To: 
<valat@tarock.net>

Tarock tournament a the SPJST lodge #29 Taylor TX, 8, December, 2001

The SPJST conducts tournaments throughout the state of Texas each year. 

Sites include: Taylor, FtWorth, Dallas, Rowena, La grange, Waco, Caldwell, Temple (Seaton),West, Buckholts, Schulenburg, Hallettsville, El
Campo, Ammansville, Granger.

 

The SPJST is a Texas Czech fraternal organization.  The are a couple of hundred lodges in  the state.  Our tournament usually has a 20 dollar entry fee.  This entitles you to play from 4 to six rounds (9 AM to 4 or 4:30 PM) of Tarrocks and eat all the klobase and kolaches you want.  5 dollars is usually paid for the high round winner and in some places they also pay $5 for high table winner.  If you have 60 entries you have $1200 dollars to play around with.  We pay the top 4 places usually.  The highest 1st place winner I know was $200.  June the 24th & 25th we have a tournament in Ft Worth that has a $50 entry fee but limited to 20 skilled players.  Played in San Angelo Sunday, that's 225 miles one way for me.  No AC,  one family has 12 children, they all play, some do not wear shoes and they made up the rules as they play. One guy plays the accordion and brings an ice chest with a selection of 4 or 5 home made beers.  Not bad.  Learned some new terms.  "Hrb" for country, "Zrukey" for calling the 20, Zebrak and etc.
-----------------------------------------------------

----- Original Message -----
To: F SCHLESINGER
Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2000 8:02 AM
Subject: Re: TAROCK


Hey- Great to hear from you!  From what I gather, in addition to the annual tourny in Lemont, there are a couple impromptu tournaments and then general play every Sunday.  The tournament is run by two or three families who are serious about the game- it was a blast!  Are the SPJST lodges just in TX?  I'm not familiar with the organization. 
valat@tarock.net
----- Original Message -----
From: F SCHLESINGER
To: Valat@Tarock.net
Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2000 10:06 PM
Subject: TAROCK


I was amazed to find that there is or was an organized Tarock tournament in Lemont, Ill.  I've got to check my map on that one.  We have organized tournaments throughout the state of Texas.  Most are sponsored by SPJST lodges, a fraternal organization.  Cities and towns have local tournaments which lead to a state tournament usually held somewhere in Cen Tex.  Admission fees are usually $20 which includes the noon meal and all the snacks you can eat.  Most tournaments have anywhere from a low of 36 players to a high of 96.  Most locals play with the XIX or the XX.  I'd rather play with the King and include Nello.  I have computerized the scoring which facilitates keeping track of table winners and high round winners.  Most players are of Czech/German ancestry.  I play a couple of times a week with friends and relatives.  We limit the money to a buck a chip.

I'm also a beer connoisseur (nut) and make a few trips to different areas of the country to expand my collection and tastes buds.  Dan's in Chicago is one heck of a liquor store, almost as many different beers as the Washington D.C. area.

What I'm about, is this:  A National Tarock tournament!!

Thanks for reading