Into Poker Rooms

What’s behind the explosion of interest in high-stakes poker?

Story By Marjorie Ingall     
Illustration By Brian Ajhar

These days, poker is hotter than the sidewalk on the Strip in August. But why now? After all, the game's been around for years. It probably began life as a Persian or French card game called As Nas (translation: "My beloved ace!"-an exclamation many card players can relate!), which morphed into a bluffing game called poque (from the Gaelic word for "kiss," presumably what you'd want to do when you won). French soldiers brought the game to New Orleans in the 1820s, and thanks to riverboat gambling, its popularity quickly spread. Southerners pronounced poque "pokuh," which turned into "poker" in the North and East. The Gold Rush and Civil War helped the game catch on nationwide. But it had an unsavory reputation. Doctored decks and cards up sleeves, highwaymen and blackguards abounded. In 1876, Sheriff Wild Bill Hickok was playing poker in a Deadwood saloon when Jack "Crooked Nose" McCall shot him from behind with a .45 caliber revolver. Wild Bill died clutching his cards, which included two aces and two eights. Ever since, that's been known as the "Dead Man's Hand." Today, many players will immediately fold any hand that contains those cards.

Poker maintained its down-and-dirty associations through much of the 20th century. Games often took place in settings that would make a parson blush. Doyle Brunson, author of the poker bible Super System and the man often considered to be the greatest player of all time, recalls his early days: "Oh, it was a different era. Today you have a multitude of games to choose from, but back then we'd drive 400 miles to play in a poker game. There were people with machine guns on top of the houses to protect us."

Chip Reese, one of the few living members of the Poker Hall of Fame, who started playing poker for baseball cards as a 6-year-old in Ohio, concurs about the bad ol' days. "In the '60s, someone bit a dealer's ear off," he reminisces. "In the '70s, someone urinated on a dealer at the Stardust. But that was then. Today, casinos take a no-tolerance approach to bad behavior. People who misbehave get thrown out for two weeks, a month, maybe forever."

Much of the appeal is the game itself. As Reese says, "Like backgammon, it's a very simple game; a five-year-old can learn it. But it's also highly mathematical. If you never play someone on the next level you don't even know that level exists. It's almost another dimension." The combination of ease and nuance can be thrilling. The combination of ease and can be thrilling.

But it's thanks to TV that poker's mainstream popularity has exploded. Through hidden tabletop cameras, viewers can live vicariously through the players. "Even people who don't know how to play get caught up in the chips, the money, the excitement. It's like a bullfight, or ancient Rome, with gladiators fighting the lions!" reflects Reese. As Doug Dalton, Director of Poker Operations at Bellagio puts it, "It's like watching a football game, except the only parts that are televised are the plays that are interesting!"

Televised tournaments have enhanced the American Dream aspects of poker. Witness the tale of Chris Moneymaker, the 27- year-old accountant who'd only been playing for three years when he qualified for the World Series of Poker in a game on the Internet that only cost $40 to enter. The aptly-named Moneymaker swept past far more experienced players to win $1.5 million. The largerthan- life nature of high-stakes poker makes for even more great stories. There are tales about one modernday player who, overjoyed by a win, paid his cocktail waitress' mortgage. Another tipped a cocktail waitress $10,000 for a bottle of water. Brunson, whose own life should be a movie, recently lost 100 pounds to win a $1 million bet.

Like many big-time gamblers, poker players have their own language, culture and superstitions. Brunson always uses a little black rock with a picture of Casper the Friendly Ghost to put on his cards. (A fan gave Brunson $3,700 to leave it to him in his will.) Johnny Chan won two World Series with a lucky orange sitting on the table. (Presumably it was a different orange each year.) Jaunty slang like nuts (an unbeatable hand), trips (three-of-a-kind), hole (the first two cards you're dealt, face-down, in the game Texas Hold 'Em), and flop (the first three cards on the table in Hold 'Em) add to the insider-y frisson.

Casinos know that for newbies, poker can still be intimidating. Says Donna Harris, Director of Poker Operations at The Mirage, "Unlike the blackjack table, the poker room has a rail. You have to give your name at the door, get on waiting lists, know where to go for the limit you want to play. We want to generate a tutorial to make the process more understandable." She laughs, "But poker on TV has helped my father understand what I do. I've been in this business for 24 years, and recently my father said, 'I think I finally understand what you do, from watching poker on TV!'"

The moral: Don't be afraid of the heat.