TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

TOWER - The flop. The turn. The river. Big slick. Snowmen. Suicide king. Ducks.

More Northland residents -- and Americans -- are finding it difficult to resist the old riverboat game with the great vernacular. Poker, and specifically Texas holdem, is the new big thing.

Minnesota casinos from Cloquet to Shakopee, as well as trendsetters in Las Vegas, are making room for poker tables. Some are even pushing out less-profitable stalwarts such as keno and bingo to make way.

The game has boomed in the past year because of a wellspring of cable television shows dedicated to Texas holdem tournaments, said Trey Aldridge, general manager of Card Player Magazine, which bills itself as the na- tion's No. 1 poker publication.

After watching the likes of celebrities Drew Carey, Ben Affleck and the "West Wing" cast bumble through a game, regular folks by the thousands have built up enough knowledge and verve to grab a seat at the table, Aldridge said.

The game, seven-card/no-draw poker, attracts a lot of young men, many of whom say they're drawn to the competition and longer games. With poker, $100 is more likely than in other games to last a whole evening, said Troy Daschner, a 19-year-old college student from Mankato who learned poker in Friday night ice shack games with his family.

"It's an adrenalin rush," he said.

Daschner played cards Tuesday afternoon at Fortune Bay Casino in Tower, where, like most Northland casinos, Texas holdem tables were installed this winter. Fond-Du-Luth Casino in downtown Duluth will introduce poker this month. And most places with tables plan more.

"It's just fun," said Rick Pulju, 45, a longtime poker player from Virginia who only learned Texas holdem a few weeks ago from watching television. "You get to play the players, which, I think, gives you a better chance of winning."

On weekend evenings, sign-up lists run long on the dry board in one of Fortune Bay's converted banquet rooms. Registration for increasingly prevalent tournaments also fills fast and early. Each table can handle up to 10 players.

Card clubs are also increasingly popular on campuses nationwide. In the past year, authorities in Milwaukee and the Twin Cities have broken up money tournaments organized by bars.

"Word is getting out that that's illegal, so we're not seeing as much of it right now," said Norm Pint, special agent in charge of the Minnesota Division of Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement.

BRAD PITT EFFECT

It's not apparent why poker was dormant for so long outside of Las Vegas. Gambling compacts between the Indian tribes and Minnesota and Wisconsin state governments allow it.

But some gambling experts say the casinos never liked it much for the most logical reason there is: Poker is far less profitable than slots or blackjack. In those games, players battle the invariably favored house, and money can evaporate quicker than the gotcha grin on your opponent's face when he lays down a full house, then you fan out four aces.

"For instance, the best odds in blackjack is only 52 percent (chance of winning) against the house, whereas in poker, you're playing against other people," Aldridge said. "You might not win as much on a hot streak, but you can go all night."

The game is still slap-shot quick in the casino, the most oft-cited distinction from kitchen-table card games.

While the house only takes4 percent to 10 percent on every pot, some local casino gambling managers insist poker is profitable. It's just that the interest was never there until recently, said Mike Tribble, table games manager for LCO Casino in Hayward.

"For a long time, it was a dead game," said Jackson Ripley, marketing manager for Fond-Du-Luth Casino.

Actually, it's a good game because it draws in casino customers and the only overhead is for the room and the dealers, Tribble said. They plan to have several poker tables by early May, he said.

"It's all because of TV," Tribble said. "It really drives up the popularity. Barely a day goes by now where someone isn't asking for poker."

The once-moribund Travel Channel can attest to that. The cable network is widely credited with kicking off the current craze with its "World Poker Tour," by far the channel's most popular show.

Poker had been on television for years, but it was boring, said Jerry Fuller, executive director of the Canterbury Downs Card Club in the Twin Cities. The network used a simple but revolutionary technique when it filmed the players' two down cards with special cameras built into the table, he said.

"Before that, it was like watching a football game without seeing the ball," Fuller said. "You just don't know what's going on."

Now ESPN carries the "World Series of Poker" and Fox Sports Net has "Late Night Poker." Even artsy Bravo carries "Celebrity Poker Showdown," which was recently spoofed on NBC's "Saturday Night Live." More celebrity and college versions are reportedly in the works.

"Celebrities set the trends," Aldridge said. "It's become a cultural phenomenon in the past year whereas before, poker used to be reserved as the game for degenerate cowboys and con men."

In Minnesota, it was the Canterbury Card Club that led the way, opening in spring 2000 with 50 card tables. The weekend waiting lists for games were long then and much longer now.

Like most casinos, the club hosts tournaments, which are packed, and is a qualifier or "satellite" for the best-known poker tournament of all, the "World Series of Poker."

Business is up 35 percent in the past year, all due to TV poker and Chris Moneymaker, Fuller said.

The 27-year-old Moneymaker -- yes, his real name -- is the current World Series champ. He won his $10,000 entry fee on a Texas holdem Web site and emerged from Rocky Balboa obscurity to take the $2.5 million first-place prize. Internet gambling is illegal in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Still, new players, especially young ones, commonly cite Moneymaker's "if he can do it, anyone can" story as reason why they've given poker a shot. On any trip to the casino, one can find a phalanx of fist-pumping, baseball-capped, wraparound-sunglass-wearing, 20-something Moneymaker clones.

WHAT'S INVOLVED

Seasoned poker players -- the guys who have been getting together for basement games or flying to Las Vegas for years -- complain the influx of new players has ruined their game. That's because newbies don't know the ropes, Aldridge said, and this throws off the veteran card players.

On the other hand, some said it has also created a boom of "dead money," or chumps practically begging to give it away.

"Just competing against other people makes it more fun, getting to know their tendencies, and there's a sense of camaraderie," said Bob Syrjanen, 63, of Soudan.

One attraction is reading an opponent by tracking their "tells," or the physical and verbal clues, like quick reaches, nervous ticks and unchecked grins that may reveal a hand.

Dealers also like the game because it's more chatty than most, said Fortune Bay Casino poker supervisor Pamela Goodsky-Hilligoss.

They don't allow intimidating talk, she said. But many players said trash talking definitely is part of the game, and they relish it.

Tournaments are typically "no-limit," meaning that a player can bet everything at any time. Players pay an entry fee and are given a batch of chips. The tournaments are elimination, and the last people remaining take home predetermined cash prizes.

Players say the difference between casino-limit and no-limit poker is tremendous because the latter encourages bluffing, pretending you have better cards than you do. With relatively affordable limits, many players will keep betting the maximum bet without much in the way of cards right away.

"It's pretty hard to bluff someone out when the maximum bet is $4," said Zach McClellan of Cambridge, Minn., another 19-year-old who learned how to play while watching television.

GAMBLING GAINS

Eighty-three percent of Minnesotans gambled in some way or another last year and more people than ever are going to Indian casinos. But overall, Minnesotans are playing fewer card games than they used to. Participation rates dropped 6 percent between 1995 and 2003, says a study released in February by the Minnesota State Lottery and St. Cloud State University.

Kelly Reynolds, director of the Minnesota Problem Gambling Helpline, said it remains to be seen whether the poker trend will have a negative effect on society. So far, there hasn't been an increase in calls, he said. Only about2 percent of their calls are for cards, not including blackjack, he said.

"People get hurt," Reynolds said. "For some, gambling is really OK. But for others, it can be a devastating problem affecting every aspect of their life."