EmpirePoker - Press Releases
:
| Bonus code Information: |
EmpirePoker sign up code: |
"New wave of players takes game by storm"
The Brownsville Herald
BY JOSH CALDWELL
February 3, 2005 — With the shuffle of cards and clank of plastic chips, it’s the latest craze to sweep the nation.
Poker. Poker. Poker.
It has become inescapable.
Through its popularity via the Internet and television, it has opened the door to a new wave of Generation Y players, ages 13-22.
For Michael Rodriguez, a student at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, the game is more of a vacation from reality.
"To me, it’s actually my sanctuary," Rodriguez said. "I forget my outside problems when I play, and just concentrate on playing poker."
Rodriguez, 21, says he has always been around the card game, but never knew anyone his age that played.
"What got me really interested was watching the World Series of Poker on TV," said Rodriguez who says he plays an average of 15 times a month. "The thing was, I didn’t know anyone around my age group (who played) until I found some friends that did."
Rodriguez, along with six of his poker friends, gathers on a weekly basis to play.
In the garage of one of his fellow players, members of the sextet sit around the felt-lined rectangular table and put on their best poker faces as play begins.
It was at one of these weekly poker nights that Fernando Cortinas became involved in the craze.
"I started (playing) because I saw (friends) around me playing," said Cortinas, a University of Texas at Austin student. "I’ve known the rules before. Once I saw that it was gaining popularity, I started playing."
Cortinas, who plays both in Austin and Brownsville, attributes the popularity to television.
"It’s on (television) 24/7," Cortinas said. "If I turn on the TV right now, there will probably be a poker tournament on."
Former World Series of Poker champion Brad Daugherty says he started playing at a young age like Rodriguez and Cortinas.
"I was on a senior trip in high school and saw people playing," Daugherty said. "I played the entire trip."
Daugherty, who owns and operates Empire Poker School, says the game’s popularity is also attributed to its easy rules, in addition to the television and the Internet.
The 1991 WSOP champion says a common amateur mistake is people play too many hands and don’t know how to add up their money.
But for Rodriguez, poker is more than just a game of bets.
"(Poker) is like life," Rodriguez says. "You don’t what’s going to come out. Everything is a surprise."
< Back
|
|
|
Check EmpirePoker
on these Sites:
Empire-Poker.cc
artpoker.net - Poker Skins
|
