February 14, 2006
Sparked by the televised WPT texas holdem events, the face of the online poker game has changed dramatically. Primarily, it has become younger. It's not your grandfather's game anymore. Until the last several years, a 40-year-old at a poker table likely was one of the kids. "I'd say we've probably had about a 40-percent growth in the 21-to-35 age bracket. They come in here in droves," Raymond said. "Young people are very group oriented. We used to have bus loads come in from the colleges. They used to rent a bus and hop on it. I got an e-mail from a gentleman the other day. He's going to come in with his whole texas holdem poker team.
Young players appreciate the online texas holdem tournaments as well. Wildhorse only has a maximum of 99 poker rooms to offer, and contestants and tournament workers stay throughout the area at any place willing to give a players' discount for the duration of the 12-day texas holdem event. Waters said 50 rooms at Red Lion and 40 at Super 8 in Pendleton are filled with poker players this week, for example. Extra dealers hired for the event stay at the Rugged Country Lodge and Motel 6 in Pendleton.
"Any motel willing to work with us benefits," he said. If you wanted, you could also unregister for the texas holdem super satellite, and simply keep the $650 W$ in your online poker account. These W$ are like an internal currency at poker sites, and can be used for satellites, or sit n goes into any of the texas holdem events (EPT, Caribbean Adventure, Foxwoods WPT, and others). Also, note that poker just announced a 25% deposit bonus (Poker Stars VERY rarely offer deposit bonuses) that runs through the end of this week. So, if you sign up this week, you will get the deposit bonus, AND be eligible for these texas holdem freerolls. If you are even thinking about this, you should do it this week.
"Tilt" shows promise and should benefit tremendously from the popularity of the network's "World Series of Poker." But stick to sports, ESPN, and leave the drama for "CSI." Three remotes. Raised in tiny Kiowa, Okla., Gowen learned texas holdem poker as a teenager and honed her skills after her first divorce, when she was 23. Alone on weekends when her daughter was with her father, Gowen would drive two hours to Shreveport, La., to play texas holdem in the casinos. Before long, she was making $500 a weekend, although she was too embarrassed to tell her friends in the Junior League.
Phil Ivey is "scary good." He takes in everything at the texas holdem poker table and never flinches when confronted by an intimidating situation. Nothing bothers him at the poker table, and he can turn an opponent's aggressive behavior into an act of foolishness by playing back at them, putting their entire stack of chips into jeopardy. This is a sign of strength, character, and winning texas holdem. It's something you see in players like Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan, and it's magic.
