CBS News | Poker's Popularity Surging

CBS News | Poker's Popularity Surging (CBS) The very mention of poker evokes images of middle-aged men, cigars, and five-card stud. Not anymore. Today, Texas Hold 'Em is the poker game of choice, and more and more people are playing it, in casinos, in tournaments, and at home. Susan McGinnis reports in the second of a two-part series on The Early Show that poker's popularity is surging. "I think the fact that it isn't the smoky halls, it isn't the VFW clubs or...a lot of the smoky casinos, it really does allow for people to enjoy the game," says Nick Hart, a poker game host. Every couple of months, Hart hosts a poker tournament at his home in an Ohio suburb. McGinnis watched as Nick had a full house to play one game: Texas Hold 'Em. "Two years ago, I'd have maybe three or four guys and we'd be searching for a game to play, just to kind of keep it alive, exciting for a couple of hours, and now, essentially I can turn guys away," says Hart. Scenes like that are playing out across the country, as poker seems to be going mainstream spurred on, many say, by television shows like Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown," "The World Poker Tour" on The Travel Channel, and ESPN's "World Series Of Poker." They have made the game of Texas Hold 'Em fun to watch and easy to follow. At Trump's Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, the Texas Hold 'Em games are fast and furious. But for a novice, it's not that easy to explain. Suffice it to say, there are terms like "blinds," "flops" and "rivers. And of course, betting, "calling" and winning. The players at Nick's game love it. "It's always a friendly game, no matter how much you lose or how much you win," says player Leila Neese. But winning is nice -- and these superstitious players will try anything to help their game. "Hopefully, hides my eyes, hides, you know, the fact that maybe I'm doing something wrong," says Eric Mallory, wearing sunglasses upside down. Nick himself has a "lucky poker shirt." And then of course, there is a pot to win. With poker games like Nick's on the rise, retailers are responding, stocking more poker products. Two years ago, Restoration Hardware didn't carry any poker-related products. Today, everything from chips to cards to electronic card shufflers are getting more shelf space in the stores, just in time for Christmas. "Just in the last year, the category has exploded for us," says David Glassman, of Restoration Hardware. Daryl Mattson, the District Market Manager for Borders Books in Manhattan adds, "W've got a very deep selection at borders of poker books." At Borders stores in Manhattan, the big sellers are "how to" books, and books by poker pros. "They're not books you would have expected to see in a bookstore 12 months ago," says Marc Lipiner, a poker player. Sears has also added poker products to meet customer demand. Veronica Keenan, a manager at Sears notes, "They're eager for new, trendy merchandise. And they want to be hip and happening." Back in Ohio, after five hours of play, a winner is declared: Jason Jeffries - who started playing a year ago. "It's not about the money, it's about having fun," says Jeffries. Nick, the host, wasn't in the money that night, but he still had a good time. "It was great, awesome, everything, everything I could have imagined and more," he says.

Murder, She Wrote (Or: Editing Your Poker Game)

