February 9, 2006
Her loose playing style marks her for an amateur texas holdem poker player or worse, a "land mine," a rank beginner who can stymie the pros by playing hands only a rube would play. During a break, though, Gowen reveals her strategy. By creating the image of a reckless player, she'll lure players into betting against her later, when the holdem poker hands are bigger and the stakes higher. "I'm selling the impression that I'm here to gamble," she whispered. All the rebuys, she said, encourage others to do the same, growing a texas holdem pot she fully expects to collect at the end of the evening.
Cody Smith, a friend of Gowen's who came to the big texas holdem tournament with her, was not surprised by Gowen's approach. "The rest of the players are looking around at how much money they can get from the table," said Smith. "She's looking at how much money she can get from the room." The United States isn't the only country to try to keep Internet texas holdem poker companies from advertising on its airwaves. Canada has joined the U.S. in re-examining its existing laws (Criminal Code) that makes it illegal for online casinos to advertise on television.
Despite poker's surge in popularity for texas holdem and Canadian TV stations willingness to air poker-related programming this year, poker rooms are unable to cash in on the specific target audiences like those watching the World Series of Poker or the World Poker Tour (both texas holdem events). According to Jim Patterson, president and chief executive officer of the Television Bureau of Canada, "The Criminal Code makes on-line gambling illegal, period. Promotion of an illegal activity is against the law. We would only give an approval number if there is nothing on that says play for cash and nothing on the site that says you can play for cash." Online texas holdem poker rooms have found a way around the laws by taking advantage of a small loophole. Although Canadian TV stations can't advertise poker sites, stations are willing to air "play money" commercials from companies like PokerParty and PokerStars.
The play sites have similar names to the cash texas holdem sites, but do not allow cash payouts or transactions. The play sites typically end with .net suffix instead of the traditional dot com site address. Toronto-based internet consultant Rick Broadhead is quick to point out that allowing this practice makes Canadian regulators look foolish. In the popular poker imagination, texas holdem players don't have homes. They're rootless card sharps who drift up and down the Mississippi on paddle wheelers, or rent rooms above the saloon full of texas holdem games.
