Lance Martin
Herald Senior Writer

Marty Bunch and his wife Margaret play Texas Hold’Em at Java Junction Tuesday night. Advertisement

ROANOKE RAPIDS — One could safely say Marty Bunch knows when to hold ’em and knows when to fold ’em.

That’s why the Lake Gaston man will be going to Las Vegas in April to play in the Bars, Taverns and Restaurants Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament.

Bunch, a building contractor, won the right to go to Vegas after winning a BTR playoff in Hopewell, Va.

He advanced to Hopewell by winning the weekly BTR tournament at Java Junction, which is in its third season at the restaurant on Roanoke Avenue.

Bunch will be the first North Carolina representative at the Vegas tournament,  said George Brooks, owner of Java. To get to this level Bunch had to beat 147 people.

Bunch is modest about his success. He’s been playing cards since childhood and he got married in Las Vegas. “It’s going to be fun,” he said, “It’s not costing me anything.”

Winning the Hopewell tournament gave him a 1,500 chip buy-in and an all-expense paid trip to Vegas, Brooks said.

Success in Texas Hold ‘Em, like any card game, depends on the cards you get, Bunch said.

One of his strengths is he can read his opponents. But the game is more about fun, he said. “Me and my wife come out here as a date out,” he said.

Being a contractor helps his “reading skills,” he says. “Reading people you get to know whether they’ll pay or not pay,” he said.

Bunch has won more than anyone else in BTR play since Java began the Monday night poker series, Brooks said. “He’s won the championship each season.”

The season is 12 weeks and between 22 to 28 people come to play, Brooks said.

Brooks began the poker series as a way to boost business.

There is no gambling and it costs nothing to enter.

The play is open to anyone and Brooks said it’s a good way to learn the game because the players will teach you.

Said Brooks: “It’s the easiest poker game to play and a good game to bluff.”

“It’s the camaraderie,” said Ron Jock, a poker night regular who also plays in the BTR tournaments at the Lakehouse Pub on Lizard Creek Road. “It’s good for business. We’re just riding the wave of the poker explosion.”