Saturday, February 24, 2007

Several leagues have sprung up, with players pitting their skills against
each other without real money being exchanged. Texas hold'em is a form of
poker where players make their hand from two cards they hold and five cards
shared by the players at the table. The national director of the Pub Poker
League, Lorelei Dann, said since launching in Christchurch last October, the
league now had several hundred players at 15 venues. Players enter for free
and play knock-out style until a nightly winner is found. Winners go to
regional tournaments and can then compete in Australia for a seat at the
World Series of Poker in the United States, and the chance to win millions
of dollars. Dann attributes the rise of poker to the internet, where players
can play for real money via credit cards, and to television coverage of the
world series. Poker player Richard King said the game attracted people
because it was free and accessible. "You have fun for a good three or four
hours and people get to know each other well," he said. Another player,
Daniel Gay, said the game was easy to teach. However, Gay said he regretted
teaching his girlfriend to play poker, as he now could not beat her. Poker
has become so popular that a dedicated poker store and online business has
been launched in Auckland selling chips, cards and tables.