A few students glance over notes in the lounge or snooze with heads atop the desks, but in the nearby game room, the late night poker players throw cold stares in the direction of their opponents and put on their best poker faces to hopefully win the pot.
This late night phenomenon is a usual sight in the Findlay Commons, study lounges, or dormitory hallways in East Halls as the sport of Texas HoldEm poker continues to gain popularity among students. Texas HoldEm involves all contestants beginning with only two down playing cards, known as the pocket or hole cards. After a round of betting, three cards are turned over on the table, face up.
These cards, called the flop, are community cards and can be used by everyone at the table. After another round of betting, another card, called the turn, is added to the community cards. Another round of betting occurs, and the final card, known as the river card, is added to the community pile.
Essentially, the contestants use their two pocket cards and the five community cards to create the best five-card hand. After one last round of betting, the players show their cards. And as always, the best hand wins the pot.
Avid poker player Jason Smith (freshman-actuarial science) said this chance to win big money is what brings the contestants to the table.
"The opportunity is there for easy money," Smith said.
However, Smith said that all poker players, especially those just learning, might not realize just how difficult the game can be.
"People see [poker] on TV, and think it's easy, but they don't realize the intricacies of the game," Smith said.
Smith has been playing poker for three years now and has invested in many books that teach poker tricks and strategies. Smith avidly plays on the Internet, but limits his time playing with other people to about once or twice every two weeks. With his experience, Smith said he can calculate, in his head, the odds of his hand winning and often he comes out of a night of poker with more money than he brought.
Craig David (freshman-architectural engineering) also has been playing poker for about three years now, but unlike Smith, prefers not to bet his money.
"I played online once for real money with Pacific Poker and lost it all, so I only play with fake money now for fun," David said.
While David cannot really explain the full reasoning behind the popularity of poker with students, he can attribute some of it to the recent appearances of poker games on popular TV channels, such as ESPN.
The most notable poker event appearing on ESPN thus far has been the World Series of Poker. ESPN has televised this event the past two summers. The most intriguing aspect of the World Series of Poker is that the competitors do not get paid to participate. Instead, the contestants pay a fee of up to $10,000 and have to earn their money by playing hundreds of hands. Also, no guarantee exists that the contestants will win any money. In fact, many contestants go home $10,000 less the richer. This element of the possibility of complete loss adds to the element of excitement that fuels the poker's popularity.
However, Smith said that the popularity of poker will not stay at such a high level.
"In the short term, people will continue to play poker, but when some of the lesser skilled players start to realize how much money they've lost, they will stop," Smith said. "But if you're making money, I don't see why you would quit."
David agreed that poker might fade out in popularity in the next few years.
"I think it'll probably die down a bit, but it will always be around," he said.