Remote mining town locals reveal what it was like playing poker with Bill Gates at a Wyoming fossil gallery- and the genius move he used to keep his rivals on their toes

Locals in a remote mining town in Wyoming have revealed what it was like to play poker with Bill Gates at a fossil gallery. 

The billionaire, 68, joined a group of regular workers at Wyoming Fossils in Kemmerer on Monday for a $600 game of Texas hold 'em. 

He was in the area as his energy company started construction for a next-generation nuclear power plant he believes will 'revolutionize' how power is generated.

Gates was accompanied to the store by his security detail where the poker game was being held upstairs. 

The Microsoft founder drank diet coke as he traded hands with the group of five lucky locals and he was able to 'smell the bulls***' on the table but it is not clear who won the game. 

Locals in a remote mining town in Wyoming have revealed what it was like to play poker with Bill Gates at a fossil gallery

The billionaire, 68, joined a group of regular workers at Wyoming Fossils in Kemmerer on Monday for a $600 game of Texas hold 'em

Gates headed to Wyoming Fossils shortly after lunch to get involved in a game of Texas hold ’em.

Owner Robert Bowen gave him a tour of the fossil collection and handed him a rock to open which had seven fossilized fish. 

'He was pretty excited,' Bowen, who plans to gift the fossils to Gates, told Cowboy State Daily. 

The billionaire then headed upstairs and sat at a table alongside Bowen, food service director Joyce Chadwick, wholesale fossils business owner Tony Lindgren, cattle rancher Steve Peternali and retired maintenance manager Larry Shoemaker.

The oddly-assembled group of players each put in $100 cash and played for around 30 minutes while purchasing their own drinks.

They spoke about what they did for a living and where Gates planned to visit next. The workers called him by his first name but avoided the topic of politics. 

Shoemaker drank Gold Peak Iced Tea while the others enjoyed a pre-mixed margarita or water. 

Gates is said to have played a tough game but there are conflicting recollections from the other players. 

He allegedly got into a showdown with Peternali where the billionaire tried to call his bluff. 

'Bill smelled the bulls*** on the cattle rancher,' Bowen said before adding that he thinks Peternali won.

Bowen claimed Gates had two fives and continued to call Peternali out when 'every card out there would have beat him'. 

'He was able to pick up this guy’s bluffing him and just trying to take his chips. He called him all the way down in one hand,' he said. 

Gates was accompanied to the store by his security detail where the poker game was being held upstairs

Owner Robert Bowen (right) gave him a tour of the fossil collection and handed him a rock to open which had seven fossilized fish

'Bill was able to read this other player [Peternali]. He’s very intuitive, very sharp and a very intelligent man.'

But Chadwick believes Gates actually folded after the price of the hand was raised. 

'I think Bill folded to him. I think when Steve raised bid, Bill folded and then Steve never showed his hand,' he said. 'We just kind of figured he bluffed.'

He added: 'You know, it was absolutely amazing playing with Bill. I felt like he was as normal as he could ever be. He was there to play cards.

'I think he took his hat off, you know, and just relaxed and enjoyed himself for about 30 minutes.

'He was enjoying his time there. OK, you got a ton of money, but you certainly don’t act like it. He was normal just like the rest of us. I was very impressed.'

Chadwick won one hand with five consecutive cards of different suits. She said: 'All I know is I needed an eight and the eight hit.

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'He was really studying his cards. He was focusing on his cards, and the cards out on the table, and he was really good. He knew what he had.'

Shoemaker added: 'He was just as good as everyone else at the table. He had some pretty good hands.

'We didn’t talk much at the table. There’s nothing that really sticks in my mind. He was really nice and shook everybody’s hand when he left.' 

Gates was in the tiny community of Kemmerer Monday to break ground on the project. 

The Microsoft founder is chairman of TerraPower. The company applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March for a construction permit for an advanced nuclear reactor that uses sodium, not water, for cooling. 

If approved, it would operate as a commercial nuclear power plant.

The site is adjacent to PacifiCorp’s Naughton Power Plant, which will stop burning coal in 2026 and natural gas a decade later, the utility said. Nuclear reactors operate without emitting planet-warming greenhouse gases. 

PacifiCorp plans to get carbon-free power from the reactor and says it is weighing how much nuclear to include in its long-range planning.

The work begun Monday is aimed at having the site ready so TerraPower can build the reactor as quickly as possible if its permit is approved.