SPRINGFIELD, Vt. - The toy monkey sitting on Merrilee Harlow's poker chips is not there because it's cute.
"That's 'See No Evil,'" Harlow said. "Like the monkeys, 'See no evil, hear no evil?' It's a little guardian, so they don't take my cards."
Harlow has no problem admitting her superstitions. Any serious poker player will understand.
She has been playing Texas Hold 'em poker, quite successfully according to many who know her, for about seven years. She plays the cards, not the people and she usually plays conservatively, she said. In a game that she said is 90 percent chance, you stick with anything that works.
Harlow was one of 64 people who sacrificed a gorgeous Saturday afternoon to play a Texas Hold 'em poker tournament at the Hartness House.
George Norfleet of the Springfield Lions Club said the club organized the fundraising event hoping to ride the wave of increased popularity the game is enjoying.
"The reason we looked at this is that people really like it," Norfleet said. "A lot of people like to play it."
Texas Hold 'em poker tournaments have enjoyed an immense surge in popularity in recent years with the success of shows like "Celebrity Poker Showdown" on Bravo, "The World Poker Tour" on the Travel Channel and the "World Series of Poker" on ESPN. "Celebrity" is Bravo's second highest rated show behind "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and "The World Poker Tour" is Travel's number one show by a long shot.
Poker games are also widely available on the Internet, offering novice players a chance to practice and enjoy the game without losing any money. But players at Saturday's tournament said a lot of those novice players are starting to show up at the tables, with mixed feelings from the pros.
"It's scary," Harlow said. "They play with anything and you don't know what they have."
The unpredictability amateurs bring can be intimidating to players whose main advantage is to observe and anticipate. But other serious players, like Jim Miller from Swanzey, said having diversity at the table can sometimes be fun.
"I kind of like it because they don't always win," Miller said.
At 32 years old, Miller is one of the "young guns" in the crowd and is known for his aggressive style of play. He is well over 6 feet tall and, sporting a thick goatee and dark sunglasses, it's easy to see how he could intimidate inexperienced players.
He said he's only been playing semi-professionally for eight months, but won about $10,000 over the winter and is playing an increasing number of tournaments. He was at a tournament in Keene on Friday (he said he was eliminated in the third or fourth round) and was ready to play cards again the next day in Springfield.
He practices on the Internet and in live games regularly. As much of the game that is chance, his skills had been sharp Saturday, so far.
"I bluffed one time," he said while taking a smoke break about an hour and a half into the tournament. "But the majority of the pots I had the hand."
Sam Streeter, 35, of Alstead said he has been playing for most of his life. After an hour and a half, he is breaking even. He said practicing on the Internet is well and good, but there is no substitute for a live game where you can size up your competition.
"You can't see them picking their nose," Streeter joked.
But then there's the amateur factor. Harlow had one such struggle earlier that day. She was sitting next to an amateur player named Frank. Frank was confused on the early hands and Harlow kindly coached him through, even giving him tips. Things were going well through several games. Then came the showdown with Frank.
She had two pair. No one knew what Frank had. He played pretty much every hand. Then the dealer turned over the final, or "river," card.
"He caught a flush on the river," Harlow said in disbelief.
She lost a couple thousand dollars. But she was still up $10,000 and safely in the tournament.
So was Miller when he re-entered after the break. Then an aggressive play caught up to him.
After the "flop," Miller had three 10s. He pushed all his chips into the pot. Everyone folded except one player at the other end of the table.
When the cards went on the table, Miller's opponent came down with a straight. There was more than $10,000 in the pot.
"I had to do it," Miller said, backing away from the table and congratulating the other player.
But nobody got hurt too bad. The entrance fee was only $100 and the Lions were expecting to award a grand prize of $2,500.
That's why Kathleen Murraykoledo of Springfield takes a different approach to cards. She has been playing Texas Hold 'em during lunch with friends at work for about a year. They play with small coins and, even though she won $106 in loose change, she said she tries not to get cocky or place emphasis on winning.
The money is nice, she said. But, especially in a benefit tournament, losing isn't the end of the world.
"I always go in thinking I'm not winning," she said. "I have to look at it like, 'What's the worse case scenario? I've made a donation."