TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

There are already books and music, and I've got the respective collections to substantiate that claim. Then there are sports such as football, golf and track and field.

Now, along comes Texas Holdm poker, or to paraphrase A.I., "Poker!

We're talkin' Texas Holdm poker!"

Poker has filled the air waves the past few months like few entities this side of programing on HGTV. It's difficult for many to justify poker as a sport, but ESPN has been the greatest purveyor of the event with hours of programming, followed by FOX Sports and The Travel Channel.

When Sports Illustrated debuted, one segment of every issue was devoted to Bridge. The magazine stayed with that feature for quite a number of years. I believe the bridge guru himself, Charles Goren, wrote the pieces.

My enthrallment with Texas Holdm poker has extended to forsaking "The Last Comic Standing" last week to watch an all-star version of the game. Most of my poker viewing, however, involved the fascinating World Series of Poker from Las Vegas, played out over the past several weeks, before it was won by 39-year old Greg Raymer, who captured the $5 million first prize.

Actually, something like 32 events were conducted live during April and May.

David Williams, a 24-year old math and economics major from SMU outlasted 2,574 other players to claim the second-place prize of $3.5 million. It's important to note that many of the bracelets for each of the 32 events were won by what they're calling the 20-something crowd.

Scott Fischman, a Philadelphian and a former Texas Holdm poker dealer, was at the forefront of this movement. Fischman won three bracelets and another member of his "crew" took another.

The 2,576 players came from all over the world. Name a country and they likely had multiple representation. The Asian involvement is staggering, especially among the Vietnamese.

John Nguyen (pronounced "win," ironically) won an event this year. More players named Nguyen have won WSOP bracelets (14) than any other three names combined. In one women's final, the last three players were Asian, with two, I believe, being Vietnamese.

The players themselves are clearly the attraction. They come in all shapes, sizes and ages. They have more tics, idiosyncracies and phobias than you would cover in four years of psyche classes. Quite often they wear some type of dark glasses to conceal their emotions, which makes the sun glasses' concession in Vegas a lucrative market.

Few sports can boast of more colorful nicknames. There's Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, who looks like God if He wore a cowboy hat; Amarillo Slim, Texas Dolly, Miami John and Johnny World.

Each poker table consists of nine players, and I've determined my Phantasy Nine. I would begin with Raymer, who displayed immense class competing against several bottom feeders, especially Mike "Motormouth" Matasow. Next I would select last year's champion, Tennessean Chris Moneymaker. That's his name, not a nickname.

Joining the table would be Gus Hansen. I can't believe someone like Norman Chad, who calls much of the action on ESPN, hasn't mentioned how much Hansen resembles golfer Jesper Parnivik. Put a cap on Hansen and turn the bill up, and he's ready for the first tee. And Hansen and Jesper are both from Sweden.

I need someone everyone else would rally against, and that would be multiple WSOP champion Phil Hellmuth, a self-proclaimed brat. Chad has said Hellmuth is more entertaining than a series of great Broadway plays. Men "The Master" Nguyen – there's that name again – comes aboard for his relentless chatter.

Two others I favor are Marcel Luske and Sam Farha. Luske is from Amsterdam and somewhat of a side show, while Farha never lights the ever-present cigarette in his mouth. Daniel Negreanu looks more like a Muppet character than a world-class poker player, but always adds interesting commentary.

My eighth player would be the well-respected veteran, "The Professor" Howard Lederer. He is as reticent as Nguyen and Negreannu are voluble. He may be the coolest of all players.

And finally there's Lederer's sister, Annie Duke. I have a crush on this mother of four who lives in Portland, Ore. She won the $2 million All-Star showdown last week, eliminating first her brother then Hellmuth. She reminds me of one of the Hilldebrand twins who attended the all-girls high school next to the one I attended.

My Taxi Squad would include T.J.. Cloutier, Phil Gordon, Johnny Chan, Phil Ivey, Eric Seidel and Barry Greenstein, whose winnings all go to charity.