The Barometer Online

Issue date: 2/20/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Andrew Burton

"Who's the small blind, who's the big blind?"

Don't understand the question? Well, welcome to the third annual Intramural Sports Texas Hold 'em Poker Tournament - where the tables form their own small countries whose inhabitants speak a unique and sparse language. It seems like a variation of English, but the terms don't quite mean the same thing as they do in the outside world.

Words like "blinds" and "flops" are interspersed with "fold" and "call" as players methodically drop, tip, separate and re-stack their chips. They anxiously tap the table, shift in their chairs and sneak glances at their fellow players.

Periodically, players sigh and huff in frustration, groaning as they lament a loss of what could have been a winning hand had they not folded.

As the popularity of poker - especially the variation known as Texas Hold 'em - sweeps the nation and the globe, terms like those mentioned above are fast becoming part of the cultural lexicon of America.

An example of that culture was on display from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. last Friday in the MU Commons, when Sam Rosenbluth, a junior in business

administration, came away as the last man standing in a tournament that featured more than 60 participants.

According to a 2004 Washington Post article, poker players in the U.S. number upwards of 80 million.

Such popularity is sustained by shows like "Celebrity Poker Showdown," on Bravo or "The World Poker Tour" featured on the Travel Channel and - most popular of all - ESPN's "World Series Of Poker," which began broadcasting in May of 2003.

"Oh yeah, I don't watch TV too much but I definitely watch sports including poker if it's on," Rosenbluth said.

The Intramural Poker Tournament was originally supposed to be in the lower gym at Dixon Recreational Center at 5 p.m. However, the move in venue and time change was facilitated at the request of Corinne Rademacher, vice president of diversity and programming for the Panhellenic Council. The council, in conjunction with Cory Eklund - of University Housing and Dining Services - had been planning on conducting their own poker tournament later in the evening in the MU Commons.

Rademacher came up with the idea of integrating the two tournaments and contacted Mitch Wiltbank, the intramural coordinator, about her proposal.

Continued...

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