Students take gamble, try hands at Texas Hold ‘Em

Inside the Assembly Room of the William Pitt Union, 12 penguin-dressed card dealers stack… Inside the Assembly Room of the William Pitt Union, 12 penguin-dressed card dealers stack their chips.

The tuxedoed dealers await the 83 participants in the Pitt Hold ‘Em Tournament, held Thursday night.

“I want another deck of cards. These cards suck,” Ron Lucci said after noticing that his deck of cards is worn and dirty around the edges. Lucci works for Talent Network, the entertainment company that the Pitt Program Council often asks to assist with events like this. Lucci worked as a crap dealer in Las Vegas for 21 years and says he’s the only professional dealer of the bunch.

Tonight, he’s dealing Texas Hold ‘Em, “the hottest thing going right now.”

Dolph Douthett, the Pitt boss, opens the event by going over the values of the chips and the rules for when the blinds — forced bets that all other bets are based on — will be raised.

“Plan your strategy accordingly,” Douthett says after announcing that the blinds will be raised every five minutes during the first 30 to 45 minutes of play.

“OK folks, let’s get ready to gamble!” Douthett announces. The players take their seats, seven to a table, each person receiving $200 worth of chips.

The dealers go over the rules, and play begins with each person giving a $1 ante. A few of the students put on shades, others adjust their baseball caps and one puts a pipe in his mouth.

Two cards are dealt to every person, and the players decide to bet or fold based on those cards. The dealer then buries the top card on the deck and lays the next three consecutive cards face-up in the center of the table. The players decide whether to increase the bet, stay where they are (“check”) or forfeit their hands (“fold”).

The dealer buries a card and places one in the center. Again, players can bet, check or fold. Then the dealer buries a card and flips the last card over. Using the five cards in the center of the table and the two in each player’s hand, the player with the best five cards, according to poker-hand rankings, wins the hand. At the end of the night, the player with all the chips goes home the winner.

The top seven players will go to the championship table, where each player will get $250 to play. The first-place winner at the end of the night will receive a PlayStation Portable, a $300 prize.

Most of the students attending the event play with their friends in their free time. Others, like Rocky Mancini, 19, have never played the game before.

“It sounded like a fun thing to do on a Thursday night,” Mancini said. Unfortunately, watching the game on television is not enough for Mancini to do well, and he is the first player out.

Alex Corll, 20, who plays poker casually with his friends, came under the impression that the first prize was an iPod.

“I want to win an iPod, and I’m going to,” Corll said. After learning that the winner would receive a PlayStation Portable, Corll decides that he will win the tournament and sell the prize for an iPod.

Tom Misuraca, adviser to PPC, was pleased with the tournament.

“We want to distinguish ourselves from everyone else who puts on a tournament,” Misuraca said. “We want to have real dealers and prizes.”

The championship players of the Pitt Hold ‘Em Tournament were Adam Reabe, Michael Angelo, Doug Zaruta, Heather Tritch, David Thomas, Jamie Habberfield and David Shearouse. Reabe won the final tournament and the Playstation Portable.