TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

Mike Connell was several years ahead of the curve.

Like a lot of kids his age, Connell, a junior at West Catholic High School, is nuts about Texas Holdem poker.

He says his father taught him to play at least 10 years ago. Connell is 16, which means he was building straights and flushes at about the time most kids learn to read.

"I've been playing consistently since before that happened," he said.

By "that," he means the explosion of interest in anything related to poker, the most basic and accessible of serious card games.

Thanks to a number of factors -- generational tastes, televised events, colorful players -- poker, Texas HoldEm, has been the rage for the past year or so.

It's visible everywhere, from high-school cafeterias to college dorms and makeshift basement casinos, from the high ratings of televised events to the cult poker film "Rounders" that video stores have a tough time keeping in stock. It thrives in casinos and local tournaments as charities jump on the wave of popularity.

The Grand Rapids Jaycees hosted a tournament Friday, and the Grand Rapids Griffins hosted a tournament Saturday.

"It has changed my business completely," said Kurt Orosz of A-1 Bingo Supplies and Elliott Bingo Supplies. "Bingo has definitely taken a back seat."

In the last year, almost all of his 38 Texas HoldEm tables have been rented out every weekend for private parties, corporate events, charities and fundraisers. "It's very profitable for VFW halls because they get the older people and the younger people."

As TV shows continue to pop up, so does the popularity, he said. "It's been crazy," he said. "I'm almost waiting for it to crash because it has built so fast, but I don't see any signs of it slowing down."

Strange bedfellows

The phenomenon has made improbable TV stars out of peculiar characters -- long-haired, cowboy-hat-wearing Chris "Jesus" Ferguson; temperamental, loudmouthed Phil Helmuth; energetic redhead Annie Duke, a thirtysomething mother of four; actor Ben Affleck, a regular on Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown."

The surge of interest in the game has all the makings of a short-lived fad -- TV boom, popularity among teens, etc.

But Connell said he plays two or three times a week with a group of five or six friends, and occasionally hosts tournaments at his house, which attract 10 to 20 kids. He plays so often he wasn't bothered when a call from a Press reporter interrupted one of his games.

"I'll be doing this for the rest of my life," Connell said.

Local entrepreneur Mark Danevicz, 29, said he is amazed by the extent to which Texas Holdem poker has infiltrated pop culture.

"I don't think it's a fad, because it's different," he said. "You've actually got it playing on ESPN and Fox Sports, so I think it's here to stay."

Right place, right time

Danevicz is like many others who, through either timing or outside-the-box thinking, have tapped into the possibilities of the hottest new game (which, ironically, is a pretty old game).

Two years ago, he and a friend went online to sell an "unsatisfactory" card table they had built. Now he's selling gaming supplies full-time.

As a result of overwhelming interest, Danevicz parlayed his first sale into a successful online business. His site, crapsjack.com, sells custom-made poker, blackjack and roulette tables, chip sets and other card-playing supplies. The company also sponsors local tournaments.

"It didn't start with poker. We were interested in gaming in general," Danevicz said. "We noticed the World Series of Poker a couple of years ago, and that's when people started to ask us about our products. The hobby turned into the business."

Credit is due

Much of the credit for the boom goes to the "World Poker Tour," which has achieved the daunting task of making it interesting to watch other people play cards. Though ESPN has broadcast World Series of Poker events, typically at late hours, for about a decade, the WPT has transformed a little-seen TV curiosity into a sweeping craze.

In the fall of 2001, WPT founder and president Steve Lipscomb approached investors with an idea "from the crazy ether of my mind," which was to create what he calls the "NFL of poker." He formed the WPT, which united most of the big tournaments under one banner, and set out to revamp the TV production.

"By its nature, (poker) is not interesting to watch," Lipscomb said during an interview from his office in West Hollywood.

"My belief was that the subtleties make it interesting. It was perfectly tailored for a TV phenomenon."

The challenge

By presenting key information graphically -- each player's hand, his or her odds of winning, etc. -- and focusing on the idiosyncratic personalities of the professional players, WPT turned the game into a ratings sensation on the Travel Channel when it launched in March 2003, prompting other networks (Fox Sports, Bravo) to launch shows. It made poker as ubiquitous on TV as Regis Philbin during the height of "Millionaire."

Much of the excitement is because Texas HoldEm, the "Cadillac of poker," is fast-paced, high-stakes and a lot of fun.

"I like the skill it takes and the money," said Connell, adding the biggest pot he's played for was about $320. He said Texas HoldEm is distinctive for "the amount of times you can bet, and more chips can change hands."

Lipscomb is confident Texas Hold 'Em's popularity is more than just a passing fad.

"Most trends or fads come from nowhere and go to nowhere. I can't believe that will be the case with poker," Lipscomb said.

"This is a game that people have been playing for a long, long time. We've just taken the great American card game and combined it with the most powerful medium."