Shuffle up and deal, by Brendan Cormick - The Australian - 9th January 2009
Come and sit down. Never played Texas hold'em poker before? It's the Cadillac of poker, according to the Americans. It'll take you a minute to learn and, maybe, a lifetime to master.
Let's play. You can learn as we go. Those are your starting chips. Not worth a red cent anywhere else, but they're worth $2000 at these tables. The green ones are $25, black are valued at $100, the purple chips are $500. Collect the yellow ones, they're worth $1000.
Don't be put off by the language. It's not blue, though poker has a jargon that conjures up all sorts of images. I mean last week that guy over there flopped the nuts and splashed the pot, which nobody likes. I was under the gun, but I had a backdoor flush opportunity and went all-in behind him. It is no different from other sports such as surfing in that regard, though it could be argued there is more intellect involved in poker.
Loosely translated: that guy over there got the best hand when the first three community cards (the flop) were revealed and he threw his chips into the centre among the chips already bet in the pot. I had a chance to make a flush (five cards of the one suit) and put all my chips in danger by going all-in.
POKER has taken hundreds of years to evolve and become an overnight sensation. The phenomenon known as Texas hold'em has become a favourite over the past decade. Made-for-television tournaments, where concealed cameras reveal each player's cards to the viewer, have elevated the game to a spectator sport.
The game received another boost when an unknown, Chris Moneymaker, won the World Series of Poker in 2003, ending the professional domination and motivating thousands to try and emulate his feat.
Casinos conduct the bulk of cash games and tournaments, but as a means of providing a new entertainment option for clubs and pubs, free poker leagues have developed since 2005. They were seen initially as a fad but are now a thriving business.
EMMA'S going to deal. She's 18 and works at a supermarket checkout. She'd never played before the start of last year. In fact a game of snap was the closest she'd come to a card deck, but she came along one night with her girlfriends and now she plays often.
Brian is 48 and an electrician by trade. The father of three loves playing cards and, though his wife would like him home every night, Tuesday night is his to shuffle up and deal.
Maria is 35 and about to manage an RSL in country Victoria. She has always enjoyed card games, though Texas hold'em was new to her when she started playing free tournaments. Her husband Darren, 37, also plays. It is true when they say the family that plays together stays together.
Justin is a 25-year-old shop assistant who came with his mates and has made several new friends. He admits to being average when he started playing, though he is now a solid player, a formidable opponent. He is sitting next to Mick, a 48-year-old businessman who likes to have a few ales and some friendly banter while putting his chips at risk. The deeper into the tournament he goes, the greater the risks he takes.
Con is 31 and works overnight as a cook. He plays most days before work at several different venues and has been exposed to cards from a young age. He has been playing for three years and says he is still learning.
THE Australian Poker League runs 4000 free poker games a month with anywhere up to 200 games on a given day of the week nationally. The National Poker League holds 2000 events each month. Between them, they cater to more than 500,000 players.
An APL venue in Melbourne will draw between 60 and 80 players to a game in a club or hotel, comparing favourably with patronage in Brisbane. In Sydney, numbers can swell to 200-300.
"In Sydney it is very much a club culture and they have bigger memberships and the facilities to hold the bigger numbers. You find in Melbourne that the RSL and golf and other sporting clubs are smaller," APL's Peter Kavanagh says.
The demographics signify the universal nature of the card game. If you want to see how multicultural Australia is, venturing into a poker tournament provides a great window. Rivalling the variation in origins of the players is their age. Teenagers to pensioners are represented and they range from the unemployed to invalids, white collar workers and blue collar workers.
"It can vary from game to game. You'll see the 18-year-old and you'll see the 75 or 80-year-old and everything in between," Kavanagh says.
"Looking at them again, you'll see different ethnic origins as well as professional backgrounds and non-professional backgrounds.
"It's a game for all parts of the community. It's not like a football game, when you've hit 30 you're gone. It's the pastime that people can take up when they're fresh out of school or well past pension age."
YOU get two cards dealt to you. A pair of aces is the best, but a pair of kings is good. Brian raises to $200 and Maria folds. Justin tosses his cards into the muck. That is what you call the pile of discards.
Mick takes a risk and calls by putting out $200. Con is playing tight (only when he has good cards) and folds his hand. I'm out, so it's up to you. Call for $200 or raise. Call. Let's see the flop: the first three community cards that are revealed simultaneously.
POKER leagues have detailed websites that promote their venues, but most games are advertised in local newspapers.
Word of mouth, however, is the best means of drawing new players, according to APL franchisee Cliff Ferrer, who is a district manager in the southeast suburbs of Melbourne, but he adds that the poker boom on TV has played a huge part in creating interest.
"I would say word of mouth is a huge thing for this kind of business," Ferrer says. "It is very important for people to come and have a good time, because what then happens is they tell their friends the next day. The poker industry, whether it be pub poker, online or in the casinos, is just booming due to the fact that it is being televised.
"People get to see the cards of the players and understand what's going on. The game has become more accessible and no longer has the stigma of being played in back rooms by men smoking cigars. It has been opened up to a wider demographic, still 70 per cent male but with a significant increase in female participation.
"I've seen a lot of things change with poker over time. I've seen people come as groups and meet others to become the best of friends and they now see each other away from APL events. I have even seen love blossom at the poker table. I know a couple that met at one of our games and they got married."
This pair, let's call them King and Queen, are yet to have a child, though Ace or Jack would be obvious choices for names.
THE flop is ace of spades, seven of diamonds and the nine of diamonds. Brian's the aggressor and bets $200 again. Mick thinks long and hard before tossing away his cards. It's up to you. What's that, you're raising to $500? Are you sure you've never played? Brian hesitates before putting in the extra $300 to call.
KAVANAGH says free poker provides the potential for a life-changing experience. APL held its first $1 million Tournament of Champions 18 months ago at Sydney's Luna Park, at which time then 31-year-old unemployed father of one, Rodney Davidson, had $250 to his name.
Davidson, from Bega on the NSW south coast, slept in his car for three nights but played shrewd poker and made it to the final table, vowing to get out of debt and buy a house if he won. A set of fours (three of a kind) gave him the tournament and the $300,000 winner's cheque, not to mention celebrity among the hundreds of thousands of players who aspire to be a poker champion.
The pubs and clubs are proving a breeding ground for tomorrow's cash tournament stars, though for each one that emerges there are dozens that lack the bravado, the confidence or the bankroll to pit themselves against the pros.
In February at Melbourne's Crown Casino, less than a month after the world's leading exponents of Texas hold'em have descended on the venue to battle it out in the tournaments that culminate in the main event at the Aussie Millions - the richest poker prize outside the US - a non-professional poker player will win $250,000 in the APL's Wild Turkey Poker Classic.
Four players will win a seat at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas next July, valued at more than $US10,000 ($14,700), and get a shot at about $US10 million.
THE fourth community card is called the turn. Emma peels the 10 of hearts off the deck. Brian checks (elects not to bet) and so do you. If one of you were to hold a six and a nine or a nine and a jack, you'd have made a straight. You get to see the final card for free, having checked. Known as the river, the fifth card revealed is the ace of clubs.
Brian checks. He was trying to make a flush with the two diamonds in his hand and the two diamonds among the community cards. He fell one diamond short.
You're all-in and push your remaining $1300 in chips out toward the centre of the table. Brian folds, the chips are yours to rake back and stack. Well done, you obviously had an ace. What's that you say with a sheepish grin, a stone cold bluff?
Are you sure you haven't played before? (Credit: The Australian)
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