They take a career gamble with online poker

IN THE past 24 hours, around US$180 million ($295m) was wagered in online poker rooms worldwide, and Mr Boyd Leys wants a slice of the action.

Five months ago, Mr Leys packed in his US$65,000 a year job with an Internet publishing company and joined a growing number of poker enthusiasts emboldened by the boom in online gambling to take up the game full-time.

In the first online tournament he tried, Mr Leys, 50, managed to get in the money, but with an average monthly 'take' of just US$300, he has few illusions about becoming an overnight poker millionaire.

Mr Leys spends an average of six hours a day playing US$50 and US$100 buy-in games.

Television coverage has fuelled phenomenal growth in the poker industry in recent years, and nowhere more so than in the virtual gaming rooms that litter the Internet.

In January 2003, around US$11.1m was wagered every day on major poker Web sites. Two years later, that daily average has grown to US$180m, according to PokerPulse.com, a Canadian company that tracks the industry.

And with as many as 1.8 million players active at any given time, poker sites are expected to pull in more than US$2 billion in gross revenue this year.

The dreams of online players are embodied by Mr Chris Moneymaker and Mr Greg Raymer, who stunned the traditional poker world by stepping from the obscurity of the Internet ranks and walking off with the coveted World Poker Series titles in 2003 and last year respectively.

'After seeing those two win, everyone from the bellboy to the CEO suddenly wanted to play the game,' said Mr Bill Seymour, 63, a 10-year veteran of the World Poker Tour, who now coaches online players at Pokercoaching.com.

'A lot of the people out there just haven't got a clue,' said Mr Seymour, who claims that four sessions with him would give any online player an advantage over 85 per cent of his cyberspace rivals.

Logic suggests that highly skilled players like Mr Seymour would make a mint fleecing amateurs on the Internet, but the virtual environment robs them of a key weapon in their armoury - the ability to 'read' flesh and blood opponents for signs that they may be bluffing or holding a sure-win hand.

'Playing bad players can actually be a liability for a pro,' said Mr Seymour. 'They call when they shouldn't and bluff when they shouldn't and, worst of all, win when they shouldn't.'

And as Mr Barry Shulman, editor of Card Player magazine, points out, the element of luck is the great leveller in poker.

'A decent golfer will almost never beat a top professional, but a decent poker player can beat the world's best on any given day,' said Mr Shulman.

If the faceless nature of online play is viewed with suspicion by the pros, it is happily embraced by the likes of Mr Leys, who can build up hundreds of hours of competitive poker experience without having to brave the intimidating atmosphere of a bricks and mortar casino.

'Because of the anonymity there's absolutely no fear other than losing your money and, perhaps, looking bad in front of people you've never seen,' said Mr Leys.

- AFP.