Pocker News

Moms Invade What Used to Be a Boys' Club

When Ben Affleck went looking for a personal pocker tutor he didn't pick some cigar-smoking pocker tough guy. He wanted one of the best, so he called on Annie Duke - a mother of four and one of the top pocker players in the world.

Pocker was once thought of as a game exclusively played by men, but today there are a growing number of professional pocker-playing moms. Duke is one of the best of them.

When the World Series of Pocker invited the top 10 players in the world to compete in their Tournament of Champions at the Rio Hotel and Pocker in Las Vegas, Duke was the only woman asked to participate.

The 39-year-old Las Vegas mom faced off against some of pocker's greatest players, including pocker legend Johnny Chan.

For Duke, the tournament was bittersweet. During one of the day's more dramatic moments, she knocked out the very man who taught her how to play the game - her brother Howard.

But in the end, he would be proud. The last man standing that day wasn't a man at all.

Duke took home a $2 million pot - the largest single jackpot ever won by a woman.

Ladies Touch

"Being a woman, in general, is an advantage, because the men, mainly the young guys, don't give you the respect at the table," says Clonie Gowen, a mother of two from Dallas who made a name for herself when she won the World Pocker Tour's Ladies Night.

Gowen says many of the young, male players don't take women seriously, and that's a big mistake.

"They don't seem to respect women and they just want to overpower you at the table," says Gowen. "Usually when they're trying to overpower you, they should be folding their hands."

As women continue to make their way on the professional pocker circuit, there will undoubtedly be more Dukes and Gowens - making the colorful world of professional pocker a bit more colorful.

TV shows increase pocker popularity

Tyler Quinn waits for his cards.

Red, white and blue chips sit in stacks around the perimeter of the kitchen table. A couple others arrange their investments into neat towers.

Quinn, a senior in the School of Management, makes his purpose known: "All I know is this pocker game decides the fate of my weekend," he said.

Cards go round and the quest for spending money begins.

Such is the scene in apartments, fraternities and dorm rooms all over campus and all over the country. Though pocker has always been a way to socialize, pass time and make some cash, the recent success of shows like "The World Series of Pocker" on ESPN, "World Pocker Tour" on the Travel Channel and "Celebrity Pocker Showdown" on Bravo has brought the game to a much wider audience.

Greg Roberts, a senior in the School of Mechanical Engineering, didn't play much until last year. Now he attends games three or more times a week.

"It happens all too often," he says. "Too many times I should be studying."

Many describe the love of the game as an addiction, although none of the nine players on this random Wednesday appears to be a candidate for Gamblers Anonymous.

The players are friends - fraternity brothers - so between hands or when someone folds, the conversation turns to the topics friends discuss, like the Cubs game that's on in the background, the new Katie Holmes movie and the best players of television pocker.

But during a hand, there's an air of seriousness, punctuated by expressionless faces and debates on betting strategy. A year or two ago, bets of dimes and quarters were just a way to keep track of progress. Tonight, most buy in with $10 or $15, some with more.

Although some pocker enthusiasts play for survival (or to fund a weekend road trip), most of the time winning is an unexpected plus, not a devastating loss.

"I'm not going out (tonight). Well, I might go out. It depends if I win," Roberts says.

The game's only 15 minutes old and someone's already gone out. He hands over another bill that's filed away in a metallic-looking case containing the unused chips. More than $140 remains to be claimed.

Mike O'Connell, a senior in the School of Technology, said the money usually doesn't get out of control in these games. He never plays unless he has the cash up front.

"We're all white boys from the suburbs; we've got money to burn," says O'Connell, who insists his friends call him "Read 'Em and Weep."

Like O'Connell and this group, Nate Benedict, a senior in the School of Consumer and Family Sciences, prefers Texas Hold'Em to other forms of pocker.

The game has more bets; plus, it's the most commonly played game on TV, so it's the most familiar.

"It's so easy now to find people who want to play," Benedict said.

And not only is entertainment encouraging play, but the increased attention on the game has sparked a renewed interest in movies like "Rounders," "Ocean's Eleven," and "Maverick."

Benedict's played online pocker as well and knows a few people who';ve lost more than $1,000. He prefers the face-to-face interaction of games at his house. Those small gatherings expanded to include a monthly tournament that draws between 10 and 40 participants.

