Even if you’re not the gambling kind, it’s a safe bet that Peter Calvo ’07 will come home a winner from the seven-week long World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

A Communication major with minors in Business Administration and Film and Video Studies, Calvo has proven himself an ace at the game. He’d already amassed a small fortune—about $60,000—playing mostly online poker by the time he celebrated his 21st birthday in June and, newly eligible to play inside casinos, caught a plane out to the action three days later.

Now, he’s devoting between 10 and 12 hours per day to the card game, with the goal of becoming the youngest player ever to win a World Series of Poker bracelet (think Super Bowl ring) that is given to victors of each of the 45 series tournaments.
 
Calvo, speaking by cell phone from a condo he rented with poker earnings just five minutes away from “the strip,” says the summer will have been a success regardless of the amount of money he scores and whether he brings back a bracelet. The effort has made him a popular blogger, thanks to an invitation from The Frederick News-Post to report on his experiences. And the business he runs with his buddy, Thomas Dunn ’07, is starting to take off thanks to the media attention they’ve garnered.
 
Through their Web site, www.younggunzofpoker.com, they sell original poker-themed apparel and an attitude.
 
“You’re not just buying a T-shirt, you’re buying into a lifestyle,” says Dunn. “This is about young kids with a cocky attitude who still have respect for their elders and want to learn from them. It’s about a new generation of players.”

Best yet, both Calvo and Dunn are keeping meticulous notes and will film a documentary about their marketing, public relations and merchandising strategies so they can parlay the summer’s adventures into independent study credits.

“I’ve learned an unbelievable amount since I’ve been out here,” says Calvo, who says his studies of non-verbal communication have assisted his transition from mostly online games to 100-percent live action. “I’ve had some occasional fun, but I’m viewing this mostly as a business trip.”

While cautionary tales abound about college students whose online poker-playing habits get them deep into debt and sometimes legal troubles—The New York Times Magazine recently ran a story about a Lehigh University student who robbed a bank to cover his bills—Calvo seems to be beating the odds by keeping a clear head.

He pays income taxes on his profits. He reads reams of material about the art and the science of poker. He studies the strategies of the pros. And he sticks to the game plan.
 
“I don’t consider what I do gambling … I always have a plan for the best and the worst scenario,” explains Calvo, who has begun investing his winnings in the stock market. “You really have to stay disciplined.”

Calvo has allowed himself an indulgence or two. Back home at the college house he shares with Dunn and some other buddies on Pennsylvania Avenue, a newly purchased giant-screen TV dominates the living room. And he recently splurged on a 2001 Mercedes Benz convertible.

But in Vegas, beyond the few shows he caught when his parents visited and chillin’ at Hooters, his adopted hangout, Calvo says most of his time is spent at the tables.

“Playing poker day and night is not a bad way to spend the summer,” he says.