All in for a round of poker

For 20-year-old Roger Dona, the poker craze has been a mixed blessing. Dona, who started playing 7-card stud with his friends at Kaiser High School about five years ago, admits he's a little irked at how often he's dismissed as some rounder-come-lately, just another college kid glomming onto a fad that has passed the flop, the turn and the river into the American mainstream.

Yet Dona happily allows that the phenomenal popularity of the game has significantly deepened the pool of willing players. As poker buffs statewide have come to learn, it's never been so easy to find a game in Hawai'i.

On any given night in the Islands, poker is played, legally and illegally, in living rooms and garages, bars and barracks, by family, friends and acquaintances of all stripes. Dozens of home games are advertised on sites like homepokergames.com. Solo gamblers also turn to Internet "Meet Up" groups to find games and gambling buddies.

"If all these new players weren't here," Dona laughs, "I wouldn't be up (in earnings) right now."

Dona's pal Justin Itano echoes the sentiment.

"I almost don't like how mainstream the game has gotten," says Itano, also 20. "But it helps me get games, so in that sense it's great."

Dona and Itano are part of an emerging generation of young players immersing themselves in the game. Along the way, they have the ardent encouragement of a $40 billion gaming industry and an increasingly interested roster of opportunistic entertainment programmers and product merchandisers.

Between work and school (Dona is finishing up the medical assistant program at Kapi'olani Community College, and Itano attends the University of Hawai'i), the two friends make time for a couple of games a week, on top of a few hours practicing at online poker sites.

They usually keep the wagers small, preferring the fun of competition over the more sober business of making money. And while they'd rather learn the game from live play rather than from the growing body of instructional books and videos flooding the market, they do watch their share of TV tournaments ? and they're familiar with all of the high-profile professional players.

"I just think it's fun," Itano says. "It's something to do."

Birth of the cool

Industry observers typically point to 2003 as the take off point for the ongoing poker boom, the dot on the graph from which industry profit lines arc to the heavens.

That was the first year that ESPN produced the "World Series of Poker" and ? in a stroke of amazing dramatic fortune ? the year an amateur Internet player named Chris Moneymaker parlayed a $40 investment in a satellite tournament into a $2.5 million first-place finish at the series.

Moneymaker's fairy-tale win epitomized one of the most compelling ? some say dangerous ? lures of modern tournament play: Anyone can win.

"Anyone who plays is essentially the next potential millionaire, the next Chris Moneymaker," says Eric Morris, co-founder and publisher of Bluff Magazine.

"I'm a huge baseball fan, but I'm not talented enough or in shape enough to ever be a pro," Morris says. "But with poker, I'm one tournament away from being a professional and winning a million dollars."

Moneymaker's march to the final table was made all the more compelling by the use of the "lipstick camera."

Developed by Henry Orenstein and introduced to poker audiences by the Travel Channel's "World Poker Tour," the tiny, tableside camera allowed viewers to see the players' cards and follow along with each strategic bluff, call or fold.

"Watching a game without knowing what the cards are is like watching paint dry," Morris says. "Now the viewer is more involved. It's more interactive.

"That was really the defining point," Morris says.

In fact, the success of the "World Series of Poker," the "World Poker Tour" and the host of similar programs that followed over the next two years is directly attributable to significant improvements in orientation, storytelling and presentation.

The lipstick camera made it possible for commentators to more fully explain the logic behind each player's moves. That, along with a full explanation of the basic rules in each episode and on-screen calculations of each player's odds, allowed poker newbies to quickly grasp the action while providing insight to more experienced viewers.

The programs also took a cue from professional sports, emphasizing individual personalities as a way of engaging viewers on a personal level.

It wasn't so long ago that poker seemed hopelessly passe, with its image of overweight, stogie-chomping men in bad clothes sweating over piles of plastic chips. Yet while the stereotypes still walk the kitchens and the casinos (stogies unlit), the face of the modern game has changed considerably.

The inherent drama of head-to-head matchups coupled with slick profile packages made it easy for viewers to get to know a diverse set of characters, from the Southern elder statesman Doyle Brunson to young African-American Phil Ivey, from women's poker icon Annie Duke to a half-dozen guys named Nguyen.

"They're like Hollywood celebrities," Morris says. "Poker is seen as hip right now. It's associated with being cool."

Businesses all in

While exact figures are impossible to determine, the industry estimates that 60 million to 80 million people nationwide now play poker with some regularity.