Murder, She Wrote (Or: Editing Your Poker Game): "Murder, She Wrote (Or: Editing Your Poker Game)" by Brian Mulholland Lillian Hellman was once asked what she thought was the most difficult thing about writing. The famous playwright replied: “Killing your little darlings.” Writers know all too well about the little darlings she was referring to, for there isn’t a writer alive who hasn’t found himself bursting with satisfaction at some pet creation. Perhaps it’s a complex idea that we’ve managed to distill into a more accessible form, and felt ourselves beaming at the prospect that many will now understand who did not understand before. Or, we’ve taken a common observation and expressed it in a new and unique way. It might be just one particularly graceful paragraph that fills us with pride, or nothing more than a cleverly turned phrase. Whatever the case, there we sit, admiring our creation, and fantasizing about the day when our eloquence will be given birth in published form, so that others might admire it as well. But then … something happens. As our project takes shape, whether it’s a two-page article for a magazine or a major, full-length work, it evolves in such a way that this particular collection of words we’re so fond of — our little darling — doesn’t really fit. It may be brilliant writing, but it doesn’t belong anymore, not in this script, and the piece as a whole would be better served by killing it. But human nature being what it is, we resist — mightily. Perhaps our darling can be saved somehow. Deep down, we know it won’t work, but we’ll make it work. We start twisting ourselves into pretzels, contriving artificial reasons for keeping it, attempting to make the whole serve the part, instead of the part(s) serving the whole. Of course, we don’t realize this is what we’re doing. We’re too blinded by our attachment to our baby. Unfortunately, at this point, our baby has become Rosemary’s baby — an agent of destruction that threatens to destroy that which is healthy and vital. Knowing when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em is just as important to the writer as it is to the gambler; conversely, the painful task of self-editing is no less essential to the latter than to the former. It’s only natural to form pet habits when we first take up the game, but if our poker “little darlings” go unedited, we’re in trouble. With January right around the corner, the time seems ripe to touch on the subject of poker resolutions for the New Year. With that in mind, I asked three winning poker players the following question: “If you were to think of your poker game as a work in progress — a rough draft, if you will — what edits would you make to streamline it?” Here are some of their thoughts (edited, of course, for length and content): 1. Trim the criticism of others. This doesn’t refer to criticizing opponents out loud; any seasoned winner knows that such criticism serves only to educate the bad players or drive them away, neither of which is conducive to profit. (Besides, it’s rude.) No, what my first respondent had in mind was the criticism that plays in the privacy of one’s head. This can actually be healthy — to a degree — for an occasional self-reminder of superiority over the competition is a legitimate way to pump yourself up psychologically (assuming it’s an accurate assessment). It can also fortify your commitment to a truly superior game plan in the face of short-term bad luck that may be tempting you to abandon it. But beware — there’s a fine line between healthy and unhealthy levels of ego, and this exercise can mutate into a pervasive contempt for one’s opponents, a silent running commentary of bitter denigration. At this point, one’s inner editor needs to make massive cuts, for all of this criticism is just so much dead weight, and a huge distraction from your main “theme.” Before you know it, you’re so fixated on the idiocy of your opponents that you’re not focused fully on the game. So, who’s the idiot now? 2. Edit the memory of residual fears — the “here we go again” mentality. In poker, a long memory is a tremendous asset, but it can also be a liability. The capacity for recalling opponents’ tendencies in a broad range of situations carries incalculable benefits; unfortunately, when the scope of memory extends equally far to bad beats, look out. The retention of negatives can result in a skewed perspective in which replays of past situations appear overly ominous, and each bad beat seems to foreshadow an entire cycle of doom. Such self-defeating memory creates an inner static that interferes with operating successfully in the present. The cards have no memory at all, and when it comes to past setbacks, neither should you. Hit “Save” to retain the causes of past failures; for the rest of it, punch that Delete button. 3. Lose the chair glue. The fellow who raised this point described a colorful character who used to show up at the cardroom at 3:30 every morning. Surveying his surroundings (à la Robert Duval in Apocalypse Now), he would inhale deeply and proclaim: “I love the smell of chair glue in the morning.” He would then find a game filled with players who had overstayed their good judgment. Some of these folks were actually decent players — at least they were for the first eight or nine hours of their sessions. But they could never manage to pick themselves up and locate the exit, and as their “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” wore on, the quality of their decisions deteriorated badly. While it’s true that poker is a volume business, it’s also true that every session, like every well-edited paragraph or chapter, has an appropriate length. Determining when to call it a day is no exact science, but even good players can let things drag on too long. Many factors come into play here, but don’t let simple inertia turn your session into the poker equivalent of a run-on sentence. 4. Give yourself a deadline. If I didn’t have a deadline to meet, I’m not sure I’d ever finish a column. And procrastination is as big a problem in poker as it is in other areas of life. You know that situation that came up at the table the other night, the one that took you by surprise? Remember how your hesitation betrayed you? You know the situation I mean, because it came up a couple of weeks earlier, too — and you vowed at the time to do some serious thinking about it, so you’d be better prepared the next time. But you didn’t, so you weren’t. Oh — and remember that poker book you were going to read? Guess what, that was eight months ago. What can be done to counter all this avoidance? Well, when it comes to your poker goals, try giving yourself an actual deadline — and then make a reasonable effort to meet it. On that note, I need to excuse myself, so I can get this column in. If I hurry, I can just make my deadline.

