Poker's revival gets a hand

Eight people sit around a table, many of them nursing beers, nervously shuffling chips with their hands or coolly staring down their opponents.

Some wear berets, baseball caps or sunglasses to keep others from reading their faces. Each one is trying desperately to fool everyone else.

The players all hold two cards and look intently at the five cards laid out before them on the table -- the community cards everyone shares. Chips are carefully placed in the middle as the players show their two cards in the hole.

"I've got a flush," says Ed Carr from beneath his black beret as he flips over two spades.

His cards combine with three spades out of the five community cards to give him five cards of the same suit -- a flush, the fifth highest hand possible in standard poker. It's a good hand in Texas Hold 'Em.

Carr, who hails from Sikeston, Mo., is participating in what has quickly become a popular American trend. He and over 20 others entered a tournament at Show Me's restaurant and bar in Cape Girardeau Thursday night to benefit the March of Dimes.

In homes across America, people are doing the same thing, either for money or just for fun.

Poker's popularity has grown exponentially in just the past few years. Cable TV bears witness.

ESPN was the first to get in on the action with its "World Series of Poker," which went through its second season this year. The network was quickly followed by The Travel Channel and Bravo, which capitalized on the growing craze with shows like "Celebrity Poker Showdown" and "World Poker Tour."

This year the "World Series of Poker" finals were watched in more than 2.5 million households.

And the infection has spread beyond viewing. Internet poker has become a huge draw, with scores of sites attracting those who want to hone their skills playing for cash by using credit cards or with fake digital money.

The 2003 winner of the World Series of Poker, Chris Moneymaker, an accountant from Spring Hill, Tenn., did just that, beefing up on Internet poker before taking home $2.5 million. He qualified for the World Series by winning an Internet poker tournament.

Carr is from the old school.

"My grandmother sat me down at the kitchen table and taught me to play when I was 6 years old," he said. "I like the competition."

An ex-Navy man, Carr said he once won $500 in 30 minutes playing with buddies in the service. He's played all types of poker, but his new favorite is Texas Hold 'Em.

It's by far the popular form of poker today, which is why it was chosen as the game for the charity tournament at Show Me's.

"It was just something new that was around," said manager David Dickmann. "A bunch of my friends and I had been playing it online, so it was just something I kicked around with the owner to maybe start a poker tournament here."

One of Dickmann's poker buddies works with the March of Dimes, so it was the perfect opportunity to have fun and help a good cause, he said.

Dickmann and his friends played a lot of poker in college. The objective was not to win money, he said. They only played with small amounts and penny antes. The objective was simply to have the kind of fun the charity tournament provided.

"We usually just play games, no money, just chips," said Colin Patterson, Dickmann's friend with the March of Dimes and a participant in the tournament. "We like the camaraderie of the whole thing."

Stakes too high

Most people who play are like Dickmann and Patterson. But for a very few, it could lead down a dangerous road.

A recent study by Harvard researchers said about 39,000 Missourians had a serious gambling problem in the past year.

Increasing the amount of bets and lying to cover up losses are two warning signs that someone may be developing a problem.

But the incidence of problem gambling is very low among the general population.

"The prevalence in any sort of population of becoming a problem gambler is generally about 1 percent of the population," said Nora Bock, manager of the Compulsive Gambling Program for the Missouri Department of Mental Health. "For 99 percent of people it's not an issue. For most it's just a form of entertainment."

Teens have hopped on the poker trend. An estimated 85 percent of high school students have gambled, according to statistics cited by the Missouri Lottery Commission. Some experts say they are more susceptible to gambling problems. Estimates are that up to 8 percent of teens who gamble are at risk.

The National Council on Problem Gambling says children may be more likely to develop gambling problems than adults. The council also says that adults who seek treatment for problem gambling report having started gambling at an early age.

Technically, unlicensed gambling is illegal in Missouri. But according to Jim Gardner of the Missouri Attorney General's office, police probably won't bust down anyone's doors for playing a friendly game of Texas Hold 'Em with some friends or over the Internet.

"It's often up to local law enforcement and at the discretion of local prosecutors," Gardner said. "Playing with pennies and nickels may or may not rise to the attention of the local authorities."

Cape Girardeau police have busted craps games on the street, but they say in-home poker games haven't presented a problem.

Gardner said games in which all the money goes to charity, such as the one at Show Me's where the $25 registration paid by each contestant goes to the March of Dimes, are just fine. The winner received tickets to a St. Louis Cardinals game, with smaller prizes going to the runners-up.

He does caution those playing online games that they could be taken advantage of because the state can't regulate those Web sites, which often operate out of foreign countries.

"Anybody participating in online gambling is taking a significant risk," Gardner said. "They really have no legal recourse if something goes wrong."

Whether poker is a fad or something that will continue its popularity is anybody's guess. Or bet. The Show Me's manager thinks poker's attraction is no gamble.

"I really think it will get big here," said Dickmann, whose employer plans to hold more no-money tournaments. "It's something anybody can have fun with."

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, ext. 182