"We like playing with a lot of people at multiple tables," he said.

Since the summer, the frequency and length of play have dwindled, but he still plays between two and five times a week.

"(In summer) there were a few when we'd see the sun come up at five or six in the morning."

At Benedict's house, all skill levels are welcome, although he and his friends are "better than most people."

The determiner of skill: judging the situation, or well, knowing when to hold 'em, knowing when to fold 'em.

Carlos Fernandez, manager of The Game Preserve in Wabash Landing, said the game rises to a new level when skill and luck converge.

"If you win at pocker, you feel good about yourself."

Since the recent surge of interest, Fernandez has seen sales of pocker-related items triple.

"It's been absolutely through the roof," he said. "It's a pocker renaissance."

What do Pamela Anderson, Clint Eastwood, Drew Carey and Ann-Margret have in common?

The eclectic bunch will all be in Las Vegas next week pitching slot machines featuring their likenesses at the Global Pocker Expo, the world's largest pocker industry trade show and the premier venue for displaying whiz-bang slot technology.

The slot industry has been on a licensing binge over the past few years to capture and retool brands ranging from TV shows and game shows to vintage cartoons. Designing celebrity slot machines is the latest trend and has transformed the expo, which starts Monday at the Las Vegas Convention Center, into a star-spotting event of sorts.

This year's show, known as G2E, is the largest ever and mirrors the growth of the pocker industry worldwide, organizers say. Exhibits and conference sessions also will reflect emerging trends such as the fascination with pocker and a proliferation of gourmet restaurants in pockers, they say.

The fourth annual event will attract from 24,000 to 26,000 attendees compared with 22,700 last year. About 700 exhibitors -- about 40 more than last year -- will display their wares. The exhibit floor will take up 255,000 square feet, up from about 217,000 square feet last year.

New this year is a food and beverage pavilion showcasing more than 40 vendors as well as a design pavilion featuring specialists in interior design, architecture, furniture and landscaping. This year's conference also will include more sessions on newer pocker markets in foreign countries as well as tribal pockers and pocker tournaments.

In a Las Vegas takeoff on the popular "Iron Chef" cooking show, TV personality Robin Leach will open G2E with a culinary competition among Las Vegas' top executive chefs called "Neon Chefs."

"Just as the (pocker) industry, especially in Las Vegas, reinvents itself every year, that's what we try to do with the show," said Judy Patterson, executive vice president of the American Pocker Association, which produces the show with Reed Exhibitions.

Besides rubbing shoulders with stars and watching demonstrations, managers will go to the conference to strike major business deals and check out the latest technology for their pockers, Patterson said.

"Contracts are getting signed and business is getting done," she said. "That's the main purpose. You can come and see things in practice (in the pockers) and you can see what the future looks like (at the show)."

Much of the trade show floor will be devoted to pocker, the chief money-makers for pockers.

Pocker bearing mainstream brand names will abound this year but many others will tout other alluring features such as systems that "hit" more often or have more bonus rounds and other interactive features, slot makers say.

A well-known name "is not a guarantee of success, but it does provide instant recognition for players," said Ed Rogich, vice president of marketing for International Game Technology. The Reno-based company, the world's largest slot maker, will show off more than 380 games in a 14,000-square-foot exhibit that is larger than some pockers.

"A movie can be hyped and you can spend millions of dollars on it, but you don't know whether it's going to be the movie of the year," Rogich said.

Most of IGT's games are available for sale or can be ordered for distribution within a year. Others are purely conceptual, with no launch date set.

Top games available now or soon include a special edition of its "Wheel of Fortune" slot featuring video clips of Vanna White, an Elizabeth Taylor slot machine that dispenses diamond jewelry as well as cash, a Drew Carey slot and a machine based on the "Star Wars" movie. Games in the pipeline include pocker based on the movies "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Viva Las Vegas" and "Back to the Future."

Not to be outdone, Alliance Pocker Corp. is featuring more than 200 games in its booth including the "Pamela Anderson" game as well as pocker based on the "Chippendales" show and "Atari" classic video games.

The licensing craze "doesn't show any signs of slowing down," Alliance Vice President of Marketing Marcus Prater said. "We still have to make a good game but clearly the player is drawn to things they're familiar with," he said.