YOUNG POKER PLAYERS LIKE THE THRILLS

'My legs go numb if I'm bluffing on a huge hand. When a guy's about to call, my whole body will go numb," said Seth, 17.

Poring over poker hands with this intensity is a regular activity for Seth, Lance and Diego. (Because of the legal issues involved with gambling, the names of these local high-school juniors have been changed.)

"I actually like playing poker because it is kind of a social thing, you can do with your friends," said Lance.

"Just about every one of my friends plays or has played at one point. I definitely would encourage people to play. You don't have to play for a lot of money."

The game's popularity has increased with the advent of television shows like Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown" or the Travel Channel's "World Poker Tour."

The three, who learned the game just by playing, said the Internet and books about poker were useful resources.

Seth used "Play Poker Like the Pros" to improve his play. Playing regularly with a group of 20 male friends, all three said they loosely consider poker a sport. They couldn't, however, envision a poker team.

"There really is a competitive aspect to it and not just about winning money. It's about who wins the money. It's kind of a pride thing," said Lance. "No matter how much you gamble, it's always pretty exciting when you win or lose a big hand."

Skill or luck?

Seth: I think it's mostly skill with us. But if you're just beginning then it's probably more luck than skill.

Diego: I'd say it's more skill. There's a quote that says, 'Luck is preparation leading opportunity." I think that really relates because luck is a factor, but if you're not skillful, you're not gonna be able to do well with luck.

Lance: The worst players are the (players) more dependent on luck. But when you've got good players, or pretty good players in the case of us, I would say, I'd say most of it is skill.

The stakes

Diego: It's like a huge rush. You have, like, $50 in one hand, and if you, like, lose you're really gonna get mad. It's like a roller coaster, really.

Sometimes we'll have a really big buy-in. On some Saturday nights we don't have anything to do, we'll have low stakes.

Lance: Almost anytime you're on tilt you want to get out. That basically means when you're playing more than you should be. If you start playing hands just to make up for the ones you lost, you want to get out.

The buy-ins aren't that big. I would say (normally) like a big tournament, you might lose 50 bucks or something like that. The biggest we've played for was something like $300.

In my experience it's best playing with richer schools (students) because they give up money a lot easier.

Seth: A lot of our friends can lose a lot of money playing with us. So if you're not good, I don't think that you should play.

I actually had my friend's brother, who's in college, not let me play, 'cause I was on so big a tilt. He took my chips away and was like, 'I'm not letting you play for an hour.'

Spending the winnings

Seth: At the beginning, I was really bad, so I used all my (lawn) mowing money. Then once I started getting better, I started using the money I'd win. So it wasn't as bad.

Diego: I save for car insurance and gas money.

Lance: Everything I win, I kind of separate it. Half goes towards gambling.

Legal

Seth: There was one time in Diego's clubhouse, which we were not supposed to be in. We had like a huge table, so we had a tournament in there. And some dude starts banging on the door at, like, one in the morning, yelling at us for playing poker. We actually thought the cops might come and get us.

Lance: Like everyone says, it's possible the cops can come in and bust you. But from what I hear I was under the impression that cops really didn't care as long as you kept it kind of private.

Parents

Lance: I usually tell (my mom) how much I win and I tell her about how much I lose, when I do. She's definitely pretty cool about it, as long as I don't lose too much.

I've taught my little brother and sister how to play. They're 5 and 8. I can't teach them the really technical aspects; what I try to tell them is to give them an idea of what hands are good and what hands are bad.

Diego: My mom approves, but I don't really tell her when I lose, definitely too much.

None of our parents really care. So there's no way the cops would find out.

Seth: My mom is more strict in the poker thing. I (used to) lie when I play poker 'cause I play like three times a day. But now that I don't play as much, I tell the truth. When I was running my poker (streak), I'd tell her we played for $10 and if I'd lose $50, I'd tell her I won $50.

When I turn 21, I'll probably go to Vegas with my dad, gambling. I'll carry the family name on.

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Andrea Zeek, 15; Allison Gardner, 14; and Ali Rader, 15.

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Y-Press is a nonprofit news organization with offices in The Indianapolis Star building. Stories are researched, reported and written by teams of young people ages 10 to 18. For more information, call (317) 444-2010 or send an e-mail to ypress@in.net.

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It's the law

What Indiana law says about gambling:

Gambling is defined as risking money or other property for gain.

Anyone who knowingly or intentionally engages in gambling commits unlawful gambling, which is a Class B misdemeanor. Exceptions are made for pari-mutuel wagering (betting on horses), riverboat gambling and state lottery tickets. However, persons younger than 18 cannot legally purchase lottery tickets or bet on horses, and persons younger than 21 cannot engage in riverboat gambling.