AUGUSTA, GA – About 20 people have gathered on a Friday evening at Allie Katz on Walton Way Extension in one corner, sitting at tables. They exchange familiarities, joke with each other and chat over the music, which blares everything from Bob Seger to the Chemical Brothers.

These people aren’t here for happy hour. They have come together for a game that has caught fire in the past decade: poker.

Over the years, poker has gone from back rooms and basements to being televised on major networks and featured in movies. Countless Web sites devoted to the game, tips and tutorials have sprouted up and celebrities play in tournaments for charity.

What is it that has contributed to the ever-growing popularity of the game?

Television is certainly a factor. The game was brought from the casinos into our living rooms when ESPN, looking to expand their programming, started airing the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in 2003.

“We were looking for something new and fresh, something a little bit non-traditional that was a little bit different than the traditional stick-and-ball sport,” said Doug White, ESPN senior director of programming and acquisitions.

Of course the fact that you could see the players’ cards helped make the game more interesting.

“There had been other people out there who had done what we call hole-card cameras, or lipstick cameras, to show what cards players are holding,” White said. “I think when ESPN did it and the way we presented it to fans in terms of the storytelling and the humor, in terms of the production quality, I think that’s what helped spur its popularity and took it to the mainstream.”

Seth Palansky, communications director for the WSOP, says the popularity of poker can also be attributed to watching how players strategize as well as online capabilities.

“Once ESPN started [airing poker] and people could see people playing cards when they didn’t have the best hand and they were bluffing and how they played good hands, it really opened up the opportunity for everyone to understand how fun the game was and how different people play it,” he said. “I clearly think that was a big, big factor in popularity, and then you add to it, obviously, the Internet age and the ability for people to not have to gather around a table in someone’s home to play certainly allowed people to learn the game and interact with the game more easily.”

The WSOP, which just celebrated its 40th anniversary, is owned by Harrah’s Entertainment. Not only has it made superstars out of players such as Chris Moneymaker, Phil Ivey, Scotty Nguyen and Daniel Negreanu, it also introduced scores of people to Texas Hold ‘Em, the game of choice for such tournaments.

“The reason why it’s a popular game and it’s very conducive to television is because it’s easy to understand and not as complicated as some other forms of poker,” Palansky said. “In the past, before 2003, people were dabbling in all types of different styles of poker, it just became very hard to follow and very hard to understand. With Texas Hold ‘Em it’s a little bit easier. It basically simplified the game and brought it to the masses.”

In Texas Hold ‘Em, players are dealt two cards face down. Five community cards are then dealt face up: three cards, known as “the flop,” then one card, “the turn,” and the final card, “the river.” After each deal, the players have the option of betting, checking or folding.

“I think it was a style that was out there but whether or not it was as popular [as it is now], probably not,” White said. “I think there are other games that are out there that may be a little more interesting to the seasoned poker player, but I think Texas Hold ‘Em appeals to the masses and that’s what I think contributed to its popularity.”

Another factor that has contributed to the popularity is the “anyone can win” mantra, he said.

“That term has been thrown around quite a bit by ESPN, by Harrah’s, by fans and viewers, and it really is true, anyone can win the WSOP,” White said. “It’s just a matter of who gets hot at the right time. But I think that’s what’s really fascinating is that someone we may not have even heard of before can come out of nowhere and win the entire tournament, which makes for great television and great drama.”

The viewership of poker on ESPN has also proven successful for the network, White said.

“It’s been a good television programming/content product. We’ve seen our ratings rise over the last couple of years,” he said. “The ratings for this past season were up 8 percent. You’re averaging over a million households per show, which is fantastic.”

The demographics of viewership are skewed toward an older age group, mostly male, he said, but the online aspects of the game have brought in younger players. Tournament entrants and winners have gotten younger as well.

“You can actually see that in terms of the people who have actually won the tournaments recently,” he said. “You have Peter Eastgate [2008 WSOP Main Event winner], you have Joe Cada [2009 WSOP Main Event winner], both very, very young players, guys in their early 20s. From that alone, you can see the people who are playing start off at a very young age.”

And with the popularity of poker growing, the WSOP also sees the number of entrants growing.

“Chris Moneymaker, the year he won in 2003, the event he was in had 839
participants, each ponying up $10,000. That was the largest amount ever to play in that event. A year later, it went to 2,500 and last year it was 6,500,” Palansky said. “Even last year, we were concerned, with the recession in full swing, how our event would turn out, and the reality was, we broke records again for participation.”

