Poker in W.Va.

[Bravo Zulu]

Poker in W.Va.: Slowly but surely, PG's ace turns $100 into $27
Saturday, October 20, 2007
By Gary Rotstein, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

WHEELING, W.Va. -- Adam, piling up chips at my right elbow, explained that the low-stakes game we were playing on green felt is sometimes derisively called "no fold 'em hold 'em."
And yet I tried to bluff my way through to steal a pot. I should have listened. Adam, who had played in casinos I'd never even heard of, didn't have all those chips in front of him for nothing.

Yesterday was the first day of legalized poker in West Virginia, and we were among hundreds who lined up to help Wheeling Island Racetrack & Gaming Center get started. By noon, two hours after opening, every one of 200 seats in the new poker room on the casino's ground floor was filled, and an electronic board flashed waiting lists for various games at different stakes.

We were among 10 men (there were a few women elsewhere in the room) at the 2-4 Texas hold 'em table. That meant all wagers were at the $2 to $4 level, the cheapest game provided. Some pots grew to $50, but not much more. That may be big money in a weekend game among friends like what I'm accustomed to, but here, where there are professional dealers and cashiers and surveillance cameras and state regulations and the games need never end, it was chump change.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07293/827003-336.stm