In the last year or so, Texas Hold'em has taken the country by storm...
On any given night of the week, Ohio University junior Michael Joens and a few of his friends will sit down to play a game of "Texas Hold'em" poker. They each put down their "buy-in," the amount of money it costs to join a game, poker chips are doled out, cards dealt, and the game begins.
As the hands are played, insults and obscene comments fire across the table only to be met by laughter and responded to with equal tenacity. Poker faces, however, are still required since the games do get competitive.
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Joens said he normally plays three times a week in tournaments or pick-up games with friends. He also plays poker online about an hour a day, he said.
For some students, poker has become an expensive habit. "Depending upon whether I win or lose, I spend about $25 a week playing poker," Joens said, an amount he described as reasonable.
In the last year or so, Texas Hold'em has taken the country by storm, becoming the de facto style of poker in both informal kitchen games and nationally televised tournaments. Rather than each player working from his own hand of five or seven cards, in Texas Hold'em, the players receive two cards of their own, and then build hands from a common pool of cards on the table.
Students at Ohio University are embracing this trend. They are playing on the Internet, with friends and in tournaments. They watch poker on television at home and in the bars.
Although students on campus are playing and betting on poker, most seem unaware of the laws. In Ohio, poker is considered a "game of chance." According to Chapter 2915 of the Ohio Revised Code, such games are illegal if someone (other than the winners) profits. Ohio's law does allow exemptions for certain qualified charities. It is not illegal, however, to play poker in your home with friends as long as all the money bet is paid to the winners, and the "house" doesn't receive a cut.
While most games at OU appear to be pick-up games between friends, tournaments are increasing both on and off campus. Several organizations on campus have poker tournaments planned.
OU Intramural Sports is sponsoring its first World Series of Poker tournament. The tournament starts this Sunday, and runs every night through Nov. 4.
The tournament has spots for up to 200 people. The winner of each night will qualify to the finals on Sunday, Nov. 7, and win a prize equal to $100. The winner of the finals will receive a $500 shopping spree at Best Buy.
OU senior Tommy Segi, student director of officials for Intramural Sports and a co-director of the tournament, said his department "has put a lot of time and energy as well as money" into the tournament since planning started over the summer. Segi said Intramural Sports purchased felt-topped tables and poker chips for the tournament and recruited "people who know a lot about poker" to run the actual tournament.
The Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs has a tournament planned for Sunday, Oct. 24. Pre-registration is at Copeland Hall Oct. 18 and 20 from noon until 3 p.m. Cost is $30, and places one through eight will receive gift certificates as prizes. The tournament will be held at Bromley Hall.
Source: Carrie Kirschner, The Athens News