Online Poker Bot Invasion

Online Poker Bot Invasion: "Online Poker Bot Invasion" Are you losing money playing online poker? What could be even worse is the fact you are not even losing to a human opponent. Poker Bots have become common place in online poker rooms since 1st February 2004 when Winholdem a commercially available bot l... Many online poker rooms have tried to stop this bot invasion, by placing countermeasures in their software. By using one computer to control a second computer, these bots become undetectable. Because bots can play mathematically perfect poker hour after hour, they are very difficult to beat in large ring games, which reward tight and consistent play. Bots do not fair well in a short game, becoming to predictable and simplistic, with their style of play. Bots are usually custom programmed, even commercially available bots like Winholdem use tables and formulas that can be adjusted by the bot user, to give each bot its own unique style of play. As an online poker player, you will not be able to tell the difference between a bot and a real player. Bots may also card share, knowing other bots cards at the table will prevent bots from drawing dead (investing money on a hand, with no chance of winning). If you have found yourself losing recently at online poker here are some tips: - Play games that do not have structured betting. Pot-limit, no-limit and tournaments are all excellent games to be playing. - Also play at a site that does not attract professional poker players and can offer you good bonuses. Recommended is a site like MtEverestPoker.com. It is connected with a group of online casinos that offer a very large bonus in order to attract gamblers rather than poker players. Many players at this site choose to play in Pot-Limit or No-Limit games, as well as the many poker tournaments. The Winholdem software cannot read the MtEverestPoker.com screen. So it is a site where you will be safe from Poker Bot users. POSTERS NOTE: Always be sure to do a good background check when considering signing up with a new card room - check google news, publications and ask if they are e-cogra certified. Just some friendly advice - use it, don't use it.

Online Casino News.com - Texas Hold’em Poker in top 50 online searches

Online Casino News.com - Texas Hold’em Poker in top 50 online searches AOL Search, America Online's popular search destination, announced the year's top searches based on what people and topics received the highest volume of online queries on the AOL service and AOL.com. Texas Hold’em poker was announced by the search engine as the 46th most searched phrase or word. This supports the view that interest in online poker and online gambling in general is on the rise since it did not appear in last year’s list. Horoscopes was the most searched word and Hilary Duff also appeared on the top lists for most searched people overall, female celebrities and celebrities under 21, as well as female music artists.

Online Poker Gold Website Launches

Online Poker Gold Website Launches Woolley Design today announces the launch of a new website, http://www.online-poker-gold.com, which is designed to help the average poker player improve their online poker game. In order to help online players, especially beginners, http://www.online-poker-gold.com was lauched toay. This site helps good poker players become better poker players. Since 1999, when the first online poker game sites began to appear, poker players have been migrating to the internet. There are many reasons, including commuting time, no tipping, and most importantly, no second hand smoke. When Chris Moneymaker qualified online, and then went on to win the World Poker Tour first prize of $2,500,000.00, poker players worldwide began to rush to the online poker sites. Online poker is a much more difficult game than your local casino. The site http://www.online-poker-gold.com was created to help the average player improve their game. The site helps with Texas Hold Em rules, starting hand selection, position, and defining your poker strategy. You'll learn how to calculate pot odds, and whether to fold, call, or raise. They even discuss trap hands, which look good to most players, but which can cost you big money or kick you out of a tournament. Everything you will need to improve your online poker game is there. So, visit their site today, and shuffle up and deal!

