Poker's World Series begins

      "Welcome Back, Kotter."
      The World Series of Poker got under way Tuesday at Binion's Horseshoe, and that means Gabriel Kaplan, the retired actor who played the teacher in the hit '70s sitcom, has returned to Las Vegas.
      Kaplan, a regular participant in the World Series at the downtown casino, was among the 544 players vying for $1.1 million in prize money, both records for the tournament's opening-day event.
      Tournament officials expect to award more than $12 million in prize money before the competition ends on May 15.
      The World Series draws a variety of gamblers. However, many of the amateurs are accustomed to playing for big stakes in their careers as well as in poker, said Jim Albrecht, the tournament's director.
      Hal Kant, former manager of the Grateful Dead rock band; Rick Steiner, Broadway play producer; and Jack Keller, a retired stock options broker; are among the amateurs playing in the tournament.
      Keller won the World Series in 1984 and ranks fifth among the top money winners. He has won $1.5 million in the World Series.
      The cigarette smoke and the clatter of poker chips filled the air as Keller, taking time between hands, described his passion for poker.
      Keller, 54, insisted on soft-spoken questions, so his competitors would not be distracted from their quest for the opening-day event's $397,120 top prize.
      Keller developed a tolerance for risk in the pits of the Chicago Board Options Exchange. They are gambling with billions of dollars, rather than the mere millions in the World Series, he said.
      Keller, nevertheless, gets thrills betting for millions in the World Series.
      "This is the most exciting of all the (poker) tournaments," he said. "There's no comparison to Binion's World Series. It's always the biggest."
      Barbara Enright, "arguably the world's best woman player," tournament officials said, sat at another table.
      She wore sunglasses and a leopard-print blouse. She turns her hand-held fan on smokers when the air gets too thick.
      "The smoke is bad, really bad," she complained. But Enright said she cannot resist an event that costs only $2,000 to enter and holds out the promise of a $397,120 top prize.
      Her favorite activities are playing poker and "taking care of my Maxwell." A man behind her hooted at that comment.
      Maxwell? Oh, the classic motor car? "What model year?"
      "He's a 1932 model," she said. She explains that Max Shapiro, a columnist for Card Player magazine, is "the love in my life."
      How many tournaments does she play each year? "About 924, and I usually win one or two."
      Most of the players are dressed casually, including one wearing a pink pig hat, but former actor Kaplan draws attention without trying.
      Strangers ask: "Aren't you Meathead from `All in the Family'?" Meathead, or Mike Stivic, was Rob Reiner's character who was married to Archie Bunker's daughter in the comedy series.
      Others confuse Kaplan with entrepreneurs. They wonder: "Are you Ben or Jerry?" Kaplan is neither chairman nor vice chairman of the Vermont ice cream company called Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc.
      Kaplan lives in Los Angeles and manages his investments. Fans should stop waiting for his return to acting, he said, but he will be a commentator for ESPN's televised coverage of the poker tournament.
      Gambling pros make all of the tournaments, but many amateurs attend just one, and that one is often the World Series, Albrecht said.
      "This is the one everyone wants to win," said Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor, a newsletter about gaming and other Las Vegas attractions. "It's the oldest (poker tournament). It's double the size of any other tournament."
      The World Series has paid out $100 million in prize money over 27 years. That is more than the combined purses of the Masters, British Open, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship, according to the casino.
      The event brings international media attention to downtown Las Vegas ranging from "Dateline NBC" and the New York Times to the BBC, two German television broadcasters and the Dutch edition of Penthouse magazine.