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The men who play poker
at an Erie senior center learned how to play their best hand in childhood
from family and friends.
But a new generation of poker players are learning when to hold 'em and when
to fold 'em from television and the Internet.
Poker is undergoing a resurgence nationally and, in Erie, thanks to the
rising popularity of Internet games and poker shows on television. And
younger people are both watching and pulling up a chair at the poker table.
Asked if he watches poker on the tube, Mercyhurst College sophomore Joe
Piszczor said, "Religiously, man.''
"The World Series of Poker'' on ESPN, the Travel Channel's "World Poker
Tour,'' and "Celebrity Poker Showdown'' on Bravo — for those who can't get
enough of Ben Affleck — are just some of the shows drawing new fans to the
game.
NBC will show "The Travel Channel World Poker Tour Battle of Champions'' as
counterprogramming to the Super Bowl pregame show.
You can find poker games being played in a variety of places, including
college dorm rooms, off-campus apartments, middle-class homes and at the
Erie Center on Health and Aging, commonly known as the Erie senior center.
The Lions Eye Bank of Northwestern Pennsylvania and other charities even
sponsor motorcycle poker runs where cyclists try to win cash prizes by
getting the best hand after collecting a card at each of seven stops.
"You could probably do Old Maid, if you wanted to. But it would probably be
tough to do the Old Maid motorcycle run. We don't want to go there,'' said
Linda Lewis, director of the Lions Eye Bank, which provides the donated
corneas for transplants and runs donor awareness programs.
Piszczor, 19, ran a no-betting poker tournament through the Student
Activities Committee at Mercyhurst College's student union during the fall
semester. Organizers had no trouble filling the 40 slots and had to turn
another 40 people away for the popular Texas Hold-'Em poker game, said
Piszczor, a programmer with the committee.
Another tournament, which awards cash prizes to the top four players, is
being planned for the spring semester.
Piszczor and his friend, Mercyhurst sophomore Jeff Monsman, said the
popularity of online poker and televised poker tournaments has renewed
interest in the card game. They play poker with other friends while watching
the "World Poker Tour'' each week.
"Every week, there's somebody new at our table,'' Piszczor said.
Added Monsman, "There's always somebody wanting to learn.''
Piszczor said poker is popular among students. "You could find a game any
night of the week somewhere,'' he said.
Piszczor said Mercyhurst is hardly unique. His girlfriend, Megan Miller, is
a freshman at Kent State University, and she's told him that poker games are
a popular pastime at parties there, too.
"It's more of a mind game. It's a totally different kind of sport,'' said
Piszczor, who along with Monsman are on the school's wrestling team.
Chris Campoli, 19, a
defenseman with the Erie Otters, said that he and three other defensemen,
Jake Heller, 18, and Matt Lynn and Bryan Hamm, both 20, played poker during
Monday Night Football games in the fall.
"We don't play for money. We use chips. They're not worth anything. We don't
necessarily make a whole lot of money in the first place, so guys can't be
losing it,'' Campoli said.
Campoli said he's known how to play poker for years, but the televised poker
tournaments and events are creating a resurgence in the game.
"If the general public sees it on TV, especially on ESPN, it gets
attention,'' Campoli said.
The men at the Erie senior center, 406 Peach St., play up to five days a
week during the winter, when the snow and cold weather keep them off the
golf courses and out of the waterways for fishing.
The men play nickel and dime games. "We keep it friendly and cost-effective.
We don't go for high-stakes poker around here,'' said Marie Heberlein, the
center's program director who calls herself, with a laugh, the "poker
mistress.''
The men take pouches or pill bottles with coins to the center for their
games, she said.
Erie residents Ed Ciesielski, 67, Len Gajewski, 69, John Fry, 65, Jerry
Ames, 69, Roy Didion, 75, and Ron Szymanski, 65, gathered around a table at
the center for a friendly game this week.
"There is a God, after all,'' Ciesielski said, after winning a hand.
"Do I know how to call a game or what? I get to eat tonight,'' Fry said with
a laugh when he won a hand.
Fry said that nobody walks away as big winners or losers. "If you lost every
hand all day, you might lose $3 or $4, but nobody's going to lose every
hand,'' he said.
Erie County District Attorney Bradley Foulk said he's not about to bother
people for playing low-stakes, friendly poker games.
"I'm not so naďve to think that folks, whether they be senior citizens or
otherwise, don't engage in penny ante games of amusement. ... That's not
something that I would consider gambling in violation of the crimes code,''
he said.
"It's meant for a few folks to get together and socialize. Maybe if you lose
a dollar in an evening, you had a bad night,'' Foulk said.
Some of the men at the center learned the game from family and friends.
Fry said that his father, George Fry, taught him the game when he was just
8. Szymanski said he learned from his maternal grandmother, Wanda Bartlinski,
when he was only 6 or 7.
Another poker player at the center, Pete Petersen, 69, of Erie, said he
learned to play at a friend's house at age 11.
And some of the men said they enjoy watching the poker tournaments on
television, too.
Szymanski ticked off a list of televised poker events. "I watch them all.
Even my wife (Dale) watches them now and she doesn't know anything about
poker,'' he said.
HOLD ’EM OR FOLD ’EM
Here are the basic rules for Texas Hold-’em, one of the most
popular poker games going:
In the seven-card game, players get two cards, turned down, as
their personal hand.
Action starts with a betting round.
Three “community cards’’ are then dealt, face up, in the center of
the table, followed by another betting round.
Another card is dealt, face up, followed by a round of betting.
The fifth and last card is dealt, face up, for the final betting round.
Players who haven’t folded will show their cards, and the winning
poker hand gets the pot.
Any combination of personal, or hole, cards and community cards
are used to make the best five-card hand.
On TV
The best bets for finding poker on TV:
— “The World Poker Tour,” Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on The Travel Channel.
— The Bravo Channel’s “Celebrity Poker Showdown” starts tonight at 7 p.m.
— NBC will present “The Travel Channel World Poker Tour Battle of Champions”
on Feb. 1 from 4 to 6 p.m., as counterprogramming to the Super Bowl pregame
show. |