Nick had only a pair of eights among his cards, but he was pushing every last one of his $2,600 worth of poker chips into the pot.

Of course, he wasn't really throwing away all that cash because the money in this game at the Centreville Moose Lodge in Fairfax was all fake. Still, there was a shiver of excitement in his voice when Nick said those magical words that all Texas Hold 'Em players love to hear: "I'm all in."

How it works is we play for fourteen weeks. We play Tuesdays at 7pm, Fridays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. Each time you play you acquire 25 points just for showing up. If you make it to the final table of 8 players you will get more points depending on the number of players that night. At the end of the fourteen weeks, we add up the points and invite those people who are in the top 50% points range and have played at least 10 games during the series to play in the final tournament. The final game usually has about 45+ players. On that day everyone who makes it to the final ten wins a prize. It is a fun day with one hell of a good buffet that the lodge puts together and runs all day.

The tournaments feel as real as big games being played in any casino and participants can win prizes such as a wide screen high definition television, a GPS, a Nintendo Wii or DS, a gift certificate to Best Buy, or something else at the end of 14 weeks.  Prizes will vary at each tournament.   If you’re interested in playing find a Moose member and ask to come play. We have players of all levels playing from the neophyte to the expert.

If you need help learning how to play Texas Hold'em click here for help! (by clicking you will open another window)