Poker in the Classroom?

Originally written for the Valencia Voice

ORLANDO, Fla. -- On the river. That’s how Lara McIvor won Osceola Campus' biannual intramural no limit Texas- hold-em poker game on Friday.

“I absolutely love the game,” said McIvor. “I probably play tournament style poker four to five times a week around town.”

The tournament is part of Osceola Campus' intramural sports program, which hosts a number of events including softball, soccer, basketball, and volleyball.

Poker happens to be one of the programs, which are non-sport activities, which also includes chess, video gaming and a Trivial Pursuit championship.

“I would say that we organize some sort of event every week,” said intramural activity director Allen Dunn, as he folded a hand. “Poker is one of our smallest events and we host a tournament in the fall and spring.”

The campus sponsors events like these all the time, free of charge to students, and all participants in this tournament were provided pizza for lunch. Although no money or prizes were at stake, bragging rights certainly were near the top of players minds.

“I really just came to campus to catch up on some work,” said student Rupert Coley, who was placed 4th in the game. “I've played in casinos in Tampa, so I decided that it would be fun to see what might happen if I played in the tournament.”

The game continued for over an hour until only student McIvor and director Dunn remained. With four cards already revealed, both players all in and nothing left for the players to hide, it seemed that victory for Dunn was insured.

As the final card was flipped, all had seemed lost for experienced player Lara McIvor.

The five of spades.

McIvor had rivered a flush and effectively won the game, snatching the almost certain victory from Dunn, as the classroom burst into excited cheers.

“From my experience, the chances of that happening in a game are around 13 percent,” said McIvor, as she modestly accepted praise from the room of students.

Dunn's final thoughts on the games turnout?

“Never play poker when your hungry, because you can't focus on the game,” said Dunn with a smile.