The idea of playing in a tournament may hold a certain allure to some, but what is shown on television is often different than how things play out in real time. Things aren’t always as easy as they may seem, either.

“What you’re seeing on TV are great hands, the most interesting hands, the most dynamic hands,” Palansky said. “The reality is that the best players fold their cards 85 percent of the time. Obviously, what you see on TV doesn’t reflect those percentages.

“It’s just sort of a result of the way it has to be produced to make entertaining television. I don’t think the intent is to make it seem easier. Clearly, the reality of poker tournaments [is] that 90 percent of the people don’t win money and 10 percent do.”

The game also requires an immense amount of concentration, White said.

“The mental aspect of the game is off the chart,” he said. “The focus that these players have to have for hours and hours on end is incredible because you’re constantly strategizing, constantly calculating, you’re constantly monitoring your
opponents and studying them, watching their habits.”

“It is a mentally draining sport from what I can see. The players have to have a lot of endurance. When you go to a poker tournament, you could be at a table anywhere from an hour to 10 to 14 to 24 hours.”

The WSOP still remains largely male, but those numbers are changing as women continue to take an interest in the game. The number of female entrants has risen from 1 to 7 percent and they have been able to hold their own at the tables.

“I think women are starting to have a lot of success in poker and they’re really proving that they have an ability to read men often better than men can read other men,” Palansky said. “I see the numbers continuing to rise.”

But poker isn’t just limited to the WSOP and Las Vegas. The Amateur Poker League (APL), a sanctioned league of the World Poker Tour (WPT), is the host of the nightly games played at Allie Katz, Monday through Friday at 6 and 9 p.m. and on Saturdays at 4 and 7 p.m. But the players at Allie Katz aren’t playing for cash. They’re playing for points that can qualify winners for seats in larger tournaments where the prizes are more lucrative.

“One of the prizes they can win is APL’s version of the WSOP,” said Allie Katz owner Brian Birmingham. “So they can actually win seats in poker tournaments where they could win money, and then depending how they do in those tournaments, they can move up the chain and actually win qualifying seats in big tournaments.”

Winning qualifying seats in tournaments can lead to big money, said Frank Hustek, president of APL Southeast.

“If they make the final table in the 6 o’clock game, on a nightly basis, they come back for a monthly satellite tournament and, if they win that game, they can play for about a $25,000 seat out in L.A.,” Hustek said.

But it’s not just the chance at big payout that the players find appealing, he said.

“They realize they can come out for free and have this chance at winning millions. Not just the chance to win, it’s a great chance to socialize and network,” Hustek said. “You have 40 people out there from 40 walks of life, and they get out there and talk to each other and become friends.”

The Allie Katz games have been successful, seeing as many as 80 people per night, and have all types of people come together regularly to test their poker wiles.

“It’s a complete, total, 100-percent mix across race, gender and age,” Birmingham said.

He says it’s the thrill of the game that draws people in.

“Even if you’re not playing for real money, when you’re pushing that amount of chips in there, it will get your adrenaline going,” he said. “There is the very outside chance that you may go on and actually win something for real with it. It’s what makes an amusement park fun, you go there and get the adrenaline rush. It’s the same thing with poker to a certain extent.”

But as Hustek points out, poker just isn’t a game of chance; it’s a game of skill.

“It’s a real thinking man’s game,” he said. “To me, the cards don’t matter. I look at how the other players are playing, I look at the bets and I bet according to what I think they may have to try and win that game. I might have good cards and that helps, but I could have totally terrible cards and still win a game. It’s just how I think through it and how I strategize. It’s a very strategic game.”

Some regular Allie Katz poker players, though, don’t have any particular strategy.

“My strategy went out the window a long time ago,” said Troy Anthony, who plays poker at Allie Katz every day and has been playing there for two years.

“Sometimes I have my nights, sometimes I don’t,” he said. “It’s fun to play; if you’re doing good, it’s awesome.”

Another regular is Butch McDaniel, who has also been the points leader for the past three years in the entire APL, which has nearly 200,000 members. A curious fact about McDaniel is that, for someone who has played poker for 50 years, he had never heard of Texas Hold ‘Em until about three and a half years ago when he went to Tunica, Miss. Even then he was able to walk away with $3,500.

“It’s an easy game to learn and a hard game to master,” he said.

McDaniel has traveled all through Georgia, as well as to L.A., all in the name of poker. The best part to him, though, is the people he gets to meet and the camaraderie he shares with other players.

“We’ve got a bunch of good people. There’s hardly ever a fight,” he laughs, as the next hand is dealt.