Walking around campus, poker does not seem to be a prevalent activity. Look a little deeper, however, and there is a strong network of games to be found. Currently, there exists a BlitzMail list of approximately 130 students, all interested in playing an impromptu game of poker, with stakes of varying intensity.
In fall 2003, three fraternity houses held organized poker games, according to one junior. He said that while one game was strong, the other two were dying out. In order to continue the poker games, he decided to compile a list of all the names of people who played. Over time, more were added to the list by word of mouth.
When the BlitzMail list first started, a junior said, he would receive e-mails once a week, detailing where the game was, what the stakes were and how many people were needed. Another junior said once it caught on, games were being played up to four times per week. Usually, 10 people could play at a time, and students would arrive promptly in order to ensure a seat. Otherwise, they would wait in line or leave and return.
Generally, these games had buy-ins ranging from a couple dollars up to about $20, and rarely $100. The games typically resulted in winnings or losses of $50 or $60, although there have been wins and losses closer to $100 or $200. A senior said some people have stopped playing this term because they have lost sums up to $150.
"But for the most part, it balances out and everyone is pretty much close to even," he said.
The main reason for these games, as evidenced by the smaller buy-ins and bets, is entertainment. Most of the students interviewed thought of poker as a fun social activity to play with good friends rather than serious gambling.
This is not a new phenomenon, one junior said.
"As early as freshman year, we were playing in the Choates," he said.
Prior to the inception of the BlitzMail list in summer 2003, there was a large poker tournament, the first of its kind at Dartmouth. It was billed as the "World Series of Poker" and was well received. The buy-in for the tournament was $100. One participant said that because no one really had $100, fraternity houses would have games with $5 or $10 buy-ins and then send the winner of those games to the tournament. Winnings for the tournament were approximately $1,500.
The amount of games currently being played varies depending on whom you ask. One junior says he receives invitations every day, despite being off this term. Some students play everyday, he said.
"I think it has gotten a lot better since my sophomore year or even since this fall," he said.
An organizer of the BlitzMail list holds the opposite opinion. He said that many students moved to online poker in the winter, when he was off, and while there are still games played in person, there is no longer a line waiting.
"Now it's hard to get a game again, not because people aren't interested, but because the stakes are higher and easier [online]," he said.
But now that he is back on campus, he does plan to try to revive the games.
Online poker has become a major part of the poker scene, with a couple students even using it as a source of income. Steve Cesaro '07 said he plans to spend his summer playing poker rather than working. He said winning $75 to $100 per hour is better than any income he could receive from a summer job. In January, he won $1,700 in six days, then took that money and bought a guitar.
Russell Bisker '06 also plays online poker to make a little extra spending money. He plays four to five days a week and has made $1,000 to $1,500 since the beginning of the year.
"I like it and it is a good way to make at least spending money. I was working part-time jobs here and I found that playing poker a couple hours a week I made a lot more money than I would at a part-time job five times a week," Bisker said.
The recent surge in poker's popularity is not unique to Dartmouth. It has followed the past year's World Poker Tour when an amateur who had begun with $40 won the tournament, which had a reward of $2.5 million.
"Poker is certainly not a Dartmouth thing. It is definitely a nationwide craze," said one junior.
