Smokes' poker prize fizzles

College senior Lauren Kowtna used to be a weekly customer at Smokey Joe's bar, but now she vows never to return.

Kowtna is upset because Smokey Joe's owner Paul Ryan refuses to give her the iPod that was promised to the winner of a 10-week Texas Hold'em poker tournament last semester.

Lauren won the contest, attending all 10 weeks of the tournament at the bar on 40th Street. She plans to file a lawsuit.

"Everyone knew that the prize was an iPod, and people were there just to win it," Kowtna said.

However, Ryan maintains that he only promised the iPod on the condition that the tournament was profitable.

According to Ryan, the free food coupons given away as weekly prizes actually cost him more money than he made off the tournament.

"I'm here to make business. It's a losing proposition," Ryan said.

Bartender Wesley Barrow ran the tournament, since Ryan was not present on the Monday nights the tournament was run.

Barrow, who is a senior in the College, says that he informed all the players at the beginning of the tournament that the iPod was conditional upon the promotion being profitable.

Kowtna disagrees.

"There was absolutely no conditional agreement at all," she said. "That was never specified."

Nate Weber, a Wharton junior who also participated in the tournament, said Barrow "always seemed to acknowledge that there was an iPod."

Ryan says he decided in the fourth week that the promotion was unprofitable and that he would not continue it next semester. However, the participants were apparently never aware that the iPod was off the table.

Kowtna has obtained free legal advice through the University and plans to take her case to small claims court.

James Higgins, the lawyer she consulted, believes that her case is legally sound.

"The contest became a contract between the bar and her," he said. "She fulfilled the requirements of the contract. When Mr. Ryan refused to give her the iPod, he breached the contract."

According to Pennsylvania law, Kowtna can claim damages of up to three times the amount of the prize. In this case, Kownta says the amount would total over $1,800.

Ryan has offered to buy Kowtna a $99 iPod shuffle on condition that she apologize for harassing him. She rejected the offer.

When Higgins first contacted Ryan, he said the owner offered several other reasons for not awarding the iPod.

Among these reasons were that Budweiser never supplied the money for the contest as promised and that there had never been a written agreement to award the iPod in the first place.

Ryan also points out that Kowtna won the equivalent of $125 in weekly prizes over the course of the semester.

Kowtna is currently searching for a law student to help with her case and hopes to file a suit shortly.

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