You're sitting in front of your computer screen on a Wednesday night waiting for the next tournament on PartyPoker. com to start, although you know in your head you still have two papers to write and a quiz to study for.In the background,reruns of the World Poker Tour on television fill the silence of the room.Five minutes later,the dealer deals out the cards for the first round of Texas Hold'em.
You have played in countless online poker games, but you still feel a tingling sense of excitement rise through your body as you look at your cards — the king and queen of clubs. You eagerly bet your chips, anticipating what the next cards will be.
Here comes the flop — the jack of diamonds, six of clubs and 10 of hearts. Your heart beats a little faster as you raise the pot, hoping for an ace or nine to complete your straight draw. You up your ante and everyone else at the table folds except for someone with the screen name Poker4life.
With the turn comes the four of spades. Tough luck you think, but there is still one more card to be dealt. You convince yourself to stay in — in fact, you go all in, hoping to bluff out the other player. You take a deep breath, as you await the river. For a fleeting moment you think the dealer flipped a nine, but as you blink a couple of times, you see it's only the eight of hearts. A
message pops up on your screen telling you that you've been eliminated from this tournament, but to come play again. Another $50 down the drain you think to yourself, but you still can't wait
until tomorrow night when you'll try your luck in another online poker tournament.
Although poker has been around in the United States since the 1820s — when French immigrants who called the game poque brought it to New Orleans
"THE NICE THING ABOUT TOURNAMENTS ONLINE IS THAT YOU CAN MAKE A BIG FOOL OUT OF YOURSELF AND NOBODY WILL EVER KNOW WHO YOU ARE, SO YOU DON'T REALLY HAVE ANYTHING TO BE NERVOUS
the game.
It doesn't take much internet surfing to see that online gaming is especially popular. Just type in the word "poker" into the all-knowing Google search engine and moz
ABOUT."
— JOEY FINE,
MINNEAPOLIS SENIOR
poker is enjoying resurgence among Americans, particularly among college-aged students. Poker industry estimates are that 50 to 80 million Americans play
than 200 million hits will pop. There are more than 13 million "active real money players online wagering $20 million each day," according to PokerPulse.com, a Canadia company that tracks the online poker industry. With this surge in populari
comes risks, especially for college students who can get carried away with the game by spending to much time or money to try and find an easy way to get rich quick
08➤ JAYPLAY 08.24.2006