WESTPORT - From sometime poker player with his wife and neighbors, Westport resident Eric Larrivee won his way to the big time earlier this month. After besting 40,000 or so on-line players, then winning a 64-player tourney (modeled after the NCAA basketball tournament) and a one-on-one finalist showdown in Las Vegas, he landed the lone newcomer's spot on NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

In Las Vegas two weeks ago he held his own for a marathon 2 1/2 hours against one of the best. Formerly of Fall River, the 43-year-old has lived in Westport (Longview Estates) for nine years. He is a former Fall River police officer who now drives the Southcoast blood drive van part time. He and his wife Rose have two children of their own, Drew, 8 and Kate, 9, as well as two young foster children.

Have you played poker long? "Not really. I had never played at all before I started watching it on TV. I got hooked."

How did you learn? "Watching TV, reading everything I could about it, studying and playing — on the computer, with my wife and friends, whenever I could."

Who wins these friendly neighborhood games? "I do pretty well. My wife is good (has won a few area tournaments herself) but I can usually figure out when she's bluffing ... she leaves clues."

Can she read you? "No."

Is it harder playing on the computer or in person? "Playing on-line you don't have the advantage of being able to see your opponent's mannerisms. But you can learn about players anyway, their betting patterns, how they play by how quickly they move, when they pause ... And a lot of computer players do crazy things, bet when they shouldn't. Most of the games are quite short."

Were you given the rookie treatment in Las Vegas? "No, people couldn't have been nicer. All of these people I have watched for years, the really great players, welcomed me in. They were interested in meeting me too, seeing who had won this one spot in their game."

What was it like, going up against the pros? I was put up against Isabelle "No Mercy" Mercier, "a great player from Canada who I'd seen play many times." All the attention, the cameras and the amount of money ($20,000 in chips supplied by the network) were a bit distracting at first but we quickly just settled into playing cards. "Our game went for 2 1/2 hours. Sometimes I was up, sometimes she was up. She eventually won but it was close, exciting poker."

Could you read her? "No. She's way too good for that."

Was she able to figure you out? "I was getting stared up and down but later she told me that I didn't give out any 'tells.' To hear that from someone like her was a great compliment."

Did you wear the hat and mirror shades? I wore a sponsor's hat but I didn't wear sunglasses. "I never wear them when I play and I didn't want to suddenly start doing things differently."

Are these pros really that much better than the rest of us? "There is no comparison. Luck is a big part of poker but they always know the percentages and play under control ... And they are brilliant at reading their opponent, even down to watching for an opponent's pupils to dilate. If you start focusing too much on those things, they've already beaten you. Better to just play."

Westport seem pretty tame after all that? "It's good to be home but that was something we'll never forget. The people out there (poker pros, celebrities like Jennifer Tilly, Don Cheadle, Shannon Elizabeth) couldn't have treated us better. We were treated like VIP's by NBC."

What else do you do for fun. "I like to play golf but it's harder to find time for that. You can play (online) poker with a seven-month old sitting on your knee but you can't do that with golf."

Are your regular poker buddies intimidated now? "Not at all. We play for fun, small stakes, and by now we all know each other too well for that."

Plan on another try? "I'm already working on that. One way or another, I'll get back out there. I went out hoping I wouldn't embarrass myself and came home knowing that I earned some respect."

Air time

NBC will air its National Heads-Up Poker Championship for seven Sundays starting April 8.