Spurred by TV tournaments, poker all the rage

By Frank DeFrank
Macomb Daily Staff Writer

Enter Gameland Sports in Clinton Township and you might think you walked into a Las Vegas novelty shop. Spread out seemingly as far as the eye can see is a virtual smorgasbord of poker-related items: poker tables, poker chips, poker visors and even poker books.
That those products are displayed prominently in what is ostensibly a sports memorabilia store is no accident. Not a day goes by when somebody -- from businessmen in three-piece suits to 20-somethings in baggy pants and backwards baseball caps -- doesn't buy something related to poker.

"It was a poker Christmas," said Tiffany Tusa, assistant manager at Gameland Sports.

"That's what we were saying around here."

Thanks to televised events such as the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker, the game -- especially Texas Hold'em, the professional's game of choice -- poker's image has been transformed.

Once perceived as an illegal, after-hours activity in dimly lit backrooms, poker has become fashionable. From private games in basements to online gaming to high-stakes action at Detroit's casinos, everybody, it seems, is getting in on the action. Even charity groups have taken notice.

Vito Marchese, vice president of the Kiwanis Club of Warren, said his organization's fund-raising efforts have slipped in recent years. The economy may be partially to blame, he said, but club officers wondered whether the organization's activities got a little "tired."

So the club will host its first-ever Texas Hold'em tournament fund-raiser Jan. 23 at DeCarlo's Banquet Center in Warren. Proceeds will benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

"(Americans) are fad-driven," Marchese said. "How else do you explain somebody buying a rock? We decided we have to hop on this (poker) bandwagon."

The $70 entry fee will get participants a seat at a poker table ($50 buy-in) along with food and beer. First prize is $500 with other cash prizes planned, depending on participation.

Marchese admitted the group is a little nervous whether the Kiwanis' first attempt at poker as a fund-raiser will work out.

"We'll see ... if we do some good," he said.

Dennis Peters of Clinton Township might tell Marchese not to worry. Peters has organized five Texas Hold'em tournaments and turned over some $3,600 in 2004 to the Humane Society of Macomb.

"We sell out every time we do it," Peters said.

Like what the Kiwanis Club plans, Peters said the events he's helped organize feature door prizes and other attractions, but poker is the main event.

"We saw it on TV and thought, 'We could do that,'" he said.

Larry VandeVrede of New Baltimore has played poker with his pals for years. But once he started watching the pros play on television, he got hooked on Texas Hold'em.

Now, VandeVrede said, he plays about once a week at the Greektown casino in what he calls "medium-stakes" ($10-$20) games. He says he's won the last several times he's played, but that doesn't mean history will necessary repeat.

"It can go fast," he said. "Anybody tells you (they always win) is lying."

Nancy Bonnell of Roseville and her pals didn't need televised tournaments to pique their interest in poker. They've played a monthly game for 14 years; sort of a Girls Night Out with cards.

"We don't play in the summer because it's golf season," she quipped.

But the rest of time, as many as nine women gather for food, conversation and, of course, poker.

"The main attraction is a regularly scheduled time to see my buddies," Bonnell said. "You can play all night and even if you have the worst night ever, it's still cheap entertainment."

While the popularity of poker is beyond question, the legality is another matter. Charities and service organizations can obtain special 1-day licenses from the state for millionaire parties and the like, but technically, even the home low-stakes poker games are illegal, said Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith.

"That doesn't mean the police are going to be breaking down the door," Smith said. "It's not one of our top priorities. But at the same time, I'm not giving the OK to go out and gamble.

"The law is pretty specific. It is illegal."

But that's not likely to deter most.

The Travel Channel reports its World Poker Tour is the highest-rated program in the history of the network. Just last week, ESPN debuted "Tilt," that network's latest dramatic series built around high-stakes poker players in Nevada.

Toss in Celebrity Poker and the granddaddy, the World Series of Poker, and you get the idea that poker -- on television and in basements -- is here to stay.

So grab a beer, pull up a chair and ante up. Get ready to check to the raiser, go all-in and read 'em and weep.

"It's the hottest thing in town right now," Peters said.

For information about the Kiwanis Club of Warren's Texas Hold 'Em fund-raiser to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association, call (586) 759-6500.