Poker Fashion
Just like any other media driven sport in the world, poker has its own fashion and its own distinct look. And just like all other sport related looks, the 'poker look' stems from the stars of the sport. You have your jerseys from sports like football and hockey, polo shirts from golf, the suburban look of x-treme athletes and many other looks. But what exactly is the 'poker look'?
A month ago I made my first trip to Vegas and of course went straight to the poker rooms. Staying at the Mirage I naturally went to their poker room first to dip my feet in the pool of Vegas poker. Seeing as this was my first time in Vegas and not too sure what sort of players I was up against I decided to hit a $1/$2 limit table first. As I sat down I gave a general greet to everyone and managed to only get a reply from one person, some old guy with a comb over who winked at me. Except for the scary old guy it was a pretty cold reception but I was here to play not make friends anyway.
After about half an hour I could already see a pattern. I was being excluded from all conversations and more importantly they where all being a lot more aggressive in their play towards me. After 30 minutes of this I got a little annoyed, so I took the little bit I had won and headed to the nearby pizza place to get something to eat.
While waiting for my order I noticed one of the players from the table I was playing at placing an order. Curious as to the way I was treated on the table I walked up the guy and talked to him. After quickly introducing myself and mentioning how I noticed him at the table I got straight to the point and asked, "not to be rude or anything but I noticed that the players at the table where a little hostile towards me. Is there any reason for that?"
Taking off his leather cowboy hat he looked at me and in a thick Texan accent replied, "don't take it too hard son, we do that to all the casual players that waltz on in."
Seeing as the cold reception was pretty much instantaneous and the fact I played a reasonable game for the hour I was there I had to ask, "but how did you know I was a casual player?"
Laughing the guy replied, "Look at the way you are dressed!"
So I went back to the room to exam my attire seeing as I didn't want this treatment the whole time. In the room I checked myself in the mirror to find myself wearing my boots, jeans and t-shirt. A little casual but I thought I had seen other people wearing the same in the room, though they could have been 'casual players' too.
I knew I needed to do some research so I switched on the television in the room and turned to ESPN where I managed to get lucky with the World Series Of Poker running. Grabbing the notepad near the phone and a pen I nabbed from the front desk I glued myself to the television screen and took notes for the next couple of hours determined to find the poker look.
After the WSOP finished up on ESPN I checked over my notes and discovered that there was indeed a poker look. In fact I had observed that there were a few distinct poker looks. They fell into four categories.
Firstly there is the old school poker look, which is mainly worn by the old school players, although there are a few newer players that had adopted the look. This look involves a cowboy hat of some design, usually a sports jacket that doesn't necessarily have to match the rest of the outfit and in many cases big glasses.
Secondly there is the mid generation geek look which consists of no real style at all except the most plain shirt possible, maybe a comb over and in many cases a sweater.
Thirdly there is the 'big player' look worn by the players who try to impress while they play. All that is needed for this look is a nice shirt, not quite buttoned up all the way, a gold chain or two and a haircut that Tom Cruise would envy.
The most popular look though is the more modern new generation poker look. What's needed for this look is any combination of sunglasses, an mp3 player, a baseball cap and some piece of clothing that has some poker phrase/logo.
So with this information in hand all I needed to do now was pick a look. First one was out of the question as I wasn't going to buy a cowboy hat just for playing poker and I try to wear jackets as little as possible. Scribbled out the second one without even blinking. Third one wasn't really any good either as I have to dress up for work and I play poker to have fun and relax.
So that left me with option four, which wouldn't be too hard to throw together. I couldn't play at the Mirage, as they would know me for the fraud I was. So the next day I left the Mirage with my mp3 player, my Oakley's and picked myself up a hat that said 'I am king' with a big king of hearts in the middle.
A friend of mine who had come on the trip wanted to check out the MGM grand so we headed over there where of course I headed straight to the poker room. Quite impressed with the look of the place I had arrived just in time for a tournament.
In my full poker get up I headed to my table where I once again made a general hello and was greeted by hellos and even a few names. I was in! Sitting down I put my chips on the table and got ready to experience the inner poker world. Unfortunately things spiraled downwards from there.
First mishap came shortly after the tournament started where I picked up pocket queens. I raised pre-flop and two players came in to see Q 10 3 off suite drop which would have been great except I was tapping away to the music that I hadn't noticed that it had come to my turn to act. The dealer seeing me tapping away at the table took me as checking. A king dropped next giving one of the players his busted straight and eventually the pot. Not happy I immediately took out the headphones and shoved my mp3 player into my backpack.
