Katz also notes that Strasser is very generous to his friends, taking them out to dinner or bankrolling their expenses so that they can tag along to poker tournaments. "That said, he is extremely prudent with his money," says Katz. "He has already invested much of what he's earned. He's not impulsive or greedy. He just loves poker and wants to master it."

As with any get-rich-quick proposition, online poker has its share of problems and pitfalls. Search Google for "online poker," and you'll get a number of sites devoted to teaching how to cheat at the game and other for-profit sites eager to sell the "secrets of winning."

Gambling addictions are nothing new, but players Strasser's age are particularly vulnerable to poker's seductive lure of easy money. In December, Lehigh University sophomore class president Greg Hogan was arrested for robbing a bank to help pay off the debt he'd accumulated playing online poker. Researchers at the International Center for Youth Gambling at McGill University in Montreal rank the addictive nature of online poker alongside such high-risk adolescent activities as drinking and driving too fast.

Strasser says he knows a few fellow Duke players whom he would classify as borderline addicted. And he admits that there are pitfalls in the virtual world of poker. This spring, he logged on to the Prima Poker website where he'd registered months earlier, only to find his account had been frozen--with more than $15,000 in it--because the company claimed he'd violated its terms of agreement (although when pressed, he says, they couldn't tell him how). Strasser's posting about the matter on a poker blog resulted in a huge outcry among players who had experienced similar rip-offs. Eventually the company returned Strasser's money, although one player sniffed that it was only "because Strasser's famous."

Joyce Barnathan acknowledges that she is sometimes concerned for her son's well-being in such a high-stakes hobby. "As a parent, you can tell your children to follow their passion and then try to be as supportive as you can. You can't write their life script for them." She says that Strasser has always been bright and entrepreneurial, launching baseball-trading-card businesses as a boy and setting up a web-design business that paired designers with clients.

"I've always been fascinated to see how Jason would make his mark," she says. "I have to tell you I never thought it would be online poker. But he's very analytical, so in a way it's not surprising. When you think about the skills he uses in poker, they are similar to what venture capitalists do when they size up opportunities and figure out risks: Do I bet on this company or do I not? How much money am I willing to spend? What is the potential here? Jason is a very sensible guy, and his strategic way of thinking can easily be transferred to other skills."

This summer, Strasser will live in Las Vegas--essentially for free--thanks to PokerStars, an international online poker website and company that sponsors a number of online and live international poker tournaments. In exchange for wearing clothing branded with the PokerStars name, Strasser will play all of the 2006 World Series of Poker No-Limit Hold 'Em events and a few of the other non-Hold 'Em events.

Back in his dorm, Strasser slugs it out on the poker tables, on this day winning more than he loses. Certain expressions slip out from time to time--"sick," meaning awesome or amazing; "fish," a term describing a bad poker player; "newb," a beginner or beginner-like play.

Sooner or later he'll have to get around to cleaning his dorm room for his parents' visit the next day. No worries. He'll simply crank up Kanye West, sort dirty laundry, and watch The Big Lebowski on his DVD player--all while scoring enough money from online poker to treat his parents to dinner.

Booher '82, A.M. '92 is assistant director of the Hart Leadership program at Duke's Sanford Institute.