Poker at the University of Florida

Football rules the campus, and every year features "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party," when the Florida Gators meet their rivals, the University of Georgia, on the field of battle in Jacksonville. Students and alumni from near and far make an annual pilgrimage to the game and take their responsibilities seriously to make it the world's largest outdoor cocktail party.

Football may be the official game of the Swamp, as the students affectionately refer to their campus, but like college kids across the country, Gators are also sharpening their teeth at the poker table. There is plenty of poker to be found at Gainesville bars, fraternity houses, dorm rooms, and private houses packed with students. Poker has been embraced from literally every angle at the school; the university administration even hosted a "Tostitos and Texas hold'em, event as a part of the Dean of Student's welcome week activities.

One of the hallmarks of official Gator poker is gambling with a heart of gold, poker for a good cause. Poker tournaments are popular charity fund-raisers among the school's 60-plus frats and sororities. For example AEPi, one of the school's largest frats, with about 90 brothers, hosts a Poker All Night Long event every year. In 2004, over 70 students ponied up and played while about 140 others watched. And the event raised $6,000 to help AEPi brother Jeremy Katzman battle leukemia. Last year, the poker fundraiser raked in about $3,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, according to the Independent Florida Alligator, a weekly student-run publication. Another poker tournament raised over $3,000 for Red Cross Disaster Relief.

Tournaments and charity aside, it's hard to toss a football without hitting a poker player at the University of Florida. Many of the school's 33,000 undergrad students live in private houses, and there is poker aplenty to be found wherever Gators dwell. Their game is Texas Hold'em. Brandt, a 23-year-old who graduated with a degree in finance, estimated that 70 percent of the campus could hold their own in a round or two of Texas Hold'em. He said about one-third of the students played regularly, and about 15 percent of the ladies on campus would ante up every so often. At the AEPi poker tournament fund-raiser in February 2005, the Alligator reported, Gator ladies played their hands well kicking butt out there," graduate student Jonathan Shrivers told the newspaper.

But other players said that ladies were a rarity rather than a regular at the casual, low-stakes games typical in the Swamp. Typically, Brandt said, games tend to be less scheduled and "more of a 'come over and play poker' kind of thing." Once word is out about a game, he said, anywhere from four to 25 people might come over to a house, ante up for $10 or $15, and assume their positions around a big, long coffee table or two.

The University of Florida seems as unbeatable as a straight flush when it comes to getting some solid poker at a top-notch school. For any player who can party like a pro and appreciates the social aspect of poker as much as the sound of a pile of chips hitting the table, this school is as sweet as pocket aces.