How to be a Playa

Poker craze overtakes the 5-Cs

Dainelle Brown / Claremont Student

By Sergio Donis and Sarah Stalk
Staff Writers

Poker has taken over our otherwise God-fearing nation.  You can tune in to Bravo and experience your favorite talentless celebrities in their “poker for charity” matches, squirming and writhing as they piss away money for the needy.  Or you can flip over to ESPN to witness professionals like Greg Raymer (the 2004 World Series of Poker Champion) flush away their children’s college funds.  If you find yourself mindlessly surfing the net in the computer lab, you can join the over 50,000 addicts at www.PartyPoker.com - the world’s largest poker room. 

Those college students not satisfied simply watching poker on TV have resorted to playing poker in the lounges, living rooms, and study rooms of their dorms.  This is in no way a new occurrence, but as of late, it has cornered the attention of a larger following. 

If, by any chance, you are walking by Pitzer’s Sanborn Hall, you might want to stop by the D-1 social room, where poker is a nightly event.  There, a consistent group of enthusiastic students gather around a long table and play into the wee hours of the morning.  Before you even reach the doorway, the clanking of plastic poker chips can be heard from around the corner. The faces at the table are constantly changing as people drift in and out of the room.  At Pitzer, it seems that the poker atmosphere is laid- back and promotes solidarity and camaraderie.  No matter the outcome, the players are always in good spirits and the only outburst is that of the token drunk in the room.

Traditionally, official tournaments have not been held at Pitzer. The first Pitzer tournament occurred last April 3rd. The tournament held about 25 participants and was won by Jordan Passman, He took home a $50 Best Buy gift certificate and a deck of Kem Cards. CMC maintains that similar tournaments have existed and report that at their last tournament a crowd of about 100 players showed up. HMC holds regular matches on Thursday nights at Case dorm, but their games are played in good fun and the players mainly participate to meet other people and engage in a battle of wits and brains.  Matt*, an HMC student and a regular at the Thursday meetings, says that the players at Mudd, “…will play more mathematically than the normal player…”  This is both a blessing and a burden, Matt notes- “if you rely on math too much, you limit your ability to read other players.” Pomona also hosts regular Thursday night matches that are put together by the Claremont Card Club.

Internet poker, with its higher stakes and higher addiction levels, is another fad on the way in. Playing online is reserved mostly to those players who are more serious about the game and have larger purses to spend. While the typical 5-C game starts at $5, the typical online match usually begins at $25. Although the game is more risky, it is also more profitable. Because of the added potential for a bigger win. There are those who have made it a habit to play online for cash payoffs.  Thomas*, a junior at CMC, was at one time making about $100 an hour playing in online poker matches. Thomas reminisces, “At first, I played the 25 No Limit tables online, just one table at a time…that was about a year ago.”

In internet poker, the player engages in matches (tables) which start at a certain bid. There are those matches that are labeled “No Limit.”  These tables begin at a set amount which can be raised, at any moment, with no limits. While playing online, a player can choose to play as many tables as he or she wishes. After Thomas started winning at lower bidding tables, he moved to higher bids. He continued to increase his stakes in the online matches until he was playing, “Four $400 no limit tables at the same time.” He continued to increase his bids this way until  he lost big, over a couple thousand dollars in a two day span. This is a fact that Thomas notes many poker players will have to face. He advises to other poker players, “Whatever type of poker player you are, you will always lose.” Now Thomas says he’s taking a break from playing the sport he loves, “But don’t be worried,” he warns, “I'll be back in a few days. I'll play until I think I can't win more than I lose.”

Want a piece of the action too?  The Claremont Card Club and The Poker Players are interest groups you can join on Facebook.  Or, you can try attending the weekly offering of matches.  Whatever your taste, poker can be a chill, social game, or financial endeavor.  Like Ludacris said in his song, ‘Put Your Money,’ “Bet a hundred, bet a thousand, bet a stack, bet a million, put your money where your mouth is.”  n

 *Names have been changed for

privacy purposes.