Playing with a poker heart

''I was amazed the women took to it the way they did," said Martin, 37, of Wrentham, who was inspired to write a book, ''No Limit Fun: Learn to Play and Host a Texas Hold 'Em Poker Party."

Now Martin is one of the organizers behind a Texas Hold 'Em night to raise money for an organization he supports, the Wrentham Land Preservation Fund. The event is to be held Saturday and there are expected to be as many as 100 players at the American Legion hall, betting chips to win small cash prizes.

Martin discovered the attraction of Texas Hold 'Em early on. Today, the game is a full-fledged craze, as reflected in such cable television shows as the ''World Series of Poker" on ESPN, ''The World Poker Tour" on the Travel Channel, ''Celebrity Poker Showdown" on Bravo, and ''Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament" on Fox Sports Net.

A two-week event called the New England Poker Classic that began March 28 at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut is to reach its climax this weekend with a four-day Texas Hold 'Em tournament that cost $5,000 to enter and drew hundreds of players.

The 2005 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in July is expected to draw more than 6,000 players and produce a prize pool topping $60 million.

Closer to home and on a smaller scale, Texas Hold 'Em has been adopted by numerous nonprofit organizations around Massachusetts looking for something to spice up their fund-raising.

A casino night that included Texas Hold 'Em for the first time raised about $10,000 last Saturday for the Sheldonville Community Center, where the Little Red Schoolhouse preschool operates.

The poker table was ''a big hit" and the most popular of the games, said Erin Aaron, a cochairwoman of the fund-raiser.

There's only one hitch to the Texas Hold 'Em tournaments held by nonprofit organizations. Some may not conform to the state's rules.

''Our office is in the process of putting together guidelines for charities to better explain how these games can be run within the confines of the law," said Sarah Nathan, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly. Nathan said the new guidelines should be available ''shortly," but she could not provide a date.

Running a poker game for profit is banned in Massachusetts, but nonprofit organizations have been allowed to raise money by hosting Las Vegas Night fund-raisers with games such as roulette and blackjack. The state collects a 5 percent tax on the proceeds.

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