You don’t even have to travel to Las Vegas to participate in a competitive game of poker...

Professional tournaments are aired on television. Celebrities compete in friendly matches, and online games let you do it in the privacy of your own home.

But you don’t have to be a professional player or a famous face to take a chance with the luck of the draw.

You don’t even have to travel to Las Vegas to participate in a competitive game of poker, which has been growing in popularity during the past few years.

"Anyone can play here … any skill level," said Jon Eskelin, poker manager at Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage.

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While other valley casinos offer poker tables, the Agua Caliente Casino, Trump 29 in Coachella and Casino Morongo in Cabazon are the only local casinos that have poker rooms.

Poker rooms offer a better atmosphere for the game, said Jeff Shulman, president of Card Player Magazine, a Las Vegas-based international publication on poker.

"Players are away from other noise coming from the casino and there’s a camaraderie when they get together in one room to play," he said.

He said poker players have been increasing in the past three years thanks the World Poker Tour on television.

He said all sorts of playersfill poker rooms, from amateurs who have never played before, to those who first honed their skills with online games and decide to try their luck in the three-dimensional world.

Eskelin said the poker room at Agua Caliente has experienced an increase in players during the past three years.

"It’s been amazing, I attribute it (popularity of poker) to the World Poker Tour on TV and on the lipstick camera (small camera installed on the poker table which shows the viewers the hand each player has). That makes all the difference, when you can see what everyone has," he said.

Palm Desert resident Bob Herber has been a regular at the Agua Caliente poker room for about three years.

"I usually lose, but I have a lot of fun," he said.

The most popular game, said Roman De Lara, poker room manager at Trump 29, is Texas Hold’em.

But the casinos also offer seven card stud and Omaha as choices for poker players.

Source: Richard Guzmán, The Desert Sun