I managed to take the knock and get back into the game and was doing fine until an hour later when I found I was continuously scratching my scalp. I suddenly remembered that I didn't wear hats because they had a tendency to irritate my head. So the hat joined my mp3 player in the bottom of my bag, though I still was looking the part with my Oakley's.
Not long after that the final straw fell. I was dealt A K of spades so I raised and was seen by one player. Down flopped 2 8 J of spades, so I had drawn the highest flush with very little chance of being beaten. First to act I of course check and then proceed to call his bet. Down drops an ace of hearts again I check and he bets which I call. Last card drops and it's a rag card and playing this out long enough I bet big. He then raises and this results in me going all in to see his cards, which turn out to be A J.
Now at this point I am ecstatic and turn over my cards revealing the flush only to see the dealer push the stack towards the other player. I take of my sunglasses to see the cards better to discover that one of the spades is in fact a club. Of course the glasses go into the backpack and with the last of my costume disappearing and the hoax being revealed I am sneered as I leave the table.
Going back to the Mirage and my room with my tail between my legs I turn on the television and switch to ESPN and decided to leave the poker fashion to others, next time I am just going to play cards.
Other Sport Betting Articles
Benefits of Betting with an Offshore Sportsbook At one time if you wanted to bet on sports, you had only two options, through a local bookie or flying to Las Vegas. However, due to increased technology you can now bet from the comfort of your own home. Offshore sportsbook sites have become full-service, customer-oriented businesses. Even when these companies are not located in the United Stat ...World Cup Goalkeepers - Zeljko Kalac, Australia Zeljko Kalac is an Australian goalkeeper of Croatian descent who made his international debut in 1992. Since then he has played in over 50 international games, his most celebrated stint being with AC Milan. Known as the Spider on account of his two meter plus frame and flailing arms, Kalac started his career with Sydney United. He later moved to ...A Bad Night in Vegas: A Boxing Story His name was Javier Ayala and he was from Los Angeles by way of Tijuana. He had once gone ten rounds with the great Roberto Duran in 1973 in Los Angeles and also went the distance with Leroy Haley. But on this night at the Silver Slipper in Las Vegas, his main event opponent was Bruce Finch whose claim to fame would be that after his 3rd round T ...Reasons For Sports Betting Online Maybe you have a friend that does it, or perhaps you've simply read about it. Sports betting online is becoming increasingly popular, and there are a lot of reasons why people choose to engage in this activity.For some folks, it's a money-making endeavor. By carefully researching the statistics and staying current on sporting news, they'r ...Differences Between Canadian and American Football American and Canadian football both descended from rugby and began in Canada as a game played between British soldiers garrisoned in Montreal. The soldiers played a series of games against students at McGill University. McGill played several games against Harvard in 1874 and a tradition was born. Despite their mutual origins, the Canadian and th ...The Belmont Stakes – The Third Jewel in Horse Racing's Triple Crown With both Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro and Preakness winner Bernardini out of the race, the 138th Belmont Stakes, horse racing’s final leg of the Triple Crown, appears to be up for grabs.This year’s best prospect for the Triple Crown, Barbaro, is recovering from a life threating injury sustained in the Preakness. In 131 years of horse r ...Football Camp for Kids Since the devastation of Katrina, residents in New Orleans have been trying to put their lives back together. NFL stars Peyton Manning and his brighter Eli have given time, money, and support to their city. They will be donating more time at their family’s summer football camp started by their father eleven years ago to help kids improve their s ...2006 Tournament of Champions The 2006 Tournament of Champions featured a $2,000,000 prize pool and 27 of the top players in the World Series of Poker competition. 9 came from the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event, 12 came from the winners of the World Series of Poker Circuit Tournament Main Events that have been held throughout the year and six additional players who re ...Founding Fathers Of NASCAR Hey Racing Fans!! Are your engines revving? Can't wait till the next NASCAR race? Have you ever wondered where and when this addicting sport got it's start? It unofficially got started when deep in the back woods, farmers around the depression era made moonshine to earn money to support their families. Money for the bare necessities was hard to ...A Look At UK Soccer The FA Premier League Partnership, also known as UK soccer, was first founded in 1992 and is a league that is reserved for the top UK soccer clubs in the English system. This distinction makes it England’s primary soccer competition. Each year, 20 teams compete for the league championship but, oddly