Poker's Popularity and Online Horse Betting

By Luis Gomez of the Union-Bulletin (Sept 6th, 2005)
In the Old West you might have been shot at a poker game. Fast-forward a couple of hundred years and today you might get a shot at winning millions in a matter of seconds. Or at least that's how TV makes it look, some folks would say. In fact, some of those same folks would tell you that Texas Hold 'em is not about odds or luck. It's about skill.

It's not a new game but poker, particularly Texas Hold 'em, has become a cultural phenomenon over the last few years, spawning countless online poker rooms, books, game kits, magazines and poker tournaments. Younger players are turning up at casino tables, waiting to make that big break. The 1998 movie 'Rounders,' a dramatic tale of two, slick, fast-winning poker players, inspired David Abajian to join the booming number of young faces at the Goldstrike online casino, on Ash Street in Walla Walla. 'It's a good mind game,' said the 18-year-old. ''I use my mind more playing poker than in anything else.' Texas Hold 'em is a beastly breed of nerd and slick: a combination of mathematical probability and hustling.

The beauty of the game: Anybody can beat anyone at any time,' said casino dealer and tournament champion Ted Newman. The 30-year-old local man competed at a Goldstrike Casino tournament and won a spot in a Reno, Nev., tournament last year. His strategy is to play passive-aggressive and set the other players in a trap, he said. He was no match for professionals like Men the Master' Nguyen or Dan Harrington, he conceded. All these young people, they see it on TV and say, Oh yeah I can go play and win,' but they don't,' said Ruben Ornelas, 38.

The boldest example to come out of a free poker tournament in Las Vegas is the story of Chris Moneymaker - his real name - who started out playing Internet poker rooms.
A $40 game won him a spot at the 2003 World Series of Poker. Within three days, Moneymaker talked out a millionaire. The way I see it...it's people that don't have a good job can make a lot of money in a matter of days,' said Abajian. But it's a huge risk. About $115 out of his hard-earned money goes into playing poker every week, he said. In reality, that's a minimum amount.
Goldstrike dealer Alfredo Garcia says the amounts of money per game depend on what the limit is. Some games may range between $300 and $2,500. At a small-scale tournament, a minimum of five players at a table can start with a small bet of $5 and raise it,' or double, that amount each time a community card is drawn. By the time the fifth card, dubbed the river,' is dealt and when most players fold out of the game, a mountain of chips accumulates to big money,' Garcia said.

Players get really excited to know they have a chance at winning a big pot and just knowing you have the best hand...it's an adrenaline rush,' he said. Ornelas, who has been playing for 20 years, says there is a thin line between a good player and a bad player. Good poker players know when to hold 'em' and when to fold 'em.' Bad players run on luck. The luck runs for so long and then you run out of luck,' he said.

But players like Abajian are far from discouraged. I think if you're good enough to play, it's worth (taking the risk),' said Abajian, who considers himself a good player. You also have to know when to quit.

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