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New Trier students forced to fold up poker games
Published: 2004-10-01
 New Trier students forced to fold up poker games
Chicago Sun-Times, October, 2004 by Lucio Guerrero
The students of New Trier High School are going to have fold 'em. Administrators have pulled the plug on card games at the Winnetka campus after an increase in gambling on campus.
"We aren't trying to find things to make rules, but we are also not going to turn our heads when a problem is brought to our attention that is impacting the safety or atmosphere of our school," said New Trier High School Winnetka campus principal Debra Stacey.
Stacey said school officials had seen more students being sent to administrators because of gambling on campus.
She said there has also been an increase in reports from other students on possible gambling.
Last week's ban at the Winnetka campus comes about a year after the school's other campus in Northfield banned card playing on school grounds.
"We said that here at Winnetka if our students would act responsibly, and we didn't observe gambling, then we would give them the benefit of the doubt," Stacey said. "But we felt it was time to take a different route and take a strong stance."
Gamers' lament
But some students think the administrators went too far in punishing everyone.
Paul Showalter-Blades is a senior at New Trier -- he's graduated from poker to cribbage. But the 17-year-old said he would adhere to New Trier's rules and stay away from card playing -- at school, that is. Home is another thing.
"We're big gamblers in my family," the long-haired teen said after school on Monday. "I think banning card-playing altogether is a bit excessive."
Johnny Ball said he would suspend his twice weekly games of Texas Hold 'em -- but it's going to hurt his wallet.
"I'd say I win about $15 to $20 a day," the 15-year-old sophomore said.
His mother, Linda Ball, said that she, too, was concerned about his poker playing.
She has talked with other mothers about the poker playing -- a lively conversation that touches on education, ethics and criminal behavior.
Math booster
"I have to say, it's a good, clever way to learn math," Linda Ball said. "So I don't mind the card playing, I mind the gambling and the money changing hands."
New Trier isn't the only school to deal with student gambling and card playing. Other schools -- such as Elgin High School and Springman Middle School in Glenview -- have also created bans.
The National Council on Problem Gambling said research shows "a vast majority of kids" have gambled before their 18th birthday and that children may be more likely to develop problems related to gambling than adults.
Copyright The Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
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Poker hobby pays off richly for 'Idaho Bandit'
Published: 2004-10-01
 Poker hobby pays off richly for 'Idaho Bandit'; Sandpoint man
Spokesman Review, The (Spokane), October, 2004 by Dave Buford Correspondent
Michael Kinney, of Sandpoint, knows how to win big.
He stunned many professional poker players when he became a Texas Hold'em champion overnight as an amateur player with only a few years in the game.
He knows what to look for in his opponents: whether they wear sunglasses, how they sit, how they drink their water, how they dress, if they're superstitious or younger and willing to gamble.
Now he's finding a fair number of opponents on television as he wins tournaments featured on the Travel Channel's "World Poker Tour," where he's earned the nickname "Idaho Bandit" for bluffing his opponents.
The game has become one of his favorite hobbies. He took to it by chance.
"I didn't plan on playing," said Kinney, 37. "It was just something to take my mind off work."
His first hand at the game was during a vacation to see his dad, Michael "Mic" Kinney Sr. in Reno, Nev. His dad was in a hurry when picking up Kinney from the airport because he was on the way to a poker tournament.
The elder Kinney had played Texas Hold'em for 35 years and told his son he should try his hand at a small poker tournament. So he did.
He took second place.
"I was hooked," he said. "I started playing smaller tournaments whenever I could."
He used what little free time he had to learn about the game by reading books, playing online tournaments and playing with a group of buddies in Sandpoint.
For the past three years he started taking his hobby seriously and sought out bigger, better games.
Now, he can rattle off the probability of getting an ace every 220 hands. He knows each card is 14 percent of the hand, the winner takes 35 percent of the entry fees and every new card is a new math problem.
Number skills that have helped him in his construction business now help him at the poker table.
"Anybody can play, but if your math is good with probability, it's even that much better of a game," he said. "You have a clear advantage."
He said a lot of players watch games on TV, but he didn't know poker existed at that level.
Then he landed on national television as he joined the "World Poker Tour" on April 1. He took home $629,469 and beat out 342 other players.
Since the tour, he's played in other large tournaments in Reno and in Paris. Last week, he went to Reno for the Pot of Gold tournament and will compete in the Battle of Champions tournament Nov. 14.
Ira Greene, a contractor in Sandpoint, has been playing for about three years. He also played in the Pot of Gold tournament last week, returning calls from his cell phone between rounds. He said Kinney sparked his interest in Texas Hold'em and has helped him become a better player, along with the poker group in Sandpoint.
He knew they were good players and Kinney proved that by winning the tour. But back in Sandpoint, he's a patient mentor to new players.
"He's still just Mikey," he said. "He's still my friend, and nothing's changed."
Kinney said large tournaments are held about every month in Nevada, but he said his trips to Reno are rarely planned.
In most cases, they're spur of the moment when he can sneak away from work, he said.
Kinney said the game takes only minutes to learn, but it takes a smart person at least a year to know how to win.
Since his recent big wins, he's seen several challengers ante up at the chance to take his title. But his win was more than just beginner's luck, he said.
"Anybody can get a good hand, but trying to win when you have the worst hand possible and bluff them and do it with skill - that's the best part of the game," he said.
While the game is played with the cards, it is all about the betting, he said. The choices on each hand, whether aggressive or lax, can determine how the game turns out. Making the wrong choice can cost more than just losing your chips.
In one of the tournaments he played shortly after winning the World Poker Tour, he went from first place to 11th on two bad decisions, he said.
He made $103,000, compared with the $3 million he had a chance of winning.
"It was an expensive lesson," he said.
Despite his losses, and his winnings, he continues to work full- time as a building contractor in Sandpoint. His company, Kinney Construction, builds more than 30 homes a year, and he sees work as a sure thing and poker as anything but.
He's owned his own business since he was 21 after going to trade school at 15.
Kinney said winning is fun, but it's not his focus.
"Poker is just a hobby, like somebody else would hunt or fish," he said. "I like to play cards."
Dave Buford can be reached at davebuford@journalist.com.
Copyright c 2004 The Spokesman-Review
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
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