Are you game? Poker is set to take the city by storm

Are you familiar with the words pocket Rockets, The Flop or Big Slick? Well, if not, they might soon become a popular pastime, or even sport, in Asia in the coming months. Join the fun and excitement of Hold-em poker in the comfort of your living room at any hour of the day or night or in bars.

Once the preserve of secretive hangouts, the game of poker is now drawing huge audiences and ratings on paid TV networks in the US, gaining with it an air of respectability. The game is also becoming increasingly popular in Asia.

Driven by huge number of online tournaments, Hold-em has become a favourite pastime among the work mates and college buddies returning from overseas. Regular poker nights are being set up in some of the most popular bars in Hong Kong.

“We first started our poker nights about three months ago,” said Simon Laveau, manager at a bar near Soho, one of the venues.

“Of course the games are for prizes only, there’s no actual cash involved, but we still get 40 to 50 people each week.

“At first we did it to promote the bar early, during Happy Hour, but now a lot of people are coming just for the poker.”

The club is now in the middle of hosting its third tournament.The winner will get round trip tickets to Thailand, he said.

At a lounge nearby, Matthew Lee is busy calling blinds for a group of eager players crowded around a number of poker tables set up especially for the night.

Speaking about the game’s growing popularity, Lee said: “Poker started getting popular about nine months ago. Originally four to five bars were holding poker nights. Of these, two have since dropped out, but others are rumored to be taking their place.

“At our poker night, we get 30 to 40 people. 80 percent are men, 20 percent ladies, many of whom already know how to play.”

“Texas Hold-em is easy to learn, but has still many aspects to it. That’s what makes it so popular,” said Elton Tsang, a 27-year-old entrepreneur, Hong Kong native, and organizer of the first ever Asian Poker Open, which will be held in Macao later this month.

“Unlike Omaha, 7-card stud or Caribbean (poker), there is less luck and more skill required from the player. But you can learn the skills.

“A skilled player will consistently win, and unlike other casino games, you are competing against other players, not the house. This means there is more interaction between the players and this makes it more thrilling.”

Unlike most competitions, the uniqueness of poker tournament, whether online or ‘live’, is that anyone with a reasonable amount of skill and a bit of luck, can play around a kitchen table one day, and sit shoulder to shoulder with some of the best players in the world. Amateurs Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer did exactly that when each came out of nowhere to win the main event at the World Series of Poker, the game’s biggest tournament, in 2003 and 2004 respectively, after qualifying online. Their rise to fame instantly drew millions to the game. The game of choice at the WSOP, however, is Texas Hold-em.

For its part, the APO is expected to attract around 500 players from all over Asia, many from Hong Kong, as well as around the world, including some of the game’s biggest names like Johnny Chan and John Juanda from the US and Australian Joe Hachem, winner of the WSOP in 2005.

The six-day tournament comprises smaller one off and less expensive ’satellite’ tournaments and will culminate in the feature event, the High Rollers Tournament, which is expected to see the biggest action and the big stars.

However, the APO is not for the weakling. A tyro might find the US$1500 to US$2500 buy-in fee for the smaller events too risky an investment and might not enter the High Rollers game. But the gutsy guys might have a good chance in at least one of them, said Tsang.

A quick check around town suggests no shortage of punters.

Texas Hold-em “is a pure fun, because playing consistently well requires the use of mathematics at various points in the game,” said Sylvain Gingras, a business development manager who is thinking of making the trip, “and it’s fun trying to ‘read’ your opponents”.

“Normally I don’t play cards and I don’t play other kinds of poker, but the game is unique because watching for other players’ reactions (tells) can give you a good clue as to the cards they are holding.”

Steve Ho, another poker plays two or three times a week and recently won a local tournament and was runner-up in another.

“I won with quads on the penultimate hand and in the last hand I had Ace-King suited and hit an Ace on the Flop and won it,” he said. “I was so excited that I called all my friends for dinner and we had drinks.”

“Texas Hold-em is different because it punishes bad players and rewards good ones more than any other form of poker I’ve played,” said Joe Vu, who works in an international bank. Joe plays 25 to 35 hours a week and considers the game more of a lifestyle than a hobby.

“I’ve played Omaha, Omaha Hi Lo, Blind Man’s Bluff and Caribbean Stud, but because of the current fad, Hold’em is far more accessible and so the returns can be huge,” Joe said.

“It starts off on Sundays with a bankers’ game, it can be very lucrative with big pots. Then there are the tournaments on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and other games on Fridays.

“I’ve had massive wins, walked away from games many times up. I’ve only won well when I’ve had the nuts and set and baited a trap with a bit of Hollywood thrown into the mix. I don’t remember the hands, but I wish I did. It’s better than anything.”

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