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For some, a "big kitty" isn't
Garfield, and Texas HoldEm isn't a new style of Western swing dance.
This may be poker's year
of the royal flush. Here are some of the trends:
World Series of Poker:
Seven players attended the first World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in 1970,
according to the June 6 London Observer. In 1971, 11 cardsharks attended the
tournament; in 2003 (the first year ESPN broadcast the tournament) there
were 800. In 2004, 2,570 paid the fee (up to $10,000) for a chance to be
champion cardshark.
Changing face: As seen
at this year's World Series of Poker, the typical
Texas Holdem
player has gone from
being a rogueish U.S. gambler to being someone who could be from any country
and who "isn't an outlaw. He isn't a crazy gambler. He has a day job. He's
precise, technical and takes good care of his health. And many of them --
hold your breath -- are women," The Observer wrote.
Moneymaker, Fossilman:
Chris Moneymaker, a 27-year-old accountant from Tennessee, won $2.5 million
at the 2003 World Series of Poker. On May 28, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer won $5
million in World Series of Poker money.
Internet poker: At one
time, beginners would have had to find a game or go to a casino to learn
poker. Now they can sign on to a Texas Holdem poker Web site "and learn
safely at home in their pajamas," The Observer wrote. About $40 million is
gambled daily on poker Web sites. Sites have awarded their winners the prize
of a seat at the World Series of Poker.
Go fish: Both
Moneymaker and Raymer were unknowns who had won spots on the series by
betting small amounts of money on poker Web sites. The San Fransico
Chronicle wrote June 3, "This is precisely the kind of mouth-watering bait
that (World Series of Poker) host Binion's Horseshoe Casino, ESPN, Internet
cardrooms and all professional poker players love using to lure hundreds of
'fish' into the tournament each year (guys with no chance of winning; dead
money), thousands more into the city, and millions worldwide into the sexy
jaws of Texas HoldEm itself."
Kalamazoo Poker: "We've
seen a very big increase in people playing poker, buying poker supplies,"
said Fred Phillips, manager of Rider's Hobby Shop, at 4417 S. Westnedge Ave.
"Not too many young people. ... We see people in their mid-20s and up. ...
With all the recent poker playing on TV, it's been very popular." John
Barett, an employee at the Game Shop, 3307 S. Westnedge Ave., said that the
store had just begun promoting its poker supplies at the beginning of June,
and has since seen people, mostly adults and a few older teens, come in
looking for cards, chips and other game goods. Barett said that the Magic,
The Gathering and other fantasy-based card games may have led some of the
younger players to poker. "It made card playing more acceptable for the age
that at that time was concentrated on role-playing games and things like
that."
Poker TV: The Travel
Channel's "World Poker Tour," launched in March of 2003, was second in
ratings when it went against this year's Superbowl pregame show, according
to Poker.Net. ESPN covered the World Series of Poker later in 2003. Bravo
has followed with "Celebrity Poker Showdown," and this summer Fox has
brought out its gambling reality show "The Casino."
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