The cicadas of Las Vegas

Newcomers to the WSOP are overwhelmed by a lot of things. But there’s one conversation that always takes place between a newbie and a WSOP veteran:

Newbie: “What’s that sound?”

Vet: “What sound?”

Newbie: “What sound? It sounds like a 17-year cicada plague!”

Vet: “Oh, that. Just chips.”

The interesting bit is that if the only sound you heard was necessary chip movement, it would be almost inaudible. But show me ten poker players, and I’ll show you seven people playing with their chips. Riffling. Stacking and restacking. Clicking together. I’ll leave it to the DSM IV crowd to interpret the why – I’m just reporting. But it is unmistakable and unique to poker tournaments and poker rooms. Blackjack players don’t do it. Unless they’re secret poker players.

I am told that essentially all citizens of Western civilization have a notch in their hearing right at the frequency of road traffic. If we didn’t, we’d go out of our minds trying to constantly process the incoming signal. So it is with poker players – our brains have told our ears to ignore the plastic cicadas – else we’d all go mental.

But if you’re not in Las Vegas and miss the non-stop buzz, this is for you:

Note #2, #3, and #4 seats all doing their part for the cacaphony.