Musano Makes Case For Deaf Poker Players

Founders of the National Deaf Poker Tour want recognition on a larger scale.

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the World Poker Tour (WPT) are the kind of arenas deaf poker player Jarrod Musano wants his own tour to lead to.

Commenting to the Courier News, the deaf card player explains that he hopes the National Deaf Poker Tour he formed with college colleagues can one day gain publicity in the top tournaments around the world.

Over recent months, Mr Musano has been organising poker events for the deaf and hard of hearing alongside his friends from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

They want to find the best player who has hearing difficulties and get him or her involved in the most-popular events in world poker. The WSOP has 54 events in its current format, so there are a number of opportunities for their tour to gain exposure.

"The goal is to find the best deaf poker player and send him or her to a national poker tournament such as the WSOP or the WPT to represent our organisation," said Mr Musano.

The newspaper states that the "powers of observation" held by those with hearing problems, developed due to their familiarity with sign language, can be useful at the poker table - where reading another player is all part of the game.