Poker is “Going to the Dogs”:
The Artistry of Cassius Marcellus Coolidge
1 would like to thank my colleague at UNLV, Dr. Christopher Stream,
for his help in preparing this manuscript. The idea for this article came from a
presentation he and I did at the 2005 Popular Culture Conference in Las Vegas,
Nevada.
The game of poker is fast becoming the most popular form of
gambling. The game is also the object of some of the world’s most popular
works of painted art. Poker has a long history. For a long time poker was
considered but a pastime, a social game played only by the senior generations.
Not so anymore. Today all forms of poker are played more often than any other
card game. As many as 60 million Americans play poker at least once a month.
The game commands the attention of America’s youth, as teenagers and those in
their twenties and thirties quest to be the next Matt Damon as portrayed in the
film Rounders.
Once relegated to the side areas of casinos, now poker rooms are
replacing slot machine areas, something that would have been considered totally
unthinkable ten years ago. Caesars Palace, part of the Harrah’s Entertainment
conglomerate, has invested S12 million in an expanded poker room. The new
poker facility had 17 tables in operation the first night it was open; it was a mid
week night. From 2003 until now, poker activity in Las Vegas has increased 300
percent a year. At this pace (which obviously cannot continue), all casino
activity will be poker games by 2017.
People are playing nationwide with lots and lots of live tournaments as
well as hundreds of thousands of “live” (a.k.a. real-time) Internet games. Poker
kits and paraphernalia are selling briskly in Wal-Mart and other stores, and 12 of
the top book titles on Amazon are poker books. Poker growth is also worldwide.
However, in Las Vegas the Horseshoe (now named “Binion’s” and today a
Harrah’s property), the classic poker venue, has seen its World Series of Poker
tournament increase dramatically. In 2003 the winner, Chris Moneymaker, was
an internet player who won his S10,000 entry fee from a website satellite game.
The 2004 games found 2,576 entries contributing fees that supported a S5
million prize for the winner of the Texas hold’em game, Greg Raymer. In 2005
there were 5,618 players as Joseph Hachen won the Texas hold’em event for a
top prize of S7.5 million. In 2006 the number of players was capped at 8,000.
The tournament games are prominently shown on the ESPN television network.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Series_of_poker).
The social history of gambling is reflected in many art forms: music,
films, paintings. The themes presented portray the game as a democratic
institution where players come from all walks of life and stand on equal footing.
Art also depicts the cerebral nature of the game, reflecting the almost heroic