TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

In a poker game at the Sigma Nu fraternity James Corning (left) shuffles the deck while Dwight Smith (middle) and Chris Kennewick (right) plan their strategies to win.

It's hard to watch television anymore without witnessing the dramatic impact Texas Holdem poker is making in the world today. Ever since ESPN began televising the World Series of Poker, the game's popularity has swelled to enormous proportions.

More than ever, fans want to emulate their favorite players like Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan or Sam Farha. And more than ever, novice poker players are realizing the tremendous skill it takes to be a great Texas Holdem poker player.

The game features a large amount of chance and luck, but players will do anything to gain an edge on the skillful aspects of poker. This is what impels players to sit at casino tables all night long, to read poker literature and take classes taught by professional gamblers.

Recently, the ASUW's Experimental College has begun offering poker enthusiasts the opportunity to take such classes to learn the skill of poker.

Larry Zeldner, a retired stockbroker turned professional gambler, teaches both classes. Zeldner has been playing poker his entire life and plays well enough to make a living of it, but he only recently began teaching others the ins and outs of this rapidly growing game.

He began teaching Texas Holdem poker in the Experimental College last year, demonstrating the beginning skills of poker in general.

In the beginner's class "we start right from scratch," Zeldner said.

"(It's for) people that don't know how to play any kind of poker," he said. "We look at the rules, hand rankings and even that first night we develop a strategy to play in a live money game. We talk about tells, the math in the poker and the psychology of poker."

This year, Zeldner added a second class dedicated solely to tournament strategy in No Limit Texas Hold'-em, a variation of poker that allows players to bet all their chips at any moment in the game.
 

Steven Brandvold, a student in the Experimental College's poker course, celebrates a winning hand in a game of Texas Holdem.

Potential poker players who want to learn Texas Holdem can still sign up for Zeldner's next Advanced Tournament Poker class, which runs Thursdays from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 18 to Dec. 16 through the Experimental College.

Poker is a game with many difficult nuances to master, and Zeldner works with students to develop a complete tournament strategy.

"In the advanced class we're dealing with skills towards crafting a tournament strategy and also playing strategy," Zeldner said. "We spend a lot of time playing different segments of a tournament -- early, middle, late tournament and even heads up (when there are only two players left)."

Zeldner generally leads the first half of the classes in front of his students, relaying information verbally and on the whiteboard. The instructor teaches with a gruff but approachable personality, displaying the strength and assertiveness that undoubtedly has helped him on the professional gambling tables.

Each class is dedicated to a separate portion of a tournament, with Zeldner instructing the class on the strategies and psychology involved at each point in the game. Zeldner is not a lecturer, however, and enjoys question-and-answer feedback from the students.

After the lesson is through, Zeldner gives instructions for that day's assignment, which infallibly involves the students participating in an interactive poker game between each other. Green felt is laid down on the table, a la a real casino, stacks of chips are dealt out and the playing begins as soon as the deck is shuffled.

The fascinating thing is that many of these students may have never been exposed to poker if it were not for television and the incredible impact it has had on the game.

"Television has blown poker wide open," Zeldner said. "It's taken poker out of the back, smoky rooms. It's turned it into this incredibly popular game that everybody's playing. It's made it a lot more legitimate."

It is still technically illegal to play poker for money outside a casino. Television, however, has brought it to a stage where millions of people are viewing it outside those dark rooms.

Undoubtedly, some people do get carried away with gambling, and addictions are real, but people are now realizing that if poker is played cautiously and with monetary reserve it can be an exciting and mentally challenging game.

Dwight Smith, a senior civil engineering major, plays poker nearly every day. He often plays tournaments at his fraternity and sometimes with his friends in his major, as well as online.

"I guess what I like about poker is it's a good way to pass time," Smith said. "If I'm in between studying I'll go play online poker. And it's really intense. It's scary for me actually, but it's fun."

The favorite part of the game for Smith is "the adrenaline rush I get and the anticipation of winning." However, he'll be the first to admit poker can get out of hand and understands the sensibility in self-control.

"For me it's just an activity to pass the time," he said. "I only play $2 no-limit tables. I don't do the big bucks."

There are many like Smith that play as a pastime. But the aspect of poker that really hooks people oftentimes isn't the leisurely fun, or even the money, but the skill and challenge the game allows for continual improvement and growth.

"You can control your own destiny," Zeldner said. "Skill and luck are involved but you can constantly improve your skill and make yourself more of a winning player. You can't do that in blackjack or most other gambling games -- it's just luck -- but in Texas Holdem poker you can just keep getting better and better."