And Americans aren't just playing, they're watching and buying all things poker, as well.

The "World Series of Poker" had fewer than 850 entrants in 2003. This year, there are more than 6,600 players competing for a projected first-place prize of $7.4 million.

The "World Poker Tour" is the Travel Channel's highest rated show, drawing as many as 5 million viewers a week ? significant numbers for a cable channel. (See "Where to Watch," Page D1)

In addition to the professional tournaments and celebrity poker programs crowding network and cable television, poker is also finding its way into scripted series' (ESPN's "Tilt") and commercials (Coke Zero).

It's no surprise that ESPN's online store has a designated poker area offering items like ceramic chip sets, dealer shoes and poker apparel. But other businesses with less obvious ties to the game are also finding poker an easy sell.

FTD, the floral delivery service, sells a leather travel poker set for $29.99. For Father's Day, Rival Flowers.com countered with a "Deal Me In" arrangement that included a dozen carnations and a deck of cards.

Poker specialty sites have also popped up in recent months offering everything from custom poker tables to specialty sunglasses that "reveal nothing" during games, to Greg "Fossilman" Raymer bobbleheads.

Local retail stores have also gotten a boost from poker-related sales. Longs Drugs did brisk business selling specialty poker tables. Earlier this year, O'ahu Costco stores sold out of their 500-chip sets in a matter of days.

When they're not playing, poker buffs seem to be doing a lot of reading ? from pro-penned instruction books to a selection of niche periodicals.

Morris and partner Eddy Kleid launched their poker magazine Bluff late last year. Their distribution increased from 90,000 in October 2004 to 245,000 last month.

In addition to a two-hour satellite radio show, Bluff is also involved in developing a fantasy poker game and a professional tour. Morris estimates the company will make about $5 million in profits this year.

Net gains

One of the biggest drivers of the poker craze has been the lightning growth of Internet poker.

According to pokerpulse.com, the amount of money wagered daily on Internet poker sites jumped from $11 million in 2003 to nearly $200 million this year.

According to the Interactive Gaming Council, Americans account for up to 65 percent of Internet casino business.

Many online poker sites are based outside of the country and use escrow accounts to process payments. Some sites allow visitors to play for free. It is illegal to bet on these sites from Hawai'i, regardless of where the site is based.

"The Internet is one of the main reasons why we have this level of participation and marketability," Morris says. "Without it, the World Series of Poker would probably only have 1,000 players."

Local traditions

While Hawai'i is one of only two states that does not allow gambling establishments of any kind (Utah is the other), gambling has long been a part of the local culture. (See box, "The Rules," this page.)

Dean Alegado, chairman of the UH ethnic studies department, points to early immigrant groups that each brought wagering games such as cockfighting and pepito (a version of stud poker).

"A lot of these were single men working on the plantations and living in (racially segregated) camps," Alegado says. "They had their recreation, and gambling was part of that."

At times, gambling raised tensions between Christians from the West and the Native Hawaiian or immigrant population. Queen Lili'uokalani once approved a lottery to help alleviate an economic recession (without resorting to annexation by the United States) and was criticized for supporting gambling.

While measures that would allow gambling in the state have been continually introduced and rejected, many Hawai'i residents are enthusiastic and unapologetic gamblers.

"That's what Vegas is for, right?" says Pearl City resident Shelby Nakamura, 35. "You just go there a couple of times a year so you can play legally, and you keep it in check."

After months of practicing with friends and family, Nakamura sat down for her first Las Vegas poker game two months ago.

"It freaked me out," Nakamura says. "It's totally different, with a real dealer and with everyone staring you down. I don't know how those guys on TV can stand it."

Nakamura learned Texas Hold 'Em, the default poker game of most TV tournaments, by watching the "World Poker Tour" on TV.

"I don't know any other games," she said. "I barely even know that one."

The fact that so many new players are introduced to the game through TV tournaments has led to a strange sort of uniformity in recreational play.

"Playing cards in Hawai'i used to be different," says Mark Uyehara. "The way we learned from our fathers and uncles and aunties was different. They made up their own games. You don't see these games in Vegas, but most people in Hawai'i know how to play them. Now, but, it's all Texas Hold 'Em."

Uyehara says he watches TV tournaments and tries to glean what he can ? not that it always helps. "You watch to see what you should do. ... They have all these rules for what to do in each situation. But you're playing, you're not playing with pros.

"Guys will do some weird things."

By Michael Tsai

News Added: 03 July, 2005

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