TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

Whether to practice, socialize or just fill free hours, dozens of people turn out every night of the week for free Texas Holdem poker tournaments in Hutchinson.

The game came out of back rooms and select casinos to hit the mainstream hard around the time ESPN began airing the 2003 World Series of Poker, after the main event wrapped up May 23, 2003.

Amateur Chris Moneymaker, an Internet poker player in his first "brick and mortar" tournament, won the tournament and its $2.5 million first prize.

Not long after, bars started hosting tournaments, leagues such as the Wichita-based Amateur Poker League sprang up, and the game gained possibly millions of new players.

Today, free tournaments can be found at at least four establishments in the city - Clic's, McGraw's, Reed's and the Hutchinson Moose Lodge.

Austin Wedgewood, 22, was one of those attracted to the game after its popularity blossomed.

"I wasn't playing until they started playing free tournaments," he said, which was about a year and a half ago. He started playing, and he has played once or twice in casinos. He doesn't play online, though.

"I just like the game, like playing it," he said. "It's something to do other than going to the movies."

If Wedgewood is a member of the new wave of the poker movement, Tony Sanchez represents the old school.

Sanchez, 62, has been playing since childhood, working his way up from beans to pennies to dollars, he said. He plays online, in casinos in Topeka, Kansas City and Oklahoma, and a few nights a week in the city.

"It's a challenge to me, and I like to be with people, friends," he said.

Since retiring in 1997, he began playing more often. He said the free tournaments give him a chance to get better and to practice reading opponents, trying to pick up hints on what they're holding.

McGraw's owner Bill Selby started hosting free tournaments at his club about a year ago. Since then, almost 800 players have filled out new player cards.

At McGraw's, players compete for points, which go toward qualifying for a tournament at the end of each month with cash prizes. Selby picked up most of the traits of the games at his bar from games in Wichita.

"I started playing a couple of the places and thought immediately, 'This is something I should be doing at McGraw's,' " he said. "We try to play like they play at the casinos, so if somebody should go to Kansas City or Topeka or Vegas to play Texas Hold'em, they won't embarrass themselves by not knowing how to play."

In addition to hosting the tournaments in one of the side rooms off the club's main dance floor, Selby is a regular player, with a usual seat at Table 2.

At age 73, Selby isn't the oldest regular player at the club. And Wedgewood isn't the youngest.

"I don't know of any other kind of activity where a varied age group like that, male and female, can all enjoy the same type of activity," he said. "That's pretty rare."

At any given night, at McGraw's or elsewhere, college students play next to college instructors. Husbands and wives face off. Blue collar meets white collar.

"We've got people from all walks of life," Selby said.

In addition to the six free tournaments each week at McGraw's, Selby soon will host his fourth fundraising event for the Training and Evaluation Center of Hutchinson.

The tournament date will be either Oct. 15 or 16, and limited to 165 entrants. An entry fee of $25 will give players a chance to win their share of a $2,300 prize pool, with $1,000 for first place, down to $25 for eighth through 10th place.

The three earlier tournaments have brought in thousands for TECH, Selby said.

How to play Texas Hold 'em:

Each player is dealt two cards, facedown. These are the hole cards.

A round of betting occurs.

Next, the dealer turns three cards faceup, called the flop. These are community cards that all the players use.

Another round of betting follows.

The next community card is called the turn, or fourth street. After it is revealed, a third round of betting takes place.

The final community card, called the river, or fifth street, is followed by the final round of betting.

Players still in the hand then use their two hole cards and the five on the board to make the best five-card hands.