Ben Laughlin knows when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em, and he's betting that free Texas Hold'em poker tournaments will be a huge hit in Hobart.
Poker has become hugely popular in Australia during the past year, especially since Melbourne man Joseph Hachem won the 2005 World Series of Poker -- and a $10 million prize -- last July.
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Now, Mr Laughlin, who moved to Sandy Bay from New South Wales six months ago, is bringing the Australian Poker League to Tasmania.
The APL is the world's largest free poker tournament provider, with more than 40,000 registered players and 220 venues around the country holding tournaments each week.
Players with different levels of experience, from novices to professionals, can compete in a friendly environment for the chance to win prizes at no cost or financial risk.
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Players receive a set amount of chips and play until they run out of chips and are eliminated. The top players accumulate points and share in prizes worth $300,000 at the end of each 10-week season.
Inspired by a Sunday Tasmanian article about poker's popularity in Tasmania, Mr Laughlin contacted the APL and ended up purchasing a franchise that covers the state.
"I'd played poker before with my mates so I knew a bit about it and knew that it was going really well down here," he said.
"So I rang [an APL organiser] and told him Tassie was an awesome place, that things were happening down here.
"He didn't know anything about Tassie and nobody had ever asked him about holding tournaments down here, so I was in the right place at the right time."
After just a week, Mr Laughlin has already signed up three venues where weekly poker tournaments will begin this month -- at the Glenorchy RSL (Thursday nights from May 18), the Queens Head Hotel in North Hobart (Sunday afternoons from
May 21) and the Carlyle Hotel in Derwent Park (Wednesday nights from May 24).
He is still on the look-out for more venues, especially in the state's north and northwest.
Source: The Mercury
