- Poker Fever
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▪ 2006By 2005 the disreputable image of card hustlers, seedy card rooms, hard liquor, and concealed pistols long associated with the game of poker had been dispelled as earnest individuals could be seen—on planes, trains, and buses—poring over poker manuals to study methods of scoring a jackpot payday.Many believed that poker's newfound popularity was sparked in 2003 when—filming from Binion's Horseshoe casino in Las Vegas—the cable television Travel Channel began using a “lipstick camera” embedded in the poker gaming table to film the cards held by each player at the World Poker Tour. For the first time, television viewers could vicariously play along, and many dreamed of amassing riches for themselves as a player with the unlikely name of Chris Moneymaker parlayed a $39 entrance fee for an Internet “satellite” contest into a $10,000 entrance fee into the 2003 World Series of Poker No-Limit Texas Hold'em Championship in Las Vegas, where the rookie won the top prize of $2,500,000.The synergy between film, television, and the Internet grew stronger in 2004 with the showcasing of entertainers and even sports figures on television's Celebrity Poker. That year Hollywood stars such as Ben Affleck and Jennifer Tilly crossed over from the make-believe world of charity poker tournaments to play in open events. Tilt, a drama series about poker players, debuted on TV in 2005.The latest gambling craze was not limited to men. Women made up about one-third of the nearly two million poker players on the Internet. In September 2004 Annie Duke won the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions. Her victory in the $2 million winner-take-all pot in this high-profile TV event led to another surge in Internet and tournament play, especially among women. On the Internet hundreds of international poker sites attracted novices and those who preferred the Web's anonymity. That anonymity also extended to cheaters, such as those who used computer software to help figure out what actions to take, and to poker “bots” (computer programs capable of playing the game) disguised as people.The 2005 No-Limit Texas Hold'em Championship drew a record 5,619 entrants, which translated into a prize fund of more than $52 million and a first-place prize of $7.5 million. The 2005 event was won by Australian Joseph Hachem, a Lebanese-born former chiropractor and another example of those who had forsaken their careers or educational pursuits, and sometimes their families, in hopes of making the big time.The first invitation-only World Poker Robot Championship was held in 2005 to coincide with the World Series of Poker Championship at Binion's. PokerProbot, written by Hilton Givens, a car salesman from Indiana, won the $100,000 first prize. Poker pro Phil (“the Unabomber”) Laak took three hours to defeat PokerProbot in the ensuing exhibition match, however, with the crowds cheering, “Hu-mans! Hu-mans!” As had happened in the game of chess, it might be only a matter of time before man was eclipsed again by machines.William L. Hosch
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Universalium. 2010.
