TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

Poker is hot in the Harlow house.

And with Lori and Mike Harlow's family and friends.

The Drayton, N.D., group is not alone. The game has become the recreational rage in the past year in the United States, including the Red River Valley. Everyone credits - or blames - the same thing, the Texas HoldEm games on television.

That's where it happened for Lori Harlow, who never had played poker of any variety before The World Series of Poker telecasts on ESPN, the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel and Celebrity Poker on Bravo began flooding cable television.

Also contributing to the popularity is the movie "Rounders," starring Matt Damon as a top poker player.

Lori fell in love with the game, and husband Mike noticed. So, this Valentine's Day, Lori received poker chips from him.

While poker chips might not seem to rank with chocolates, flowers or diamonds as a romantic gift to many, Lori was ecstatic. "It was a nice gift. It was perfect," she said.

"Lori got the bug first, watching TV," Mike said. "It is catchy."

The Harlows play Texas HoldEm with friends at homes or on camping trips. They also played online. But never for money.

Until June 12, that is. That's when they competed in the Texas HoldEm tournament, sponsored by the Mayville (N.D.) Comets Athletics charity, in the Sodbuster Saloon in Mayville.

Two tournaments in the Sodbuster attracted a total of 123 entrants paying $30 apiece. Ten percent of the entry fees - or "buy-ins" in poker language - goes to the charity. The rest, with the exception of expenses, is returned to the players in prize money.

Mike was the first player eliminated, but Lori made it to the final table of 10 before being ousted. After six hours of play, Jamie Wong of Grand Forks was the winner, pocketing $450 and bragging rights among the handful of friends who accompanied him there.

While about half of the participants were in their first tournament, it was Wong's 10th event and second win. Be-

cause of the physical likeness and his constant banter, Wong quickly acquired the nickname of "Scotty Nguyen," a well-known and flashy poker pro.

"You have to talk because you want to get in your opponents' heads," Wong said. "But I also like to keep the table loose, so if I beat them, they don't feel so bad and still have a good time."

Happy losers

Most of those eliminated left the table with smiles on their faces. "I got $30 worth of entertainment here easily," said Tim Olson of Larimore, N.D., whose shamrock shirt didn't bring him luck.

That's the same attitude Ken Colligan sees in the poker room in the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, Minn.

"Poker is a very social game where everyone seems to get along, unlike blackjack," said Colligan, the poker room floor manager.

"If things go wrong in blackjack, the player is looking for someone to blame - the dealer, the fellow players, his luck. But in poker, the only one to blame is yourself because you make the decisions whether to bet, stay in or fold."

The explosion

The exploding popularity nationally is shown by the number of entries in the World Series of Poker, which is annually held in Las Vegas. In 2003, about 800 people paid the $10,000 entry fee, with the winner taking home $2.5 million. This year's tournament had more than 2,500 entries and a first-place prize of $5 million.

Estimates for 2005 are 6,000 entrants and a $60 million prize pool.

Local tournament

That craze is apparent locally, too.

Development Homes Inc. of Grand Forks has held six tournaments since 2002. The first four attracted fewer than 45 entrants; the fifth one last fall had 66, and the one in February filled up with 100 paying the $100 buy-in. He had to turn others away, said Brent Brooks, the DHI gaming director.

With its 10 percent cut, it meant a $1,000 take for the charity. Plus, Brooks said, it developed so much traffic that its blackjack play was more than double the average. "And it keeps the (Rumors) bar happy," he said.

Since each charity is limited to two events per fiscal year, the next round of tournaments will probably be in the fall.

"The losers walk away thanking you for running it and want to know when the next one is," Brooks said. "Our blackjack dealers get asked every day when the next one is because the players want to sign up right away."

While DHI was the first in the game, at least five other Grand Forks charities have held $100 buy-in tournaments in the past nine months. They've grown popular in the small-town bars in the area, too, such as Mayville, Larimore, Clifford, Hope and Finley, N.D.

Asking for more

The Charity Gaming Association of North Dakota will be asking the 2005 Legislature to increase the number of tournaments allowed per year, said Sharon Weber, the organization's president.

"Since people can play in area casinos, it would be nice to be able to compete," Weber said.

Gary Fournier, gaming director for the Greater Grand Forks Convention and Visitors Bureau, ran a two-day tournament with a purse of $4,100. He said the game's popularity is being taken home, too.

"Home poker used to be dealer's choice," Fournier said. "Nowadays, just about everyone throws in 10 or 20 bucks, and they play Texas HoldEm for the pot. When that game gets done, they play another one. And they do that all night long."

Colligan has seen the same soaring interest in Shooting Star.

"A year ago, we couldn't get one game of Texas HoldEm going," he said. "Now, we can't get a game of Seven-Card Stud going because everyone wants to play HoldEm. On Fridays and Saturdays, we have four tables going all the time. We have tournaments just about every day.

"Blackjack used to be our biggest game. Now, we have more playing poker than blackjack."

Colligan said the casino is looking at expanding its poker room. One reason is interest; the other reason is that the casino makes money on every hand because it "rakes" a percentage of each pot.

"In blackjack, the house can lose money," he said. "In poker, it can't lose."

Colligan offers the "Bad Beat Jackpot" as an example of poker's growth. It's a progressive jackpot that is awarded to a strong hand that loses a pot.

"We take a dollar out of every pot over $30 to contribute to the jackpot," he said. "Eight months ago, there was $5,000 in it. Now there's $36,000."

Home games

When Wong won the tournament in Mayville, he went to sleep at 7:30 a.m. that day. That's because he was playing Texas HoldEm with his friends after his job as a blackjack dealer ended about 1 a.m.

"We play at least once a week in my garage," he said. "We play $20 buy-ins, and when the game's over, we do it again.

"The way I hear it, there's a lot of that going on around town."

While at-home gambling is technically illegal, there is no penalty for stakes the size of Wong's game. So says Keith Lauer, director of the gaming division with the state attorney general's office.

"While the constitution says it's illegal to gamble on private premises, there is no penalty unless the bet per hand, game or event exceeds $25," Lauer said. "When he was attorney general, Nick Spaeth basically decriminalized private gambling."

But any form of gambling in public places - unless with approved charities - is illegal. Technically, that means shaking dice to see who buys coffee in restaurants is illegal, Lauer said.

A moneymaker

"I got a few more butterflies because I was playing for money," Mike Harlow said of the Mayville tournament. "But it was a good one to start with since the buy-in was only $30. They have one in Drayton later this summer with a $100 buy-in, so that will be a tougher decision whether to play."

But when he talks about how the aptly-named Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 World Series, it sounds as if his early elimination won't deter him from future tournaments. Moneymaker was a virtual unknown in the poker world.

"Here's a guy investing $40 in a satellite game online and ends up making $2.5 million," Mike said. "That lets you know the little guy can win. There's maybe some skill but a lot of luck, too."

But it's less about the dream than it is about the fun.

"I lasted only 50 minutes, and I still had a good time," he said. "It's an easy game to learn and, obviously, an easy game to lose at."