Poker craze hits JMU, leaves students eager for showdown

The atmosphere was charged and tense as the players awaited "the river," the final card that would decide the game. Sound like the high stakes poker table in a Las Vegas casino? It's not — it's seniors Elizabeth Drosdick's and Kelly Davis' Thursday night poker game in their friend's South View apartment.

Davis said she watched poker games on television, which in turn sparked her interest in playing.

While poker long has been a popular form of entertainment, it may have been thought of as a game played by boozing men in smoky backrooms of bars or in glitzy Las Vegas casinos. The popularity of new television shows such as "Celebrity Poker Challenge" and "World Poker Tour" have brought poker into cultural mainstream — now a whole new audience seems to want in on the game.

"I definitely think poker nights are a growing trend," senior Shane Galie said. "Poker is now on ESPN and the Travel Channel, and with that type of exposure, more and more people are interested in playing."

Senior Brandon Jones said he has noticed an increase in games from when he first came to JMU. "There have been a lot more televised poker tournaments … and that has probably got people into it more," he said.

Poker also has been featured in recent films such as the 1998 movie "Rounders" and the 2001 remake "Ocean's Eleven."

"I think the movie ‘Rounders' and TV poker have made poker a more mainstream game, as opposed to just a casino game," senior Greg Chin said. "[These movies] made poker seem cool and introduced it to new people."

The poker craze now has spread to campus, and many students enjoy playing poker with friends as part of their weekly ritual. These poker nights provide an opportunity for friends to get together and bond over a shared activity, according to Jones. "Usually, I play just to hang out with the guys … and relax," he said.

Drosdick said she learned to play from friends at home, and then started a poker night with her girlfriends at school. "For us, it's an excuse to get together … and be silly," she said.

Besides being a bonding activity, poker also is an intellectual game, according to senior Brendan Halligan. "You learn about bluffing, when the best time to do that is and you figure out the odds of winning with certain hands," he said.

Chin added, "Poker tests one's ability to calculate odds and take risks, which is a challenge." He thinks Texas Hold'em, the version played on popular TV shows, takes the most skill.

Galie said Texas Hold'em is the only game his poker group plays. "No Limit Texas Hold'em is the Cadillac of poker," he said. "Doyle Brunson, a world-famous poker player, called it that because it is the truest and best form of poker."

Even though poker groups tend to be composed of friends, games have the tendency to get competitive, according to Jones. "Definitely there have been times when people got upset because they lost, but it's never stopped them from coming back to play the next week," Jones said.

As an intellectual game, poker isn't always about luck, which Galie said makes the game competitive. "When you play poker, it's not as much about what cards you get as how you play them," he said. Drosdick said her poker group's games tend not to get too competitive. "The games can get competitive, but since we only play with chips, people don't care too much when they lose," she said.

Once players think they've perfected their game, they can try to play at the Las Vegas tables, as Halligan and Jones did this past Spring Break. "If I wasn't into poker, I don't know if I would have gone to Vegas. It was a good time, and most everyone I played with seemed to be there for the fun of it," Jones said.

When "the river" finally was dealt, Drosdick and Davis evaluated their hands. Both thought they had winning cards — but during showdown, Drosdick's full house defeated Davis' straight. It was just another Thursday night poker game with the girls, and they would be back next week for more.