A winning hand

Randy Strong doesn't flinch when he takes a peek at the hand he's been dealt. Carefully folding the tips of the two playing cards to reveal a pair of sevens -- or walking sticks as they're known in poker circles -- the 24-year-old Winnipegger knows he has luck on his side and he doesn't want his opponents to know it.

A smile, smirk or raised eyebrows can be a dead giveaway or a bluff if the others don't take the bait.

Now, it's up to Strong's instincts and skill to trump the others in this group of friends who get together often for a friendly but competitive game of Texas Hold 'Em.

"My dad taught me how to play a long time ago and then we started playing and it developed from there," said Strong, who works for a TV station in the city.

"I like the social atmosphere because you can sit down with your friends, take all their money and laugh about it later," he said.

"I pretty much play daily now. Here, online, poker rooms and the casino. If you have a good night you have a few hundred dollars to pay bills and buy into the next tournament."

That may sound crazy to some but it's the common goal of hundreds of Winnipeggers who have jumped on the poker bandwagon.

In the span of two years, the game has exploded and emerged from its dusty image of smoke-filled rooms, the wild west and Kenny Rogers tunes. Getting one's fix is as simple as logging on to the World Wide Web.

But capturing an elusive royal flush is just as difficult as trying to figure out the game's rising popularity.

HOUSEHOLD NAMES

In few other sports could Average Joes like World Series of Poker champions Chris Moneymaker (2003) and Greg Raymer (2004) catapult into stardom and become household names and pop culture icons.

Not to mention millionaires and the admiration of thousands of poker players looking to strike it rich in a big way.

Moneymaker's win came just before the boom and it's likely no coincidence. He won $2.5 million US at the World Series, his first tournament alongside warm bodies. A pretty good return on the 40 bucks he spent to enter a qualifying tournament on PokerStars.com.

Last year, 2,600 flocked to the tournament in Las Vegas to compete for the $5 million US prize Raymer walked away with.

This year's no-limit Texas Hold 'Em championship kicked off yesterday with more than 3,000 hopefuls -- including a Kenora man and at least 10 Manitobans -- vying for an unprecedented cash prize of up to $10 million US.

In addition to a roster of lunch pail-toting stars, television has also played a huge role in poker's rise. Viewers can't flip through more than a few channels without seeing professionals, celebrities or even NASCAR drivers throwing cards. Canadian sports networks worried about the loss of the NHL have found a winner in professional tours, which are drawing record audiences and inspiring everyone to go to all in.

"It's a great levelling form of sports entertainment," said Ken Auliffe, associate editor of Canadian Poker Player magazine. "You can do it, your buddy can do it, even your wife can do it."

The exposure is a hand dealt in favour of businesses across the city. From Wal-Mart and Costco to Zellers and Dick's Buckets, everybody is cashing in on sales of chips, tables and other items.

Players are flocking to Club Regent and local poker rooms but nobody is making more dough than Internet gaming sites, where millions of new players are finding a convenient place to play for pay.

According to PokerPulse.com, more than $200 million US is wagered in online poker games in any given 24-hour period. And you can be sure online casinos are getting a cut of that.

In addition to cash, online tournament winners can qualify for the World Series of Poker and other televised circuits like the World Poker Tour.

Even the smaller guys are getting face time in front of millions of couch potatoes. Take the Heartland Poker Tour, for example. The Fargo-based circuit just signed a deal with Canadian specialty channel MenTV and several stations south of the border.

Not bad for a tour that recently held its first event in northern Minnesota with no marquee names and a total purse of $100,000 US.

It may seem the big money is in America or Europe where many online casinos are based -- it's illegal to operate a gaming website in North America -- but poker is about to take a giant leap north of the border.

The Canadian Poker Tour hits airwaves in August and is getting ready to hold its $1 million final at the end of July in Regina.

Two Winnipeggers -- Shane Fumerton and Jimmy Paulenko -- are among the tour's Top 25 players and have earned a spot in that contest and the World Series of Poker's main event, where many online gamblers will make their live tournament debut.

As Strong's focus shifts to the world's biggest poker event he wonders what it would be like at Binion's Horseshoe Casino with a seat at the final table.

It may seem like a longshot but it's something he knows can happen -- and has happened -- to a regular guy like himself.

And now that the friendly game is over, Strong is off to the computer where he'll spend an hour working on his skills against people he'll probably never meet in person.

"Practice is what makes you a better player," he said. "Getting experience is all I can do because I'm at least another year or so away from taking part in big tournaments."

As if he's holding a hot hand with his chips all in, Strong doesn't flinch when he makes that prediction.

By CHRIS KITCHING

News Added: 08 July, 2005

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