Hold 'em or fold 'em

Tallahassee Democrat | 12/23/2004 | Hold 'em or fold 'em Poker soars in popularity here and elsewhere By Tony Bridges Still hoping to get one more player. If we don't get him by 7:30, we'll stop trying Eric Randell laid his cards down with a slow flourish, and a man to his left groaned. The kid's straight had just taken the hand. Randell leaned forward, scooping the pile of chips to his chest. He deftly sorted them into neat stacks several rows wide across the green felt. "I knew I was going to sit down at this poker table for a while," he said. Around him, the office Christmas party was in mid-rip. But he was staying put. His party was at the table. Poker is the game of the season, apparently. It's been turning up everywhere this year - from company get-togethers to college campuses to department-store shelves - driven by a nationwide Hold 'em fever started by cable shows that have turned the game into a public pastime. Most of the credit usually goes to ESPN and the no-limit Hold 'em games at the World Series of Poker. The series is an annual tournament played in Las Vegas, open to anyone who can front the $10,000 buy-in and make it through the qualification rounds. ESPN has broadcast coverage of the series for the past few years. There was little hype at first. Then came Chris Moneymaker. All it took to turn it into a phenomena was one amateur who made it big. He was a 27-year-old accountant from Tennessee in 2003 when he entered an online-poker tournament and won a stake to the series. He borrowed travel money from friends and headed to Vegas to take his seat. With only three years' playing experience, Moneymaker managed to outlast a casino full of pros to take the championship. He won the final round with a full house and took home $2.5 million. And his win earned major ratings for ESPN. "That's where most of the people have gotten the craze, watching it on ESPN," said Randell, a 20-year-old from Tallahassee who attends the University of Florida. He saw it on TV his senior year of high school. "It looked like fun," he said. "And it looked like you could make a lot of money if you were good. "You know, everyone loves to take risks. Especially when there's money involved." Everybody's doing it Other cable networks jumped in for a piece of the action, too. Travel Channel spokesman James Ashurst said his network's most popular show now is a weekly series called the "World Poker Tour." Meanwhile, Bravo has launched its own "Celebrity Poker Showdown" series with actors playing for charity. All that TV coverage has helped give the game a whole new profile. "Poker really has become part of mainstream America," Ashurst said. "We took it from the backroom and put it in the forefront." Randell said he plays at least once a week, either online or with his frat brothers at UF. Spend $10 to get into the game, drink some beers, eat some pizza, and maybe do well enough to walk out with $100, he said. It's a good time and hard to get in trouble staying at home with friends, he said. Brian Rewiski owns an entertainment company in Tallahassee called GT Entertainment Casinos. He's been booked for 17 Christmas parties this year, and the poker table is always a hit, he said. One frequent question he hears: "Is this the game I saw on TV?" "It's kind of a hobby that people have taken to the next level," Rewiski said. And retailers are betting on the fad for big sales this Christmas season. Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Target, Sears, Toys "R" Us and dozens of other national chains are stocking everything from chips to hand-held video-poker games for holiday shoppers. "It's huge right now," said Robert Davis, store director at the Toys "R" Us on Apalachee Parkway. Last year, the store didn't have much in the way of poker. This Christmas, there isn't much the store doesn't have - poker chips, tables, cards and "all sorts of poker sets," Davis said. Davis said most of the buyers are men ages 18 to 30. And he's even a poker player himself. "I play it with my friends," he said. "It's a lot of fun." Getting in on the game The woman in the sequined dress squeezed into a seat next to Randell. They were at a Christmas party thrown by a Tallahassee medical practice. Rewiski provided the entertainment. "What are we playing?" the woman asked. "Texas Hold 'em," Randell said. "You've got to get the five best cards." That's the game most new poker converts swear by. A dealer gives each player two cards, then deals three more onto the table, face up. The players try to put their two together with the table cards to come up with a winning hand. If not, they each increase the bet, and the dealer lays out another card. Players can either fold or keep raising the bet until the dealer has cards on the table. Then the best hand wins. The appeal is that the game is fast-paced and easy to learn, according to Randell. Not everyone can be a star football or basketball player - but anyone can learn to play Hold 'em, he said. So there it is. You just may get a deck of cards and some chips in your Christmas stocking this year. You'd better start practicing - the next World Series is only six months away. And as Randell says: "It's gotta beat working for a living."

