Everyone is playing poker these days.
Pilots. Pipe fitters. Politicians. Even Charlotte Mayor
Pat McCrory has a game at the city's annual retreat,
teaching "Negotiations Skills-Building Class" to city
wonks and politicians.
Texas Holdem has replaced baseball as the national
pastime. It's as American as "Maverick" and "The
Cincinnati Kid."
Two
doctors I know run two tables on their poker night, one
out of a conference room and one out of a patient-exam
room. They invite selected patients and pals. But it's
not your typical cigars-and-beer game. There is no
smoking, and they serve red wine.
"It's good for your heart," one said.
I
was flipping channels one night and saw Jeff Gordon
winning the pot from "Police Woman" Angie Dickinson, on
"Celebrity Poker Showdown."
He
will play in next Thursday's championship round on Bravo
(9 p.m.) for his charity, the Jeff Gordon Foundation.
"I've been tied up in the phenomenon of watching it on
TV," Gordon told me this week, noting he and fellow
NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson started playing Texas
Holdem flying from track to track.
Gordon got a lesson from Bravo's pro and won his heat.
He also got lucky, like passing her running on fumes
with four bad tires. "I went out on a limb," he said,
"and got the river card."
It's
not just celebrities addicted to the hope of taking the
pot on that last card, the river, either.
Neil, a state employee who lives in Albemarle, has a
weekly game with a rotating cast of 10 to 12 guys.
They
started with four friends three years ago, but as TV
poker took off, they met more men who wanted to play.
The average pot is $10 to $15, but it can grow to $60.
The record one-night loss was $99.50, and the record
take was $80.
Neil
said that while poker has a stigma in small-town
Albemarle, they have plenty of players. The fact that
gambling is illegal in North Carolina hasn't stopped
them.
"People say, `You are going to get busted,' " he said.
"We don't worry about that. We play in the same place
every week. There are just a few more cars in the
driveway." (Remind me not to gamble with Neil.)
Craig Cass, who owns The Tinder Box, a chain of local
tobacco stores, said he has doubled his sales on gaming
merchandise since poker got hot. Ironically, TV's poker
craze has gotten Americans away from a solitary
lifestyle to visit each other again.
Alas, gambling is good for your soul.
"It
is a social pastime," Cass said, noting that 75 percent
of his sales are to men. "...It makes people communicate
and interact."
If
you don't have a game, or want to hone your skills
before you show up as the mark at your neighborhood
casino, you can try online gambling. I tried a Web site
called Pacific Poker Monday night, practicing Texas
Holdem for 15 minutes on the free tables before I
plunked down $50 in cash.
I
played for an hour, dropping to $19 before I ended up at
$63.
I
found two things held true. First, it's easier to ante
up silicon chips than real money. Second, online players
don't have much patience. Everyone wants to see the flop
(the first three face-up cards), and most will hold out
for the thrill of the last card, the river.
I
guess that is why they call it Holdem. Most people hold
on way too long.
As
far as watching TV poker goes, that's where cool comes
in. Not only does it beat paying $150 to get drunk and
sunburned and watch Gordon go around in circles on a
Sunday afternoon, but it's in-your-face reality TV. The
players, soaked in sweat beneath TV's hot glare, shove
thousands in on one all-or-nothing bet.
Fueled by STP, Gordon had more competitive fire than the
actors. He talked more smack after his poker win than he
has in dozens of trips to Victory Lane. Partially, that
is because Angie Dickinson will not be aiming an almost
4,000-pound car at him next week.
"If
you are on the track, that doesn't get you anywhere,"
Gordon said, "Second, it was not my money. You can talk
more trash, because it is nothing but your ego."
But
where bluffing doesn't win much in NASCAR, chutzpah is
crucial in both gigs.
"I'm
definitely aggressive," Gordon said. "I guess with my
job, I am a risk-taker. I am usually the first one out,
or the last one at the table. I don't play for second."
If
Gordon wants a game around here, I'm betting Neil's slot
in Albemarle will be open soon. But I recommend the
mayor's game. The way the NBA took the city on the arena
deal, I'd like a seat at that table.
