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“Listen, here’s the thing. If you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.” This line, from the 1998 movie “Rounders,” has become a classic one to those who play the game of poker.

Texas Hold ’em, one of the most common poker games, has become very popular among ISU students in recent years.

Because of student demand in the fall of 2003, the inaugural intramural Texas Hold ’em tournament was held at Iowa State on Dec. 7, 2003. Since then, the game’s popularity has exploded on campus. Each semester, Recreation Services offers an intramural Texas Hold ’em tournament for approximately 220 students to participate in.

Linda Marticke, Rec Services program coordinator, said poker’s television presence and the glamorous manner in which players are displayed, are big reasons that students have picked up the game of Texas Hold ’em.

Students agree that seeing Texas Hold ’em played on TV and the popularity of the game sparked their interest for the game.

“The ESPN coverage of the World Series of Poker is [what] started it all,” said Andrew Wake, junior in sociology.

Wake has participated in intramural poker tournaments at Iowa State twice, and said he learned to play during his freshman year.

“You see it on TV and its pretty easy to play,” added Shaun Fitzgerald, junior in mechanical engineering.

Fitzgerald said he has been playing in intramural Texas Hold ’em tournaments at Iowa State for the past two years, and said he has been playing it recreationally since his freshman year.

Kenneth Neal, junior in industrial engineering, said he plays the game on a daily basis, often playing for a few hours per day, both with peers and online.

“It’s something fun to do along with friends,” Neal said. “It’s gambling but you also control your own fate. It’s a combination of gambling along with skill.”

Marticke said the intramural Texas Hold ’em tournament at Iowa State is no longer a tournament for beginners, and she recommends some experience with the game before playing in a tournament.

When asked whether she thinks the intramural tournament will lead to students playing more often or for real money, she said the tournament does not have much of an impact.