New Blood

Since the airing of the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel, my regular poker game at the Oasis Casino is filled with new faces, all trying to take my money. Texas Hold'em is a simple game to learn but a very complex game to master. Volumes have been written about it.

My poker game is changing. The room that I usually play in is more often peopled by strangers than at any time during the past five years. The faces are younger and cockier. LA Lakers baseball caps turned backwards and retro jerseys with logos such as “Utah Jazz” and “Dallas Mavericks, adorn the heads and frames of these aspiring new players. Tattooed bodies display artworks from head to toe like paintings on the Louvre walls. Hot young girls strut- in and tell the floor man “Gimmee a rack of blues!” Names like Phil Helmuth, Johnny Chan and Scotty Nguyen
roll off the lips of these young guns as if they were family members.

Television and the World Poker Tour has stimulated the interests of thousands of people who are dying to try their luck at Texas Hold’em. They’ve watched the shows, played some free and paid internet poker, read Skalansky and Brunson, and then made a beeline to my little poker room in Mesquite, Nevada. They make a buy-in and immediately raise out of turn, only to be told by the dealer that the game has a protocol and rules. An old poker player like myself has to love this infusion of youth into the game that I enjoy so much. For too long I’ve played with players that I could read and could read me like a book. The games were predictable and uninteresting. The outcomes, over time, were also predictable. It was easy to forecast one’s monetary fluctuation during a given period. Win a little, lose a little was the mantra. A friendly $4-8 game as it were, with a rare player losing control. A sleepy experience. Everyone recognized the local town maniacs and played accordingly. This comfortable, local, friendly game with occasional tourists has drastically changed.

It’s usual now for eight out of ten players to see “the river.” “Any two cards can win is the rule rather than the exception.” The term “limp-in” has lost its meaning, only to be replaced by raise and re-raise. Two hundred dollar pots are common now. (Remember, this is a simple $4-8 game). Neophytes often make large, quick hits and carry away a bucketful of dinero. The games are much noisier and festive as alcohol flows freely. Bad beats are the norm, as pocket aces and kings are often cracked without help. Pre-flop raises scare no one. Once the cards are dealt, most of these youth forget the advice that they’ve read in poker books. They want action a la the World Poker Tour and love the bluff, even though it rarely works at this limit. Are these changes bad for poker? Are they bad for me and some of my older peers?

Heck no!! It’s far more interesting to play in these lively games. It can also be more profitable for a smart player. After all, I alone control my own play and decisions, no matter what game I’m playing. Also, playing with younger people bridges a gap in misunderstanding. These kids are fun to play poker with because they take chances and have energy. Many of them are intelligent and will become excellent poker players after they pay the price of time and money. The mass media has simply shown them, what I’ve known for many years; poker is great fun and challenges one mentally. I welcome these new players. It’s an exciting time to be a poker player.

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