The poker game Texas Hold 'Em has many in on the deal
Five nights a week, you'll find Carol Knoll in a local bar. She can't stay away, but it's got nothing to do with alcohol. Like a growing number of celebrities and regular people across the country, Knoll is crazy about cards.
Poker, to be exact.
No Limit Texas Hold 'Em, to be even more exact.
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Poker's popularity resurgence is nothing new. The classic card game has been back in the spotlight since cable networks started airing high-stakes Las Vegas action more than a year ago.
The fad has flourished locally, too, and now thousands of Wichitans are playing every week, many of them in organized Texas Hold 'Em tournaments put on in local bars.
For Knoll, poker has become her main after-hours pastime, and it's even boosted her business. A real estate agent, she says she's sold $500,000 worth of property through connections she's made at poker games.
"There's a big variety of people who play, and that's what I like," she said. "It's so cool to meet such a diverse group of people."
A league of players
Perhaps the biggest poker pusher in Wichita is the Amateur Poker League, a business that formed last year and has grown to nearly 10,000 members locally.
APL leaders have organized a sophisticated schedule of Texas Hold 'Em games that draw hundreds of people nightly to 15 bars across Wichita. Every Friday, the top players from those games gather at the League's headquarters at 900 George Washington Blvd., where they compete for a big prize -- usually a trip to Las Vegas or a cruise vacation package.
On a recent Friday, the gathered crowds offered a glimpse of how completely poker mania has taken over.
It was 10:30 p.m., and the headquarters' banquet hall was crammed with 250 people, most of them smoking, all of them gathered around giant round tables clutching cards and tossing colorful poker chips.
The scene seemed unusual only because the participants were so diverse. Elderly women played elbow-to-elbow with college guys. Men in dress-up office clothes sat side-by-side with those still wearing their grimy work jeans.
Knoll was in her element and wasn't the least bit out of place. Recently, the APL's membership has grown to include almost 50 percent women.
A lifelong card player, Knoll accidentally stumbled upon a game at a bar one night. She scored big, and then she was hooked.
Now, poker is her primary social outlet.
"Where else can you have such a good time with so many different people in one room?" Knoll said. "It's a great social event."
Keeping it legal
These days, poker games in bars are a pretty common sight.
But when the APL and individual bar owners first started putting on the games, they drew some unwanted attention.
In January, state and local law enforcement officials said they were looking into the games to see if they were violating any gambling laws.
At the time, the district attorney's office described an illegal game as one that contained three elements: consideration (which generally means money), a prize and a game of chance. If one of the three elements is missing, the game is usually legal.
Sharon Werner, chief lawyer for the consumer fraud and economic crime division of the district attorney's office, said she gets frequent calls and questions about local poker games.
It's generally hard to determine from the calls whether the game is on the up-and-up, she said, because callers don't always provide all the vital details.
Her office has conducted some investigations, she said, but usually she advises those planning poker leagues to hire a lawyer to help them make sure they're following all the rules.
Shawn Riley and Kurt McPhail, president and vice president of the APL, said it's been months since anyone has come around asking questions at their games.
In fact, they said, at least one city inspector who was sent to check them out is now one of the league's most active members.
Most local game organizers keep the games legal by keeping cash out of the picture.
None charges a fee to play, which erases the "consideration" part of the equation.
The APL makes its money by collecting a fee from the bars that put on its games.
But it's just as profitable for the bars, said Side Pockets co-owners Tyler Gordon and Matthew Robinson, who host APL games at their pool hall at 600 S. Tyler Road four nights a week.
Each session draws anywhere from 50 to 60 people, they said, and that's 50 to 60 people who might not normally be there ordering food and drinks.
"We've seen a whole different face of people on poker nights that we hadn't seen before," Gordon said. "They come in here to play cards, and it gives us the opportunity to keep them here and give them a good menu item and maybe get them interested in pool."
Wichita: poker central
If all goes as planned, local poker enthusiasts hope to turn Wichita into an national poker leader.
The APL's founder, Dave Wallace, is working on a locally filmed poker series that would air on local stations.
And Riley and Wallace have started branches of the league in nine other states. They plan to continue expanding to any other state whose laws allow it.
They've even arranged for the winner of a 2005 tournament to compete in the National World Series of Poker.
One of the rewards of the venture, the partners say, has been watching people embrace the game as an intellectual sport.
But it's a sport that doesn't require any physical prowess, and anyone can participate, from the elderly to the handicapped to the homeless. The league's membership has included all three, McPhail said.
"It gets a lot of people out of the house who couldn't afford to go out or wouldn't go out," he said. "It's a common ground for all ages. It allows companionship and socializing between the ages. What else right now do 60-year-olds have in common with 18-year-olds?"
Source: Denise Neil, The Wichita Eagle
