In poker terms, Ryan Haneberg and Justin Britt of Kaua'i have gone "all in" with their new venture into the fashion business.

The Kilauea residents — itchy for a piece of the poker craze — hope to win big with High Society Performance Poker Apparel Corp., a poker clothing line they created for Gen-X players like themselves.

"What I wanted to do was establish a lifestyle brand that was more a surf/skate edge of clothing to tailor to that young, new, hip poker-playing market, which is a huge percentage of the poker-playing population," said Haneberg, 29.

With their endeavor, they hope to be a part of the continuing nationwide rage for all things poker, which is affecting everything from bookstore sales for manuals on improving your game to the growing airtime of televised poker shows (see sidebar).

The beginnings of High Society, much like the game of poker, involved a mix of luck and chance.

The former Kapa'a High School classmates, who lost touch after about a decade, happened to bump into each other last year while surfing in Hanalei.

Britt invited Haneberg to a Thursday-night poker game with a bunch of his surfer buddies, and the newbie ended up winning his very first poker game.

"Right after that, I fell in love with the game and in my head, I was just trying to figure out how to get involved in the industry, which was booming already," Haneberg said.

Haneberg decided to go with a clothing company, and turned to Britt as a potential partner for his graphic design and computer backgrounds.

"Ryan came to me prepared with all the information and I knew it was a great idea," said Britt, 30, co-owner of Wasabi Design Inc., a graphic design and marketing company.

The company name comes from a scene in the movie "Rounders," where Matt Damon's character walks into a poker room and asks for three stacks of "high society," which in poker terms means a $100 chip or a $10,000 bankroll.

"It just sounded so cool," Haneberg said.

Haneberg and Britt officially launched their line in July at a trade show in the middle of a World Series of Poker tournament at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. While product sales were modest, the exposure was huge, Haneberg said.

They found a fan in up-and-comer Sean "Sly" Ly, who ended up buying and wearing some High Society gear during the WSOP tournament.

"I was really attracted to them because of their cool logo," said Ly, 31, via telephone from Seattle. ... "It's a great niche, it definitely is booming and they're taking a good risk."

Ly ended up placing 354th out of more than 5,600 players at the Las Vegas tournament.

"Sean made the featured table on ESPN not once, but twice," Haneberg said. "... Getting on ESPN with our stuff is huge for us. Hopefully he gets a lot of exposure when (WSOP airs) in October."

Other poker notables seen sporting High Society include Antonio "the Magician" Esfandiari and Phil "Unabomber" Laak.

Laak — the boyfriend of actress-turned-poker champ Jennifer Tilly — happens to be Haneberg's pick for the poker star he'd like to regularly dress.

"He has fun, he's wild, he's reckless — the qualities that us young players like," Haneberg said.

The High Society line includes an assortment of T-shirts and hats for $19.95 each, and hoodies for $39.95. Haneberg and Britt are already dreaming up the spring line for next year: track jackets and collared dress shirts, as well as a girls' line with ribbed tank tops and fitted T-shirts.

Reach Zenaida Serrano at zserrano@honoluluadvertiser.com.