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Hold 'em takes hold
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In July, more than 5,600 players plopped down $10,000 apiece to try and claim the world's richest poker prize — $7.5 million — which went to a 39-year-old former chiropractor Joseph Hachem from Australia. The runner-up, who earned $4.25 million, was Steve Dannenmann, a 42-year-old accountant from Maryland whose previous poker experience came in home games with golfing buddies.
Neither were known as poker "pros" before they walked away from the table with all that money.
Feats by no-name everymen, along with widespread access to 24-hour action on dozens of Web sites, have turned poker into a fad.
It seems many have fallen in love with a game that used to come with the stigma of shadiness. And people think they can be the best.
"Poker is not just for professional players," said Henry Childs, director of gaming for Desert Diamond. "A lot of people are like, ‘let's give it a shot.' It only takes one time getting lucky."
Which was why 87 people came to the casino in late January with $160 in hand, hoping to take home a share of the $11,440 prize.
Problem gambling
The poker boom, while lucrative to the best of the best, can be disastrous for some.
The lure of winning so much money has led to an increase in addiction. Calls made to local, state and national gambling helplines increased 25 percent in 2005, said Keith White, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. No specific numbers are available regarding how much of that increase is due to poker, he said.
White said the majority of the "new" addicts are between the ages of 16 and 24 with many getting hooked on poker because of the easily accessible (yet illegal) Internet gaming industry that last year saw an estimated $10 billion to $12 billion wagered on all forms of gambling.
"Young people do a lot of risk-taking, and this is just another opportunity," White said. "Young people play (poker) like a video game. They've grown up believing their skill is going to trump the randomness of the game."
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