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Not in the cards - this time

A Brandon man faults himself for being out of the tournament in Vegas.

By MELANIE AVE
Published August 10, 2006

BRANDON - Dan Hicks says Kenny Rogers was right: "You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em."

But after playing in the 2006 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Hicks might be inclined to add another line to the song: "Know when to raise 'em."

Playing in the tournament in recent days, Hicks failed to raise during a key hand. That, he said, caused his loss to Rob Roseman of Chicago, who went on to win $495,000 and place 23rd.

The championship among nine final players is today. The winner gets $12-million.

Hicks will have to watch the live telecast on ESPN pay-per-view. But don't feel too sorry for him. The married father of two still cleared more than $115,000.

Hicks, who lives in Brandon, is one of the biggest winners from the Tampa Bay area in the prestigious tournament. In four years of playing, he's turned a hobby into a moneymaker.

He sat in his mortgage office Wednesday, talking about his love of poker and his loss to Roseman, who he said got lucky.

"That should have been me," said Hicks, president of AmTrust Funding Services. But "I'm not complaining ..."

The 33-year-old former University of Kentucky football player walked away from the monthlong tournament with his biggest poker take so far.

The 37th annual tournament drew a record 8,773 people, rookies and pros alike, from all over the world. Hicks paid the $10,000 entrance fee for a seat at the main event before Roseman's straight trumped his three of a kind.

You could say Hicks is the new face of poker, a young professional attracted to the game's recent resurgence in popularity on television and the Internet.

Books on the game fill store shelves. Free online programs help novices enhance their skills. Children are even learning the game and teaching their parents.

Hicks played rummy with his family as a child, and four years ago he got the poker bug after growing frustrated with losing at blackjack. He started playing poker around the Tampa area, playing online games and reading everything he could about the game.

Hicks became a regular at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa, where he still plays about three times a week.

"I'm good in math," Hicks said. "I use it to my advantage. Sometimes it's just a mathematical decision to call. A lot of people don't realize that."

Poker, he says, is "about 80 percent skill and 20 percent luck."

His favorite game is no-limit hold 'em in which each player is dealt two cards and then shares five cards. Players devise a winning hand from any combination of the seven cards. Betting is unlimited.

Hicks said his skill is the ability to quickly figure out the odds of winning a hand based on the cards dealt.

Hicks admits the highs and lows of poker can be ridiculous.

"You can win more than in three nights than you earn in a month," he said. "And then you can go a month without winning anything. It's like a roller coaster."

Hicks puts his net poker earnings in the past year somewhere between $200,000 and $1-million.

When asked for a few tips, Hicks paused, afraid to give up too much.

"When you've got a losing hand, dump it right away," Hicks said. "When in doubt, raise and reraise."

He said other than skill, another key to his success is his lack of desperation. Poker is a hobby for him, not a career.

"I've never had to depend on it," Hicks said. "If you have to win, that's when you lose. I'm not doing this to put food on the table."

And he's unwilling to take time away from his wife of 10 years, Janice, and their two children, 5 and 10.

One morning this week, his two kids eyed a pile of money in his wallet, about $2,300 from a successful poker night at the Hard Rock.

His daughter said, "Dad must have gone to work," Hicks recalled. But his son said no.

"You don't get that kind of money from work," the boy told his father. "You get that from playing cards."

Melanie Ave can be reached at mave@sptimes.com or 727-893-8813.

World Series of Poker:

- What: A monthlong poker tournament in its 37th year.

- Where: Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas.

- When: The final nine players begin play at 5 p.m. today.

- Championship game: No-limit Texas Hold 'em.

- Prizes: Winner receives $12-million. Each of the top 12 finishers get at least $1-million and the top 873 players receive cash awards of at least $14,597. The total net prize pool for all events is more than $154-million.

- Entrants: A record 8,773 people.

[Last modified August 10, 2006, 01:29:30]