In a rear hallway, near the bathrooms, is a framed display of before-and-after photographs showing families who have moved from tiny, rundown shacks to modest houses with help from Habitat, Jahanbein and the Saloon. Over one rear booth, the brick walls are covered with the names of patrons who donated money to help build those houses in Danang.
Elsewhere in the bar, you'll see a number of other names in gold paint. They honor folks from the neighborhood who became regular customers -- although plaques on the bar also pay tribute to the owners of Austria's Eggenberg Brewery, the makers of Urbock 23.
You won't find TVs and Budweiser at the Saloon on U Street, but with luck you'll strike up a conversation and drink "top-shelf" beers with patrons such as Filip Liharik, from left, Sam Test and Stephen Wagstaff.
(Andrea Bruce Woodall -- The Washington Post)
|
|
Jahanbein prides himself on being quirky. He laughs: "I might be the only bar to stay in business without a TV, and Bud Light and Miller Lite and Courvoisier." Instead, he relies on one of the oldest forms of entertainment: human interaction.
ANTE UP
Who would have predicted that poker would become a televised spectator sport?
Whether you blame the Travel Channel's World Poker Tour, which features celebrities such as Ben Affleck and Jack Black playing Texas Hold 'Em, or ESPN's coverage of the World Series of Poker, won by the exquisitely monikered Chris Moneymaker, poker is no longer the sole domain of guys with cigars and beer playing around a kitchen table, or hard-core casino fans wearing sunglasses and ballcaps indoors.
With this resurgence has come more chances for barroom poker players. Groups ranging from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to the American University women's ice hockey team have held charity Hold 'Em tournaments at local saloons. And now Chinatown's Fado Irish Pub (808 Seventh St. NW; 202-789-0066) is hosting Wednesday night games of Texas Hold 'Em for the next three months, then bringing back each week's top three competitors for a local "tournament of champions."
"We're cashing in on the popularity of poker," says Fado managing partner Greg Algie. Other branches of the Fado chain have experimented with tournaments -- "The guy in Austin is a big poker fan," Algie explains -- and their success led Algie to host one here. But first, he says, "I called everyone under the sun -- I called the lottery [board], the ABC, the police and told 'em what we're doing. And they all said, 'Are you playing for money?' I said no. They said, 'Okay.' " And that was that.
The first week found 24 players gathered around four dining tables in the rear of the bar, and then word began to spread. 'We have guys calling all week, saying, 'I heard you have a poker tournament,' " Algie says. Last week, I arrived at 7:45 -- 15 minutes after sign-up usually begins, and 45 before the first hand is dealt -- but still had to get on a waiting list in order to claim a spot at a table. This was after Fado had already added two more tables (12 more players) to make room for more players.
There's no fee to enter and claim a baggie full of $400 worth of chips, although the organizers are deadly serious about not allowing money at the tables. If they see cash -- even to pay a waitress -- you're out. Period.
The last three players win prizes like gift certificates, and are invited back for the big playoff later this year. "If it goes well, we might organize a big tournament for charity," Algie says. "And if this gets really big, we'll try to move it to Sunday night. We'll try to get as many players as we can [involved], but obviously we can't get everyone."
