Northern Quest ups the ante

AIRWAY HEIGHTS – Tension builds as people take their turns around the table. Mixed drinks sparkle next to them. People speak softly as they play Texas Hold’em in the poker room of Northern Quest Casino. No one is making any sudden gestures – the wrong body language can give you away.

Then the round culminates, someone comes out on top, people breathe a little easier, and the dealer turns out more cards. Then they begin again, taking their chances, putting down their American green – all for just one more shot.

There’s a little more at stake here at Northern Quest Casino these days. Under the lights of the poker room, the amount of money you can place on a hand has increased to $5 to $10 a blind, meaning the “pot” can be driven up to $500 or more.

Since April, the move has been bringing in big names and big money.

On a recent Friday night there were an ex-military sniper, a doctor, an author and a wine broker in with the crowd, said the poker-room supervisor, Marc Gottbreht.

The casino upped the limit on poker after many clients indicated they wanted more money on the table. This was part of the casino’s “you asked, we listened,” program.

Gottbreht points to one table and said has hundreds of dollars in the pot. The men around the table hold very still as they make their moves.

“Poker face” is something Gottbreht knows a lot about as he works the poker room. As the pot grows, it’s more important for people to be able to read one another’s faces.

“That’s where the skill level comes in – when you get good at reading people,” he said.

That skill is a large part of the success behind many of the games here and around the world, he said.

“(People ask), ‘Is that a face of confidence that you can be making or is this a phony face?’ ” Gottbreht said.

Waitresses pad around quietly, passing drinks to players. You can get your own cart of drinks wheeled right up to your elbows as you play.

Mixing hard alcohol, money, chance and a lot of well-off players can make for a wild night.

“It can get a little wild sometimes,” Gottbreht said. “Sometimes late at night, guys get drinking a bit, and the chips start to fly. The tables can heat up.”

He continues to narrate the games as the night wears on. Gottbreht is a big man with wide hands and an eye for making the right people feel comfortable. Casino staff members meander by and greet him and he’s on a first-name basis with many of the poker players. He remembers what many of them do for a living.

Jim Webbert has been playing Northern Quest’s poker for seven years and first began gambling in 1974.

The retired Spokane teacher couldn’t really say if the new limit for blinds has helped or hindered his game. Poker is a pastime for him, and he visits the poker room about three times a week. “I haven’t taken any bread off the table – that’s real important,” Webbert said about people who endanger their families when they lose too much money in poker. “There’s a lot of people that play that shouldn’t.”

Webbert’s hair is graying, and he gestures enthusiastically as he talks about all the places he’s been gambling in the past 27 years.

“I’ve played in Reno, Las Vegas, Tahoe, New Orleans, Canada,” he said. He makes a point of repeating that Northern Quest Casino has good dealers.

On the wall behind the nine poker tables are several dozen gleaming plaques. Images of grinning celebrities peer out from the wall – celebrities who have visited the casino and let casino staff talk them into posing at one of the poker tables for a photo.

Mickey Rooney is pictured leaning over one of the tables.

Webbert claims to have played poker next to several celebrities. The World Series of Poker player for 2008, Erick Lindgren, recently played at Northern Quest, Webbert said.

Another player, Pat Klemmer, walked away with $3,650 once when she got a royal flush.

“I paid the bills,” she said with a laugh, her blue earrings swinging. Klemmer is the retired owner of a travel agency.

“I’ve played at the higher limits, but I get really nervous,” she said.