Tech school to teach Texas Hold’em poker

People were asking for an educational course on No Limit Texas Hold’em Poker.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

CHAMPION — The Trumbull County Career & Technical Center is willing to teach you when to hold’em and when to fold’em — for a $30 fee.

That’s the cost of a No Limit Texas Hold’em Poker course being offered this month at the TCTC Adult Training Center at 528 Educational Highway.

It’s designed for people with little or no experience with the popular card game that has been sweeping the nation for the past couple of years.

Popular televised Texas Hold’em tournaments offering millions of dollars in prize money are being held each year in the United States and abroad, and local tournaments, often arranged as charitable fundraisers, are becoming more common.

This six-hour course, spread over two days, will cover the basic rules of the game as well as strategies and “tells,” the little things that players might do that inadvertently indicate whether they are holding a good hand or just bluffing.

Classroom instruction will be followed by practice games using poker chips.

No gambling allowed

No money will be changing hands, said both TCTC Superintendent D. Wayne McClain and Loretta Douglas, transitions coordinator at the Adult Training Center.

That was a key factor in the center’s agreeing to offer the course, McClain said, noting that gambling isn’t generally accepted in Trumbull County.

“It’s a learning experience, not a gambling experience,” Douglas said. “We’ve had a number of people express interest in it.”

One of the school’s goals is to offer educational programs that people request, Douglas said.

This course had five people signed up as of Tuesday and there’s room for 20 more.

The two sessions will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Sept. 19.

The school decided to move forward with the course when an instructor called and offered his services, Douglas said.

There was some initial concern about offering the course in a public school building, but as long as no money is changing hands, no laws or policies are being violated, she said.

She called the course a “personal enrichment” class similar to cake decorating, yoga, floral design and other things that people do for fun.

To register, call the center at (330) 847-0503, ext. 1600.

gwin@vindy.com