Andrews said he continues to play with the MSU Poker Club, where he loves to compete and hopes to refine his game to pursue poker professionally.

With more than 100 members, the MSU Poker Club holds weekly free tournaments for students wanting to participate.

Currently between 30 to 40 players attend each tournament, biosystems engineering senior Anuj Vyas said.

With this many players participating, Andrews is constantly studying the game. Using Twitch, a social video platform, Andrews is able to watch how his favorite players make decisions in real time.

“You have to analyze your game constantly,” Andrews said. “You have to find leaks, find spots to take advantage more often in certain situations because it is not as easy to make money in poker as it was 10 years ago.”

Andrews also holds strategy sessions for members of the club. Being able to read situations and being a good decision-maker during a hand can be a crucial factor for whether a player wins or loses, he said.

One aspect of poker Andrews values highly is the ability to control tilt, a state of frustration and confusion that might lead a player to use poor strategy and become overly aggressive.

The MSU Poker Club provides players a place to share ideas and strategies about the game. The club focuses on various skills, such as critical reasoning and risk assessment, Vyas said.

“We Believe that in order to improve as a poker player one must evaluate decisions based solely on long term profitability of those decisions. We believe that poker itself promotes discipline, intelligence and rational thinking," according to the MSU Poker Club Constitution.