Lawmakers gather for Texas Hold 'Em

BRIEFING: ST. CLOUD, MINN.

Eight state representatives and senators gathered Saturday to play Texas Hold 'Em — in advance of a Senate hearing on legislation that would make the poker game legal in Minnesota.

Sen. Dave Kleis, R-St. Cloud, has introduced the legislation that would make Texas Hold 'Em tournaments legal as long as prizes aren't worth more than $200.

The legislation was in response to a bust last year at Granite Bowl in which more than 40 people were detained, but no charges were filed.

The game Saturday also was at Granite Bowl, with owner Dave Bischoff nearby. Bischoff resumed the weekly tournaments after the criminal case was closed. The tournament has grown to about 70 players from about 40 before the bust, he said. The prizes still are hats and T-shirts, he said.

Only about half the legislators in Saturday's game had played before.

"It's harder to do than I expected," said Rep. Andy Westerberg, R-Blaine.

Kleis was the first one out.

"No wonder we have budget problems," he joked. "I think we can legislate better than we play poker."

The game ended with several back-and-forth hands between Sen. Dave Hann, an Eden Prairie Republican, and Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar.

Hackbarth ended up taking the top prize — a T-shirt.

"My dad was a great poker player," he said. "I watched him."

— Associated Press

Head-on crash leaves one dead

A two-vehicle, head-on crash Saturday afternoon in Carver County ended with one person dead and two others injured.

The accident near Minnesota 5 and County Road 11 left driver Pamela Marie Byrne, 42, of Victoria, Minn., dead, and her 13-year-old passenger, Colton Byrne, with minor injuries. Both were wearing seat belts.

Jeffrey Jon Wyttenhove, 46, of Eden Prairie, who was driving a 1998 Mercury Mountaineer, was listed in satisfactory condition Sunday at Hennepin County Medical Center.

According to the State Patrol, Wyttenhove was driving east on Minnesota 5 when he crossed the centerline and struck head-on a 2003 Dodge Caravan, driven by Pamela Byrne. Roads were dry when the crash happened about 3:15 p.m.

The West Metro Office of the State Patrol is investigating further.

— Cynthia Boyd

Woman killed in crash on I-35

A Chanhassen woman was killed Friday morning after a one-car accident in Scott County on Interstate 35 south of the Elko-New Market exit.

Though the accident remained under investigation by the East Metro District of the State Patrol, authorities believe Debra Clare Schultz' Mitsubishi Montero went off the road, she over-corrected and her car rolled over about 6:45 a.m.

The car landed on the driver's side, and she and a dog in the vehicle were ejected. Schultz, who was not wearing a seat belt, sustained head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to State Patrol reports.

The dog was taken to a veterinarian. — Cynthia Boyd