By David Whalen
It wasn’t so long ago that the word “poker” evoked images of smoke-filled, dimly-lit pool halls where shady characters with sweaty palms handled ruffled bills.
Only last month, Ottawa and provincial police arrested 68 people at four separate Ottawa bars for either keeping a common gaming house or being in one. Police also seized $12,000 they say was being wagered in high stakes poker games.
But while illegal poker in the capital is clearly not yet dead, a cleaner – but no less colourful – variation of the game has sprouted up in Centretown.
The Red Hot Poker Tour consists of four tournaments a week, each at one of four bars in Ottawa. The tour also has events in Windsor, London and Toronto.
Tournament organizer Patrick Barker is quick to emphasize that there is no money involved in any way.
“We’re very against that. I would have to kick people out if I see any money being used,” he says.
Barker, 19, displays the organizational ease of a seasoned Vegas dealer. At no time does he seem out of place running a game largely comprised of his elders.
“I think poker is still growing,” he says. “It seems like there’s more TV coverage and Internet sites all the time.”
The Centretown leg of the tour attracts a unique array of personalities to The Cock and Lion Ale House & Pub on Sparks Street on Monday nights.
At one table, a stocky man with thick-rim glasses perspires as he waits for the evening’s tournament to begin. He nervously counts his chips and glances at his watch. At another table, a man in his 50s wearing a brown leather jacket and a Crocodile Dundee-style hat leans back casually in his chair and chats with others. This, it appears, is not his first poker game.
“Some of the people are diehards. They play all four times a week,” Barker says.
On this evening, players range from their early 20s to late 50s. There are five women in attendance. Barker says this is not unusual.
“Obviously there are not as many as the men, but there are quite a few,” he says. “Many, you can tell, are brought by their significant other.”
At 7 p.m., a cry of “Shuffle up and deal!” from Barker sets the field into action. Soon, the clicking of chips echoes through the bar, which has some room to spare even with 40 players seated at five separate tables.
Within seconds, the first player is eliminated. A young man sporting a Notre Dame baseball hat puts all of his chips in the pot only to see his three Jacks trumped by another player’s four Aces. A couple of others follow soon afterwards. They wanted to double their chips and were willing to run the risk of losing them all to do it.
Despite these early exits, Barker says the quality of play at these tournaments is quite high.
“I think it’s pretty good. Some of the people I hear using terminology I’ve never heard. I’m sure they’ve read all the books,” he says.
Players can be heard bandying about terms such as “pot-odds,” “gut-shot draws,” and “outs.”
The style of poker being played, Texas Hold ‘em, is the most popular and arguably the easiest to learn. Each player is dealt two cards, followed by a round of betting. Three community cards, called the “flop,” are turned up and another round of betting ensues. This is then followed by the “turn” card, a betting round, the “river” card, and a final betting round. The idea is to make the best possible hand out of the seven cards at the player’s disposal.
The top eight finishers from each tournament earn points which are accumulated at the end of the year. The top 120 players in the league are then invited to a tournament in Toronto, the winner of which earns a spot at the “Daniel Negreanu Grand Prize Final Table” in Las Vegas. The winner of that event will receive tutelage from Negreanu, Canada’s best known poker player.