enough, only four teams have been crowned. ...World Cup Draw 2006 The draw for the 2006 football World Cup was held in Leipzig Germany on December 9th 2005. This is the greatest sporting event on earth after the Olympic games and has been eagerly looked forward to. The 32 teams were allocated into 8 groups of four in a televised ceremony that was watched live in over one hundred and sixty countries. The top tw ...Hip-Hop Breaks Out At Boxing Match Saturday night there was a boxing match for the Welterweight title between fighters Floyd Mayweather and Zab Judah. The event was promoted by legendary promoters Bob Arum and Don King. Trying to drum up support for the Pay-Per-View event, the promoters labeled it some sort of "hip-hop summit." Allegedly, the "heavy-hitters" would be there includ ...Premiership Season Preview 2006/07 - Middlesbrough MiddlesbroughOdds: 500/1Last Five Seasons 2005/06 - 14 (Premiership), 2004/05 - 7 (Premiership), 2003/04 - 11 (Premiership), 2002/03 - 11 (Premiership), 2001/02 - 12 (Premiership).2005/06 Cup Progress UEFA Cup Final vs Sevilla (n) - lost 4-0. FA Cup Semi Final vs West Ham United (n) - lost 1-0. Carling Cup Qu ...Premiership Betting Review - 5 February 2006 Alan Shearer broke Jackie Milburn's all-time Newcastle scoring record with his 201st goal in a vital 2-0 win over relegation strugglers Portsmouth. The Magpies were playing their first match under temporary manager Glenn Roeder and were 4/5 to win before kick off. An opener from Charles N’Zogbia and a second from Shearer gave Newcastle their fir ...Horse Racing Betting, a Beginners Guide (Part 1) So you want to bet on the horses but you haven’t got a clue where to start. You look at the form but at this stage the numbers don’t mean a thing. Well listen up as what I’m about to tell could result in a few winners today.First things first, ignore the jockeys silk (There nice colours, So What!) and don’t try and pick a cool sounding na ...World Cup Fun for Kids The 2006 soccer World Cup is being held in Germany, and all around the world people old and young, male and female will be looking forward to a feast of football. Whether you love or loathe the ‘beautiful game’ you can make the World Cup both a fun and educational experience for your kids! There are 32 countries competing in the World Cup 2006 ...Sports Betting Placing money on the result of a sporting event is called sports betting. While many people regard betting as high interest in a sport, those who oppose the practice do so because they feel it threatens the basic honor of the sport.Betting on sports activities may be officially permitted in some countries. In North America, it is generall ...FA Cup Third Round - Oppose Premiership Teams Away The so-called "gulf" between teams from Premiership and those striving to join the elite from the Championship is often noted, especially when teams from their respective divisions clash in Cup competitions.However, this "gulf" may be nothing more than a fallacy. When the third round of the FA Cup comes around, Championship teams rewarded ...Soccer - Hair Matters Hair style is such an important part of life for a lot of people around the world that even World Soccer Cup stars are rated these days according to the way their cut, curl, color and part their hair.Beckham’s hair styling for example is apparently very popular with the soccer fans in India. There is much talk about Beckham's hairdo in th ...2006 World Cup Basics The FIFA World Cup (often just called The World Cup, or simply World Cup) is the most prestigious competition in international football (referred to as soccer in the USA & Canada). It is the world's most competitive sports event involving 197 countries and is Organised by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA),football's go ...Playing Chess in Russia - The Agony of Victory Russians have a thing for chess and, frankly, are very good at it. Being from San Diego, I thought chess was something you put photo albums in.Playing ChessPlaying chess requires thinking ten or twelve steps ahead. If I wanted to understand the Russian mind, I had to learn to play chess. If nothing else, it would be a good way to p ...The History of Backgammon - Now and Then Backgammon is the oldest game in history. Also known as the “wee battle,” backgammon began in Mesopotamia (now known as Iraq) about 5000 years ago. However, Egyptians called backgammon “Senat,” which was a similar form of the current game played today. Centuries ago, only people in power, the prevailing figures of royalty like Egyptian pharaohs ...Buy Yourself Some Football Portion of adrenalin quickened our imagination many a time. We strained our voices on stands, rooted for our favorite teams in front of TV impetuously, and were so surprised, why our palms ached so much after a football match. It’s because we just love football. And cannot imagine our life without our favorite team. We’re fans and there’re more ...The Ultimate Soccer Experience for Greeks During the 2004 summer, my home country, Greece had the privilege to be the protagonist in two extremely important and prestigious events in the nation's sports history; the EURO 2004 Soccer Championship and the 2004 Olympic Games. In the EURO 2004 Soccer Championship, the National Soccer Team of Greece gained the title as the new European Socce ...
|
