BY TOM SOMACH

A 33-year-old paralyzed man from Nebraska is able to play poker, thanks to a special invention created just for him.

A recent news story in the Omaha World-Herald reported how Matt Johnson of Kearney, Neb., who’s been a quadriplegic since being injured in an accident, is able to play Texas hold ‘em, despite being completely paralyzed in both arms and legs.

He uses a plastic, mirrored box-like device, invented just for him to hold the cards.

The device, which works something like a periscope, allows people who can’t use their hands to see their cards.

The box works like this: The dealer puts Johnson’s hole cards into a slot in the box, and via a set of small mirrors, the reflection of the cards comes up on a screen that only Johnson can see.

The device was invented by a couple of Johnson’s friends and is called “MattVision.”

Before the box was invented, the only way Johnson was able to play Texas hold ‘em was to have someone hold his cards up for him, and that was a constant hassle.

Johnson is allowed to use the device to play poker at casinos because the device has no electronic components.

Johnson became paralyzed 13 years ago when a three-wheeled vehicle he was driving on his family’s ranch flipped over.

He landed on the fence post of a barbed wire fence, broke four vertebrae and suffered severe spinal cord damage, permanently paralyzing all four limbs and becoming a quadriplegic.

Among the things he then missed was the joy of playing Texas hold ‘em poker independently.

Until now.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)