crazy game of poker

Popular Crazy Poker Game Raises The StakesFebruary 16, 2005
With cigarette smoke swirling around her head, Stacy Potter studies her cards, eyes those on the table and makes a wager.
One by one, five other players do the same. Weighing their chances, they must decide either to fold or to contribute to what is fast becoming a large pile of colorful plastic chips.
Eventually, it's down to Potter and Jason McCabe.
The victor smiles. He lays out a full house and gleefully rakes in his winnings. Potter shrugs; better luck next hand.
Welcome to Texas Hold 'Em, a poker game that's become the rage. Televised tournaments, some featuring big-name celebrities, air on cable stations, Web sites devoted to teaching the in's and out's of the game and selling poker merchandise are doing gangbuster business. There's even a television show — the oddly named "Tilt" — that's set in the world of Las Vegas high-stakes poker.
On one cold winter's night, Potter's Homer Glen home couldn't be farther from Vegas. But it's where she and five friends regularly gather to play.
Potter and her boyfriend, Matt Reed, of Orland Park, have been playing for about a year and a half. Like many, they became interested in the game after watching it on TV.
"I like to gamble," Potter said. "I'll play whatever everybody else is playing. Can you win a lot? It depends."
Each player kicks in a "buy-in" amount — in Potter's game it's typically $10 or $20 — and receives chips with which to bet. Texas Hold 'Em is basically a version of seven-card stud where players are dealt two cards and make their bets based in part on the five cards dealt face up by the dealer. More bets are made as players are dealt additional cards.
And it's a game that can go on for hours. In one marathon session, Potter's group played for nearly 12 hours. At the end, Potter and Wegner played the last hand — and then had breakfast.
Wegner said he enjoys the game's unpredictable nature.
"I like how fast you can go from having the most money to having nothing," he said. "Anything can happen. You can be out of the game in the span of one or two hands."
Reason for concern?
It's the financial aspect of the game that bothers gambling opponents like Tom Grey, who is concerned that the game is catching on with high school students.
A retired Methodist minister, Grey is executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. Speaking from Florida, where he was testifying against a plan to put slot machines at horse racing tracks, Grey said parents who give their children poker chips and playing tables are making a mistake.
"Parents were buying this stuff as Christmas presents for their kids," he said. "These are people who feel it's good their kids are at home, playing poker, because they're not out somewhere drinking.
"Why don't they just set up a bar downstairs and let the kids drink? Gambling is an addiction, just like alcoholism."
Potter and her friends don't agree. Their enjoyment of the game comes more from the strategy involved, not the kitty at the end.
"There's more skill involved than you think" when it comes to betting, bluffing and poker faces, Potter said. She has won with a pair of twos, she said.

game of poker

posted by crazy game of poker at 11:56 PM 0 comments

Monday, May 16, 2005