Waging a bet, whether legally or illegally, has never before been so easy.
Nowadays, almost anyone can go online and place a wager within five minutes. University of Wisconsin students are following the trend by including the popular pastime into their activities.
The Union South Games Room has been hosting weekly Texas Hold’Em poker Tournaments since March 3 with consistently large crowds.
“We have reached maximum capacity of 96 people almost every week,” UW senior Steve Reinhardt said.
Reinhardt is an employee in the Union South Games Room and has helped to organize and jump-start the tournaments.
“The 16 tables of six people have been full almost every week,” he said. “With the exception of one week, I believe, participation in the tournaments has been over 90 people.”
The top eight finishers each week from March 3 to April 28 (excluding March 17) are invited to the championship tournament May 5.
The winner on championship night receives one roundtrip air ticket to Europe on Lufthansa Airlines courtesy of STA Travel. Other prizes for weekly victors include gift certificates from State Street Brats as well as T-shirts and mugs from the Union South Corner Store.
Senior Brian Runnells has not yet participated in one of the tournaments, but frequently plays in online poker tournaments. He said becoming a successful poker player takes a large chunk of time.
In regard to online betting, Runnells emphasized “the big swings of money that can take place in a single day.”
No large sums of money change hands in the weekly tournaments at the Union South Games Room, however. The only requirement for entering is a $4 buy-in. Despite the weekly prizes and the championship prize, players in the tournament do not consider the Union to be promoting gambling.
“No, I don’t think so,” UW senior Brad Schuster said in regard to the tournament promoting gambling. “It’s more for fun.”
UW senior Nick Oxborough agreed, saying, “It’s the only way to get one hundred people together.”
Oxborough has been to Las Vegas several times and usually enters into several NCAA tournament pools, but did not this year because of a Spring Break conflict.
Many of the players this past Wednesday night said they also bet on NCAA pools for a small fee.
