THE PENDULUM

by Mick Massa, November 17, 2009

In the last few years, poker has received massive national attention, becoming the favored hobby for people of all ages. There are tremendous opportunities to be had in the game — just ask Joe Cada, the youngest winner of the World Series of Poker Championship. Cada, who dropped out of college in favor of the game, won the series' grand prize of $8.5 million. Not bad for a 21-year-old.

But not all college poker players win championships. Elon junior Adam Scalisi heads up a humble poker club with a few of his friends.

According to Scalisi, the club started out as just a game among friends who he knew would be interested, but soon expanded to include a much larger group of people.

Scalisi has big plans for what is now a relaxed get-together.

"What we want to eventually do is to have multiple games going on at once at different tables," he said. "Then as people start cashing out, we eventually all consolidate into one table and finish off the game."

As of now, Scalisi said the league is pretty non-competitive.

"We're just friends," he said. "We play for chips, not money. I have an Excel spreadsheet already set up that keeps track of everyone's standings, and we see who can rack up the most points."
Scalisi said the group usually plays a movie in the background and just try to have a good time.
Other players around campus, such as junior Roger Black, are slightly more competitive.

"We usually play with a $5 buy-in," Black said. "For the most part, the money just gets passed around, though. I've won the last few games we've played. When we play, the winner gets 75 percent of the total buy-in, and the runner up gets 25 percent."

Black and his friends mostly play on Saturday nights, though not regularly. Aside from a few friendly ribbings, the game is kept very relaxed.

"We just get some drinks and play cards," Black said. "No one really cares who wins or loses, as long as we're having fun."

He said he and his friends became interested in poker around 2003 when the Game Show Network started broadcasting the World Series of Poker. While he still occasionally turns the poker game on when it's on TV, Black said he prefers playing to watching.

As much as he enjoys playing with friends, Black said he tries to stay away from online poker, where Cada got his start. He said the risks are too high.

"I had a friend who got addicted to online poker and ended up losing almost $2,000," he said. "It's fun, but I'd rather play for $5 with people I know."