Semi-annual poker tournament draws students

According to Mark Twain, poker is one of the few things that are so unpardonably neglected in our country. However, Twain's time has long since passed and poker is a different game now, rising in popularity.

Hundreds of internet sites offer game rooms for poker players. ESPN has covered numerous poker tournaments across the country, and Celebrity Poker Showdown has become almost a staple stop for Hollywood's gambling best as well as a television show phenomenon.

Last Thursday, poker lovers on campus showed off their skills at the semi-annual poker tournament hosted by the Resident Housing Association (RHA) in the newly furnished and freshly shellacked Student Center Ballroom.

Players squared off against each other beginning at 6 p.m., several of them settling in for a long and challenging night of card playing against fellow students.

"Poker playing in the past few years has just exploded. We just capitalized on its popularity and have had a very successful series of events over the past several years because of it," said Tim Gallagher, president of RHA.

Some Tech students say they play poker because they need to have fun, some say they play for money, but the majority claims to enjoy poker because there is some kind of "thrill" in the game.

"I like poker because of the personable aspect of it. Poker is more about how you play the hand you've been dealt rather than the hand itself," said Randall Wilson, a third-year Architecture major.

"I enjoy poker because it is the most fun card game and fuses luck, skill and trickery together," said Andrew Miller, a first-year Electrical Engineering major.

"I think poker is all about faking other people out. You have to be able to make them think you have something when you have nothing and vice versa," Miller said.

The tournament attracted about 130 people.

"We were very pleased with the turnout," Gallagher said.

Participants came from various backgrounds and levels of poker playing, from experts who have battled in many tournaments to beginners who were just there to hone their skills.

"I took part in the tournament to see where my poker skills were. Considering how I lost, I still have some work to do before I challenge the big-wigs in the casinos, but at least I know that instead of going in blindly," Wilson said.

Poker is played in a multitude of variations, but most follow the same basic pattern of play.

A house dealer handles the cards, and for each hand, one or more players is required to make forced bets to create an initial stake for which the players will contest.

Between rounds, the players' hands develop in some way, often by being dealt additional cards or replacing cards previously dealt.

At the end of each round, all bets are gathered into the central pot. The player with the best hand according to the poker variant being played wins the pot.

Among students, what seems to be the most popular poker variant is Texas Hold 'Em, which is a kind of community poker that can theoretically be played with 21 people.

The basic rules are simple enough: each player gets two cards and the rest of the cards are left in the middle as community cards that anybody can use to make the best five cards. The player with the best hand wins.

Many players can win with good hands, but stellar hands, especially the coveted and highly valued royal flush, are usually hard to come by.

Hsin-Chih Wang, a third-year Economics major, spoke about the lucky royal flush he drew once as a novice poker player.

"I had a royal flush way back when I'd been playing poker for only about two months, but I was such a poker newbie back then that I didn't even realize it," Wang said.

"The guy I was playing laid down a flush, and I laid my cards down too. Everyone at the table sat there silently for a few moments to put two and two together. Then the whole table erupted, 'No wait, that's a royal flush!'" Wang said.

Today, Wang is a much improved poker player, with several years of experience and skill behind him. His playing merited him first place in Thursday's tournament.

The competition ended promptly at 11 p.m., with prizes going to the top 10 players.

The grand prize, a Game Boy Advance, went home with Wang, and second prize, an MP3 player, went to Miller.

The names of the winners of the semi-annual tournament are also engraved on a plaque and put in the RHA office.

"It doesn't feel that special to be a champion because I just went and played poker the same way I always do. I guess the cards were just on my side," Miller said.

Whether it was luck or skill, Miller found himself with a seat in the championship round of the tournament.

"I went into the final table as the dominating chip leader, so I laid low for the remaining time and then Hsin-Chih doubled up on the last hand to beat me," Miller said.

Because of high demands from students, aside from the semi-annual tournaments, RHA typically hosts two or three other tournaments every year.

"We will have our traditional tournaments next year. We are also teaming up with the Women's Resource Center and Women's Awareness Month to host a women's poker night in the first week of March. Our executive board worked very hard to make events happen. I think we are all quite pleased with the turnout," Gallagher said.