Dave Nelson/ The Ithacan FRESHMEN POKER PLAYERS (clockwise from lower left) Joe Brown, Chris Washburn, Adam Stricker, John Fleming, Alix Friedman, Jason Melnick and Jacob Ritley compete Friday night.

Texas was toast.

Across the table, Brooklyn’s stack of chips looked taller than the bridge over the East River.

It had been two and half hours since the first hand was dealt, and Houston native Joe Brown had accumulated 70 chips, only 10 more than he started with. Fellow freshman Jason Melnick from New York City had five times that amount.

“At least I’ll get my 10 bucks back,” Brown said right after Melnick took all of freshman Alix Friedman’s chips and a commanding lead. Second place was guaranteed $10, the amount each player had started the game with. The rest of the pot was reserved for the winner.

Brown and Melnick had outlasted four other poker-playing freshmen Friday night in the lounge of the East Tower’s 12th floor. Adam Stricker, Jacob Ritley and Chris Washburn all had been knocked out and lost their $10 entry fee. Friedman, who paid extra to re-enter the game, was down $20.

The group, like other Ithaca cardsharps, played Texas Hold ‘Em, a brand of poker that has seen a spike in popularity over the last two years, for nearly three hours Friday night. Thanks in part to high-stakes tournament telecasts on Bravo, ESPN and The Travel Channel, the World Poker Tour estimates 50 million people are now playing some variation of the card game.

By 9:30 p.m., each of the six players had grabbed desk chairs from their rooms, pulled up a couch and gathered around a wooden table in the humid common room. Not one of them had more than a year of experience playing Hold ‘Em.

Around the table sat a jock from Plattsburgh, a joker from New Jersey, a hippie from Philly, a redhead from Brooklyn, a quiet kid from Seattle and a cowboy from Texas.

Washburn went to his room and returned with a Monopoly-box-sized briefcase full of blue, green, orange, red and white chips. There were 500 in total, which he bought online for $100 about a month ago. He divided them up and gave 60 to each player.

Six or seven spectators had come to watch, a couple to learn. Freshmen Alex Wisniewski from Philadelphia and Jon Fleming from Hawaii claimed seats at the table to be closer to the action.

“The first loser can join us in a little Nintendo 64 back in my room,” Fleming announced to the room. “I’ve got Goldeneye, Mario Kart and Star Fox.”

None of the six was quick to react. No one wanted that shame.

It took 40 minutes for the game to claim its first victim. After Friedman lost his entire stack, he bought another since table rules allowed for that until 10:15 p.m.

But for most of the first hour, play was slow. Small pots didn’t bring outright leaders.

“I’ve got baseball practice at 8 tomorrow morning,” Washburn said. “Let’s hurry this game along.”

He fidgeted with his chips, folding two piles into one, and shuffled another deck so that the next dealer didn’t have to waste time mixing up the cards.

At the far corner of the table, Fleming tired of watching the others and took out his cell phone to start up his own casino.

“I just won $150,000,” he yelled. “Texas Hold ‘Em is what gets me through chemistry.”

“Saucy,” a few people respond after Washburn won a sizeable pot. “Pay dat man hiz money,” Stricker said with a faux-Russian accent, quoting a line from “Rounders,” a 1998 poker movie staring Matt Damon and Edward Norton.

Play lingered on. Fleming provided commentary while Washburn continued his chip tricks.

Wisniewski wanted to learn. The goateed Stricker volunteered to teach while Fleming passed his phone over to the newbie.

“Wow, this is like ‘Training Day,’” Wisniewski said, laughing.

After an hour and a half, action finally picked up. At 11:00 Stricker had lost all of his chips. Twenty minutes later, the quiet Ritley became the second victim. By 11:50 p.m., Washburn was done.

Two hands later, Melnick pushed all of his chips in the middle. Friedman, dressed in a Grateful Dead tie-dyed t-shirt and dreadlocks, called the bet.

Melnick had doubled his stack. His two pair of jacks and nines sent Friedman home.

A good hand or two was all that was between Melnick and $60. He was in great position, his 350 chips towering over Brown’s 70.

But about 15 minutes, eight hands and two all-ins later, the tables had turned. It was Brown that had had a commanding lead with 370 chips to Melnick’s 50.

The following hand, Brown finished his opponent off and picked up the $60 from the table. It was past midnight.

“I’ve only been playing for a couple of months,” Brown said. “I learned during my last week of high school. Over the summer we played about two or three times a week.”

He took his winnings and the remaining players and spectators began to leave the lounge. On the way back to their rooms, they exchanged phone numbers and started planning next week’s game.

“How about higher stakes next time?” Washburn asked as he put his chips away. “How about $20 apiece?”

“Sure,” Brown said, smiling. “I’ve got nothing to lose.”