CLIPS: At 3 a.m., it’s all business at PSU pals’ table (11/24/04)
BY DANIEL VICTOR
For The Patriot-News
In a sparsely decorated basement room adorned only with a wall-sized banner of the Nittany Lion logo, eight friends aren’t watching television.
The stereo offers a mix of Billy Joel, Sublime and Jay-Z. But the music that matters to these Penn State University students and buddies — they hear it two or three nights a week — comes from the constant shuffling of poker chips.
At 1:30 a.m. Thursday, the game is going strong in Penn State junior Nathan Valchar’s basement. A few players smoke cigarettes, filling the room with a haze. Some drink sodas, some drink beers.
One player has class the next morning, so he forces himself from the green felt table, cashing out his chips after four hours of playing.
The others press on. They once played from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., they proudly recall. Tonight, they started at 9 p.m. Time flies when you’re playing poker with friends.
“If I have chips, I’m going to play until I don’t have any chips anymore,” says David Bowman, a junior from State College. “I don’t even care about winning. I just want to stay in as long as possible.”
The players are annoyed when someone doesn’t pay attention and hesitates to make his bet, but the conversation flows. They argue over the Eagles-Steelers game, trade stories about friends and discuss the first CD they bought.
A television in the next room broadcasts a pro basketball game, but no one pays attention.
On the table, it’s all business.
They’re playing Texas Hold ‘Em, and they all have their own strategies. Some are taken from their favorite players on “The World Series of Poker” on television.
With an ace and a two in his hand, Ben Kiggen, a junior from State College, feels confident. All eyes concentrate on the red Bicycle cards as the dealer hands out the flop (three cards that can be used by all players). As he watches an ace come out with a nine and a four, Kiggen puts on his best poker face for his high pair. He knows it’s a good hand.
He decides it’s as good a time as any to make his move. Like challenging someone — anyone — to a duel, he announces he’s going all in and pushes all his chips to the center of the table. He wants to see if anyone is gutsy enough to stay in, or maybe he’s trying to “buy the pot” by forcing everyone to fold.
But Derek Bledsoe has a good hand himself. He calls, setting up the showdown. With Kiggen unable to bet on the last two cards, both players reveal their cards so everyone can follow along. The players stand up from their chairs in anticipation.
Bledsoe flips over his ace and nine, and Kiggen’s heart sinks. Unless he draws a pair of twos on the final two cards, a very unlikely outcome, he’s been beat.
The dealer shows the final two cards: a six and a nine. Bledsoe wins.
“You’re lucky!” Kiggen shouts. “You’re so lucky!”
“I may be lucky,” Bledsoe shoots back, “but who has more chips?”
Kiggen reaches for his wallet to buy another $10 worth of chips.
“I’m buying back in for the sole purpose of taking out Derek,” he announces, partly in jest.
The trash-talking is usually limited, they say. They’ll razz each other when they feel it’s appropriate, but don’t get mad at the poker table.
It costs them $10 to enter the game, but they have the option to spend more money if they run out of chips. Matt Dougherty, a sophomore, lost his initial $10, bought $10 more in chips before winning his original $10 back — then lost all $20.
Dougherty says he rarely loses that much in a night, but it doesn’t concern him. He views it as an investment — or, at worst, no different than spending money at the bowling alley.
“I gamble with money that I know I can lose,” he says. “I’m not going to blow my life savings.”
Valchar, who won $5 on the night, says a bad night is nothing to worry about. “It seems to be, in our group of people, the money just flows from one person to another,” he says. “I might win tonight; someone else might win the next time.”
Around 3 a.m., Valchar calls it quits — he’s got work at 8 a.m.
“It’s a good time-waster,” he says. “It’s something to do for a couple of hours. Or a few more, if I’m playing well.”