Bonus Increase at The Gaming Club Online Poker Room

Bonus Increase at The Gaming Club Online Poker Room The Gaming Club has a unique bonus. For all new accounts, players will have 30 days to earn up to $300 in bonus money. Only the minimum deposit ($20) is required to be eligible to earn this bonus money. However, it takes awhile to earn a lot of bonus money, since you end up making a fairly small amount per hour. In order to receive the bonus money, you need to earn Bankroll Redemption Points(BRP's). For every 300 BRPs you receive $20. You earn 1 or 3 BRP's for every raked hand in which you were dealt cards. Players at different stakes (both limit and no-limit/pot-limit) earn a different amount of BRP's per raked hand: Limit -------> BRP's Micro Limits -------> 0 $.25 - $.50 -------> 1 point $.50-$1 and up -------> 3 points Amount of Bonus: Up to $300. Requirements for Bonus: 300 BRP's for every $20 in bonus money. You have 30 days to earn as much bonus money as possible. Hourly Rate: Hourly rate will depend on what stakes you play. All of these amounts assume you play 50 raked hands per hour. If you play at multiple tables, multiply these number by the amount of tables you are playing: Limit Hourly Rate Microlimits $0 per hour $.25-$.50 $3.33 per hour $.50-$1 and up $10 per hour Best Suited For: Low, middle, and high-limit players. This bonus is very good at $.50-$1 stakes and higher. Also, while the Gaming Club spreads many micro-limit games, it is not possible to earn BRP's at the micro-limit tables (tables of $.10-$.20 and less).

World Poker Tour Season Three: Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic

World Poker Tour Season Three: Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic World Poker Tour Season Three: Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic 15 December 2004 Las Vegas, Nevada -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- The eighth stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT) kicked off at Bellagio, Las Vegas. This year's event attracted 376 players for a $5,470,800 prize pool, a $2,426,050 increase over last year's event which drew 314 players. The winner of this year's $15,000 buy-in event will take home $1,795,218 and will advance to the WPT World Championship when the Tour's season culminates at Bellagio in April 2005. The World Poker Tour is the highest rated series in the history of the Travel Channel, airing Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Season's Three's total prize pool has already topped the $30 million mark at $30,456,770, a $13,736,490 increase over Season Two stops to date. The high stakes No- Limit Texas Hold'em tournaments are increasing the number of players at every stop on the Tour and are averaging a "poker millionaire a month." This season's prize pool is anticipated to reach $70 million. Many recognizable faces were spotted today at the tables, including the likes of Annie Duke, Gus Hansen, Chris Ferguson, and John Juanda. The public is invited to be a part of the WPT Final Table television audience when the Five Diamond World Poker Classic concludes at Bellagio on Saturday, December 18. Fans will be admitted from the WPT Viewing Party located in Ballroom 6. Admission is free and seating is first come, first serve; viewing party doors open at 3:30 p.m. and seating begins at 4:30 p.m. Fans will also have the opportunity to attend a second viewing party on Sunday for the taping of a new television special, WPT Young Guns of Poker. This Season Three special will feature six of the game's youngest and hottest players. Location and admission times are identical to those of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic. The ninth stop of the World Poker Tour's 16-tournament season will be the PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure from January 5-12 at Atlantis Resort in Paradise Island, Bahamas. For a complete WPT tournament schedule and casino contacts, please visit www.worldpokertour.com. About WPT Enterprises, Inc. WPT Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: WPTE) is a media and entertainment company engaged in the creation of branded entertainment through the development, production and marketing of televised programming based on poker and other gaming themes.

