hold'em on campus

[creedofhubris]

I teach at a local university, and I've discovered that the students have an amazing number of private hold'em games going on. The game of choice is the NL tourney with a $5 or $10 buy-in, and one hall alone plays at least four a night, every night. Now, most of these players don't play online, or even in casinos very often. Most of the players have been once or twice to a local casino for their NL tourney, but none are regulars there, or online. The vast majority of their playing time is with hallmates, in these nightly games.

I've watched some of these tournaments; loosest play I've ever seen. Gonzo players will bet anything and bluff like champs. Everyone's having a blast, of course, 'cause they all know each other and no one's losing their shirt with a $10 buy-in -- it's mom and dad's money, anyway.

I know there are college undergrads on this forum -- is your school like this? How many NL tourneys are there on your campus a week that you know of?

And, in a more general sense -- how should we, as skilled players, respond to this massive enthusiasm for the game? In the long run, it will mean a lot more enthusiastic and unskilled players at the tables, but I'd rather beat people who can afford to lose rather than college students, so I'm not thinking about horning in on their action.

For instance, I'm thinking of trying to set up a "how to beat limit hold'em" seminar session for some of these kids. (While not a crusty pro, I've had enough consistent success to convince me that I can say something useful about this.)

I imagine a regular campus lecture circuit is out there waiting to be exploited.

[BottlesOf]

Tons of them. Not much NL though, Limit games, with bizzare betting structures, are what I've found.

I use them to socialize and win tiny amounts of money. When I wanna really play for money, though, I gotta go to Foxwoods or play online.

[scrub]

There are a lot of big bet games at my school. Many players are terrible. The games have, however, produced some very strong players.

I used to play in a 5/10 dealers choice game that served as an apprenticeship for three or four of the regulars. Two of them now play limit at a higher level than most AC pros I've sat with. Two routinely beat large casino pot limit games.

Many of the better regulars in the games I play beat online poker for considerable sums of money. A number of the supposedly successful Zoo regulars (Daryn, Eugeneel and Crockpot come to mind) are students.

Poker's popularity on campus has skyrocketed this year, probably owing to all the nifty television coverage this summer. I'm sure that someone with impressive credentials could do quite well on a college lecture tour, provided that university administrations were hospitable. Given that there are probably very successful student players on most campuses, I think a potential lecturer would need more of a reputation than being "a winning player" to generate interest. Anyone with some "celebrity" TV exposure could probably pull it off in a heartbeat, though. Even Phil... /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

scrub

[southerndog]

That's great that they are showing that kind of enthusiasm. Its better for them then spending $10 on a twelve pack and getting completely trashed.

[Gamblor]

It's funny that you mention it...

Up here at U of T you can find "straight games, crooked games, easy games, tough games, home games"

But allas, no Taj in two hours.

The point being, there's always money ripe for the taking.

These guys watch the WSOP on TSN (our ESPN) and they're desperate to give their money away. We run a $20+5 tourney (the 5 is for pizza+beer) with 10 players.

I prefer to teach my friends all I know about the game, as frankly, $20 is not such a big deal. I know I'm giving up huge easy money, but I'd rather my friends learn the game so when they get into the real game, they're not clueless. I've pointed them to PokerStars to play Play money and I've lent out HPFAP, TOP, and WLLHE more times than a library. I've seen them move in on big draws, and they've been playing for a year, because they know I'm capable of laying down hands.

But all things considered, a 2 hour drive to Rama is nothing so I can still make enough to pay for the bar Saturday night /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[rentmoney]

[ QUOTE ]
I'd rather beat people who can afford to lose rather than college students, so I'm not thinking about horning in on their action.


[/ QUOTE ]

Funny how you look at it like you don't want to take our money. I play in live games here at my university and I use the money I earn to pay my tuition (the salaries of my professors)! You'd just be giving most of them a chance to win back their own money.

[chesspain]

If this is a state university then let some of the tax payers in on this game...

[Ric]

I usually play 1/2 limit with a 2/4 kill with 9 other guys on Monday nights. A couple are very loose, but most are quite good. A couple play online, or in cardrooms. That's partially how I found this forum, I was searching online for small stakes tips and found this /images/graemlins/grin.gif. It's a great experience.

[James Boston]

We play either $.50-$1 or $1-$2 (when I can talk them into higher stakes, if you can call that higher stakes) at the fraternity house. No one, but me, takes it that seriously. They just like to play. I had to teach them proper structure of limit games. We hardly ever play NL tourneys. My BB/hour is higher there than anywhere else I play. Unfortunately, at such small stakes that doesn't amount to much money.

[Oblivious]

A lot of students have seen the television coverage, but really have no idea what is going on. Often times these students are only willing to do no limit tournements, since they dont understand table stakes and structured betting is foreign to them. Ive played in these tourneys, and they usually end up being a craps shoot. I dont like not being able to buy into a tournement already in progress, or not being able to rebuy. If you can sweay them into playing NL ring games, it can certainly be profitable.

[umdpoker]

i first started playing poker with my friends from college. i would have never been interested in poker had i not gone to college. at least i learned something in college!

[Schneids]

[ QUOTE ]
That's great that they are showing that kind of enthusiasm. Its better for them then spending $10 on a twelve pack and getting completely trashed.

[/ QUOTE ]

I find this funny because my parents do not "get it" if I choose to spend a Friday night in front of the computer or at the B&M playing cards. Even though in the past 3 months my poker playing is entirely paying for my car, to them it's still a game of luck and I'm just getting fortunate. They've actually pretty much directly implied to me that I should be out partying away (AKA getting drunk) my weekend nights. Yes, I do sometimes, but I also choose to sometimes take part in the fishiest nights of the week.

[JKratzer]

I'm a student, when I was in the dorms I played low limit almost every night, my room was sson known as the poker room to everyone on my floor. After moving out I still have no trouble finding a game. For the most part, the limits are too low to interst me ($5, $10 or $20 buyin) which is why I spend most of my time playing on-line. I would personally love to see a lecture circuit. More and more as I go through college I realize that poker will make up a significant part of my living post-school and am always looking to improve my game. Due to recent popularity boost from tv, I'm sure it would be a huge success among many colleges, although I doubt too many administrations realize the popularity. You would first have to wake up the admin to the student's interests.

Let me know if you visit U of Iowa.

[southerndog]

Creed,

I actually teach at a college too. I teach prob & stat,
so I hold a night session a few times a semester and teach the students the rules and poker terminology and slang. I also work in some things about odds and expected values since that applies directly to probability.

To interest them, I offer a little extra credit. The students really enjoy it, and I see it as something they can enjoy for the rest of their lives. Even if they suck, like their teacher, they can still play for small stakes, and enjoy playing.

[Diplomat]

I host a 1/2 nh mixed game up here, but finding players is a little tough sometimes. Also there is a 10-20 limit game, but it's hard to get into.

I wouldn't teach the students how to play poker. You might be asking for trouble.

-Diplomat