You gotta know when to Texas hold'em at UMSL

Are you good at card games?

If you are (or even if you are not), the University of Missouri-St. Louis holds annual poker games and this year was the "Texas Hold 'em Tournament!"

The tournament is usually played with a 52-card deck, and needs at least two players with no more than 11 players.

The Texas Hold 'em Tournament was held on South Campus in the Provincial Hall from 7 -11 p.m. on Thursday night and officially started at 7:15 p.m.

The event drew in 46 players.

Charlotte Caeys, graduate student, business administration, came here from France and said she learned to play poker here, and has loved it from the first time she played. "I found out [how to play poker] on the Internet," Caeys said.

There were seven tables, one for the last ten people who survived until the end. Seven to eight people were seated at each table.

Students received Campus Recreation T-shirts and golf towels depending on how late they lasted at their table.

The last three people playing at the tournament table received gift cards to Best Buy in the amounts of $25, $50 and $100.

There was also a drawing for a Phillips Norelco Shaver. Each game lasted 15 minutes, and those that stayed in the game after others dealt out were sent to other tables to continue playing until the 10 people were left to play the tournament.

"I've been playing [for] eight years," Dustin Huggins, sophomore, engineering, said. "I'm from Arkansas and here on a baseball scholarship. Poker is better [than other card games], way better. I learned to play on my own."

Texas Hold 'em poker is broken down into five categories.

The first part of the game is a Preflop.

The dealer will deal out two cards to each player face down in the middle of the table and then players bet.

The dealer has a white button with the word "Dealer" on it to signify when the dealing is completed. Then the button is passed from player to player after each hand.

The next step in the game is the Flop. The dealer will turn over three cards face up and betting starts again. This enables players to create better hands.

The following step in the game is the Turn or "fourth street" in which the dealer turns over the fourth card and players bet once again.

The River or "fifth street" is next and the dealer will turn over the last card.

The players then show the cards they have in the order they were dealt out.

The players then try to make the best hand using their two cards and the five cards on the table.

"On my first hand I folded. I played to be nice and then I lost," said Susan Dibbs, intramural coordinator for Campus Recreation.

Susan Dibbs, a university staff member, played in the Texas Hold 'em Tournament. Larry Coffin, manager of Campus Recreation, also played and ended up in the final ten.

"I've been working here for 10 years. This is just a part of my job," Shay Williams, assistant in the Intramural office, said.

Other faculty and staff came to see the students play and support Campus Recreation.

"I'm the guardian angel here. The protector of this place," James Brady, UM-St. Louis baseball coach, said.

"They do a great job. They cover a wide gamut. All the staff that make up the department; they do the yeoman work, which is exemplary. It's neat to see the students participate."

Campus Recreation also provided Planters peanuts, Diet 7Up, Sunkist, Pepsi, popcorn, Fritos, Cheetos, dip and cookies for all participants to snack on while playing.

The players had three 15-minute breaks in between games.

"I came for the free food," Terron Whare, senior, music education, said. "Actually, I enjoyed [the game]. This is my first time and I really played a good hand at poker. I kept bluffing. I would do something like this again. I picked up on the game quickly."

Finally, ten players were left, and played the last game of the evening at the Tournament table. They were, Harry Harris, Andre Gonzalez, Boris Simic, Lise Gallard, Dustin Huggins, Larry Coffin, Pete Hantack, Gurdine Acklin, Brett Ramirez and Daniel Coonen.

Acklin, Ramirez and Coonen were the last three in the tournament game. Ramirez won the $100 gift card, Coonen won the $50 gift card and Acklin won the $25 gift card when the game ended around 11 p.m.

All three players also received Campus Recreation T-shirts.

Pam Steinmetz took pictures of all players as they played their hands, and also took photos of the three finalists.

In poker many people enjoy the act of bluffing and practicing their "poker face" (showing no emotion).

"[Wearing my sunglasses] is just proficient. Sometimes it helps when you call [a] bluff," Manny Florez, junior, physical education said.

So, if you ever have a chance to learn the game of poker, next year would be a great time to show off your talents and have some fun!