Poker's popularity pays off in spades

Lansing State Journal:Poker's popularity pays off in spades By Ruth Padawer KRT News Service Move over, PlayStation 2. Santa's sleigh may be too packed with poker paraphernalia to fit in last year's must-have games. Stores are flush with Las Vegas knockoffs: poker chips, poker tables, poker lamps, poker key chains, poker clocks, poker T-shirts, poker shot glasses, poker-print curtains and scores of poker books. Even stores that don't usually sell toys are cashing in on the craze. At Bed Bath & Beyond, alongside 12-piece wine-goblet sets, $79.99 sateen sheets and professional corkscrews, sit poker tables, electronic poker games and a $49.99 six-in-one casino suitcase. Even CVS has a Texas hold 'em gift set and a DVD game guide, both just in for the holidays. "Poker products have exploded this season," said Jim Silver, publisher of The Toy Book, a monthly publication that tracks the toy trade. "The television shows have really brought out the strategy of the game - the math, acting, psychological skills. With all the clever marketing, it's become really, really hot, especially for the 13- to 18-year-old boy crowd." The kindling was laid last year, with the introduction of the "World Poker Tour" television show, which quickly became the highest-rated show in the Travel Channel's history, with 5 million viewers per show. Bravo, Fox Sports Network and others soon followed - all of which did for poker what smoky backrooms never could. The stunning growth of Internet poker, available 24/7, fueled the explosion even more. "When we started broadcasting in 2003, we estimated there were 50 million poker players in the United States," said Tour spokeswoman Jackie Lapin. "Now we think it's closer to 100 million." Just how many are teens or younger is unknown. Nevertheless, there's no doubt that Texas hold 'em has been storming lunchrooms and teen hangouts like never before. "Me and my friends play it two or three times a week," said Tyson Betts, an eighth-grader at Tenafly (N.J.) Middle School who has won, or lost, as much as $60 some nights. "We saw it on TV and it looked so cool, the idea of suddenly winning money just from sitting there and thinking. My mom tells me not to win too much because she doesn't want me to take money from other people." Betts has used his earnings to buy official-weight clay chips ("Very cool, and you can do chip tricks with them") and a poker table ("The cards slide better and it makes it seem like you're in a casino"). Sports Authority now offers chips in every color and style. Sharper Image has a 300-piece set for $89.95 plus a $19.95 three-year replacement guarantee. Macy's sells poker calendars, coasters, dolls, chips and tables, plus a $79.99 Casino To Go. Spencer Gifts' display nearly swallows up the front of the store, offering not only gear for the game, but enough poker-themed accessories (would you believe poker-related room dividers?) to transform an entire teen pad. Barnes and Noble features more than 125 poker titles, including "Play Poker Like the Pros," "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Poker," "Bringing Down the House" and "The Tao of Poker." "I've been in the toy industry for 20 years, and I've never seen interest like this," said Scott Kling, vice president of sales for the United States Playing Card Co., which makes World Poker Tour and Bicycle cards and chip sets. "Unlike Cabbage Patch Kids and Ninja Turtles, this phenomenon is cross-generational: tweens, college kids, adults. Our poker business is up over 100 percent from last year." Of course, it's precisely that excitement that makes gambling experts uneasy. "For most kids, playing poker isn't a danger, but we have had lots of calls recently, especially from young people or from moms who worry about their sixth-graders losing $300 in a night," said Ed Looney, executive director of the New Jersey Council on Compulsive Gambling, which offers a test at 800gambler.org to identify addiction. Some parents do worry, even limiting the maximum bet, but others say the game hones social, math and decision-making skills. It's infinitely better than shoot-'em-up video games, they say, and not the sort of game a kid can play well if he's drunk or stoned. Besides, maybe poker will reshuffle the pecking order, as math whizzes out- compete jocks. "My 13-year-old son has totally given up video games for poker - but he plays for chips, not money," said Lisa Scarinci of Allendale, N.J., whose son has poker sleepovers and reads almost nothing but poker books. "My husband and I are not sure if we like all this - I wonder if we should worry more - but we're trying to see the bright side. He's learning to negotiate and psyche out his opponents and anticipate the other guy's next move." Meanwhile, the would-be card sharks are keeping busy. "Yesterday, I borrowed $10 from my mom and used $10 of my own and lost it," said eighth-grader Betts. "Then I borrowed $30 from my friend Devon and lost it. So I borrowed $30 more from him. I was so glad I won it back. I would have been in a really bad way because I had no way to pay him back. I was kind of nervous. But that's what makes it so exciting."

