My father's relatives and friends
once gathered in a tiny cabin at Camp Strawberry before the
opening of the fishing season to play all sorts of strange
poker games. Cigar smoke filled the room that was lit by a
bare light bulb.
The language could get a bit coarse, especially when the
dealer picked some strange hybrid. I can remember that a
game called “no peeky baseball” elicited groans from the
poker purists.
While my brother and cousins took up the game with gusto,
it never much interested me. I thought a full house meant a
family party and a straight flush was when the toilet
worked.
Still, a sudden increase in poker
fueled by the Internet and televised poker tournaments is
hard to ignore. Suddenly, everyone I know, from nephews to
sons to friends, wants to play poker.
A new Utah business, Cards, Chips and More: Your Texas
Holdem Headquarters, opened in January in Salt Lake City. It
sells felt card tables, poker sets, chips, poker T-shirts
(slogan: "I'm not lucky. I'm good”), card shufflers, card
guards and instructional books and DVDs, with titles such as
“Poker for Dummies” and “Play Poker with the Pros.”
Chris Shilts, who owns the store, said television has
fueled interest in the old card game. Six channels broadcast
at least one poker show a week.
“I love the game,” he said. “I don't know why. There is
a percentage of luck
involved. And, in my opinion, there is a much larger
percentage of skill involved. You can be lucky or skillful.”
As I discovered so many years ago at Camp Strawberry,
there is the social aspect.
“I love hanging out with people,” said Shilts. “There can
be male or female at a table and there is always a little
bantering back and forth. It is a great way to get out and
socialize. To me, it is more than gambling and making money,
even though I can do that.”
While playing cards for fun in Utah is not illegal,
gambling itself does break the law. Of course, that doesn't
stop hundreds of recreational players from competing in
penny
ante games in their homes or when
camping any more than most I-15 drivers pay attention to the
65 mph speed limit.
Utah's conservative and religious culture also does not
seem to hurt Shilts' business.
“It doesn't matter whether you are Catholic, Jew or
Mormon, people love poker,” he said, adding “I have friends
who go to church weekly who play poker and play religiously
at least once a week.”
Like many things in modern society, the Internet also
helped fuel interest. It allowed novices to learn the game
without risking too much money or, perhaps more importantly,
without looking foolish in front of their friends.
While I still haven't joined my father's monthly poker
games - I guess
I'm not a chip off the old block - I became interested in
the game's history.
According to the Web site http://www.pokertips.org, the
game's origins are unclear. Most historians believe it
originated in Persia in the 16th century and was known as As
Nas.
“The game played in a similar fashion to modern five-card
stud and possessed poker hands rankings, such as three of a
kind,” according to the Web site. “When Europeans began to
play, they called it 'poque' or 'pochen.' While poker's
origins may lie in Europe and Persia, it truly developed in
the United States. Poker was first widely played in New
Orleans in the early 1800s.”
Count me as a person
who still doesn't have the
confidence to play poker for money. But, like the old days
at Camp Strawberry, the lure of the game to others is
totally understandable. And it seems to be increasing in
interest all the time. |
