Texas holdem has a hold on the country, but lots of local folks were playing their cards right long before the televised poker craze began.

"We know when to foldem and have been doing it for years," said Frank Beatty, 74, of Davison.

Beatty and his buddies play a friendly game or two — or 20 — each Wednesday evening at the Davison-Richfield Senior Activity Center. At a typical game, the banter is loud and the excitement is high, but the stakes are lower than the million-dollar pots in the televised games.

"Most of us are on fixed incomes, and we don't want anyone to lose their Social Security over this," Beatty said. "Our maximum bets are nickels, dimes and quarters."

But Beatty and his cronies get a kick out of watching the high-stakes players on TV.

"It's fun to watch," said Charlie Rayner, 71, of Goodrich. "When they say, `I'll bet $150,000,' it boggles the mind."

The World Poker Tour is a series of 16 high-stakes poker tournaments filmed in exotic locales and swanky casinos. The show, which airs at 9 p.m. Wednesdays, is the highest rated series in the history of the Travel Channel.

The play-by-play Texas holdem commentary, on-screen graphics and cameras that reveal the players' cards transformed poker into a televised spectator sport and spawned similar shows on other channels.

Last year, World Poker Tour tournaments offered more than $35 million in prize money. At the Davison center, $6 is a big win. But don't let the modest stakes lull you into a false sense of security.

"I tell you, when they get going around here, they show no mercy," joked Larry Dombrowski, 63, a.k.a. "High Spades Larry."

The group started five years ago with four Texas holdem players. Since then, it's grown to include about two dozen regulars, a diverse group of men and women from a variety of occupations.

"Our players are retired teachers, general foremen, skilled trades and housewives," Beatty said. "We try to shape our game on casino rules, and we play mostly casino games, with a few of the old kitchen games thrown in. Our only rule is no wild cards."

Tim Burton, 59, of Swartz Creek discovered the Davison club when he drove his wife to a class on ornamental grasses at the center.

"I was going to just wait in the car and read until she got out," he said. "But she heard the sound of chips coming from one of the rooms and came out and told me, 'They're playing poker in there.' I've been coming ever since."

There are no dark, smoke-filled rooms. The focus is on fun and fellowship. The banter is constant, but good-natured — "a $5 pot doesn't create much of an argument," Burton said. Cookies are the preferred snack, and the strongest beverage is Diet Dr. Pepper. The last hand is dealt at 9:15 p.m.

Most of the gang have been playing Texas holdem poker for years. Jack Orser, 80, of Davison learned to play five-card draw while serving in World War II. Bunny Brewer of Davison — who says she's "old enough to know better" than to tell her age — has been playing cards "forever."

During a recent game, Brewer bet a dime and won a dollar on a game of seven-card stud, high spade in the hole. At the next table, Rayner won $5 with a straight.

"He'll probably get a headache now and go home," joked Beatty. In the next game, he told Brewer, "I don't want to take all your money, so I'll fold."

Meanwhile, Dombrowski chided player Grace Mikulich of Davison when she hesitated on making a bid: "It's just a quarter, Grace. It won't hurt you. Just put it in fast."

Russ Cockerill, 83, who is legally blind, depends on his opponents to report aloud what cards they put down across the table.

Do they always tell the truth?

"How would I know?" he quipped. When losing a recent game, he accused his table-mates of "taking advantage of a blind man," but retracted the accusation when he won the pot.

What they lack in glamour, the small, low-stakes Texas holdem poker games make up for in entertainment, Burton said.

"I'd be afraid to go to the casinos," he said. "I might win and get hooked. I like it here, where you don't have to worry about anything.

"It's an inexpensive night out, cheaper than the movies. It's a lot of fun."