Classic card games prove addictive to some students
Kat Timpf
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: Beyond
I had been waiting in A.J.'s café to interview a group of card-playing students about their hobby. After half an hour, I called them.
Senior and card aficionado Tyler Walton answered the phone and apologized profusely. He said he was sorry for being the worst interviewee ever, but his buddies and he had been engrossed in a game of Euchre and completely forgotten about the meeting. He invited me to come over to his friends' house and talk with all of the people who often play cards there. Not being a Euchre player myself, I was curious to see how the game could have such a large grip on the lives of its players. So, I walked over.
When I arrived, Walton and seniors Ellen Berlucchi, Kate Lundberg and junior Andrew Harrison sat around a table with a deck of cards in Berlucchi and Lundberg's apartment, playing Euchre and drinking coffee.
"We're very addicted," Berlucchi said.
Walton said he learned to play the game his freshman year, but this group has been playing together since last semester. Berlucchi said they play for at least an hour at a time, which Walton said adds up to at least 10 hours per week. Some members of the group admitted to skipping class to play. All admitted to feeling addicted.
"We've been playing all semester," Walton said. "We've got to get our fix. We start shaking around noon."
Berlucchi said the games are often quite intense.
"The only thing we break for is cigs," she said, laughing.
Harrison said he also plays poker with Walton and other guys on campus.
Senior Tim Routzahn said he has played Texas Hold 'Em with Harrison and Walton a few times, and is "anxious to play again."
Routzahn said he has been "fascinated" with poker since he was 12 or 13 years old.
"I like the challenge, seeing if I can read people's faces," he said. "The money is good, too."
But Routzahn said although the group does play for small amounts of money, with each participant contributing $5 to play, that's not the main reason he likes to play.
Senior and card aficionado Tyler Walton answered the phone and apologized profusely. He said he was sorry for being the worst interviewee ever, but his buddies and he had been engrossed in a game of Euchre and completely forgotten about the meeting. He invited me to come over to his friends' house and talk with all of the people who often play cards there. Not being a Euchre player myself, I was curious to see how the game could have such a large grip on the lives of its players. So, I walked over.
When I arrived, Walton and seniors Ellen Berlucchi, Kate Lundberg and junior Andrew Harrison sat around a table with a deck of cards in Berlucchi and Lundberg's apartment, playing Euchre and drinking coffee.
"We're very addicted," Berlucchi said.
Walton said he learned to play the game his freshman year, but this group has been playing together since last semester. Berlucchi said they play for at least an hour at a time, which Walton said adds up to at least 10 hours per week. Some members of the group admitted to skipping class to play. All admitted to feeling addicted.
"We've been playing all semester," Walton said. "We've got to get our fix. We start shaking around noon."
Berlucchi said the games are often quite intense.
"The only thing we break for is cigs," she said, laughing.
Harrison said he also plays poker with Walton and other guys on campus.
Senior Tim Routzahn said he has played Texas Hold 'Em with Harrison and Walton a few times, and is "anxious to play again."
Routzahn said he has been "fascinated" with poker since he was 12 or 13 years old.
"I like the challenge, seeing if I can read people's faces," he said. "The money is good, too."
But Routzahn said although the group does play for small amounts of money, with each participant contributing $5 to play, that's not the main reason he likes to play.
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