New face of poker (phillyBurbs.com)

New face of poker (phillyBurbs.com) New face of poker By JAMES MCGINNIS Bucks County Courier Times Effie Shaffer and her adult daughter found themselves in the poker lounge of Strawbridge's in Oxford Valley Mall. Casino tables and authentic betting chips were matched by decorative posters of dogs playing poker - all of it just off the men's department near the escalator to housewares. Shaffer of Penndel was buying a Texas Hold'em poker deck and chip set for her 14-year-old and 16-year-old grandsons. Mom had already gotten the boys a poker table, despite objections from their dad. "This will keep them out of trouble," Shaffer said, without a laugh. "The boys both put poker on their Christmas list." And apparently they aren't the only ones. Retailers are betting high on casino game sales this holiday season. Nearly every major department store in Bucks has a casino section. Even the toy stores are selling card games and tables. Macy's mannequins are dressed as poker dealers. Celebrity poker tournaments on television and star-studded casino capers in theaters have fueled a growing interest in games of chance that, some gambling addiction counselors warn, could spell trouble. While the lottery and horse racing remain the only legal games of chance in Pennsylvania, anyone with a credit card can log onto the seemingly countless Internet casinos. There, rounds are dealt and thousands of dollars waged from a computer-generated poker table. The average hand lasts about 40 seconds as players match up with faceless opponents from around the world. But who needs a computer when you can bet right in the street? Susan Meo has a gambling problem - people treat the parking lot of her Pennsbury Court Apartments in Morrisville like a craps parlor. Since she began working there as apartment manager in 2002, tenants have complained about teens in the parking lot laying bets and shooting dice. Despite her complaints to local cops, the gambling continues, she said. "A couple times the police came by, but unless they caught them with money changing hands, they couldn't do anything," Meo said. And, while the cold has probably driven the gamblers inside, Meo sees it as a safe bet her problems are not over. "It's not so much anymore but only because of the winter. I'm sure they'll be back," she said. AN EASY BET For poker players like Bernie Woodford of Bristol Township, the sudden interest in card games was greeted with mixed emotion. “It’s a good thing for your more experienced players ’cause we can always take advantage of the new guys,” Woodford said. “But then sometimes, too, they don’t know how to play the game or the rules.” Woodford said he’s played poker once a week with buddies since he was 18, about eight years ago. For him, Texas Hold’em was a way to meet new friends. With a cup of coffee in his hand and seven friends at the table, he bluffs, raises and deals. They started playing after seeing “Rounders,” in which actor Matt Damon starred as a retired poker player who returns to the game to help his friend pay off loan sharks. The film is not a favorite for Jim Pappas, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania. The excitement of horse track betting led him to rack up debts that took more than a decade to pay off, he estimated. “[Gambling] gave me a form of excitement that I had never experienced before. There was such a feeling of importance and a feeling of power,” Pappas said. Now he answers phones for the Pennsylvania Compulsive Gambling Hotline. Listening to the stories of other addicts, Pappas believes, has strengthened his convictions never to return to the track. The hot line gets an estimated 25 calls a day. Most of them are from men. Betting illegally on sports and in the casinos leads most people to call, Pappas said. In recent months, more parents have called with concerns about their children gambling in schools and in the street, and Pappas said celebrity poker shows are partly to blame. “It’s a new form of entertainment that the media is capitalizing on. They are marketing it and targeting new audiences and they’re making it look much more fun and exciting,” he said. The CCGP expects to see a “spike” in addiction as the first slots casinos open in Pennsylvania, including one in Bensalem, in the next two years, Pappas added. And online, the speed of the game makes it even more addictive, Pappas warned. While the casino table is computer-generated imagery, the money is very real. PartyPoker.com is one of the more popular online casinos on the Web. With little more than a name, an address and a credit card number, you can wage thousands of dollars at 7-card stud or Texas Hold’em. Players use a credit card or check routing number to deposit cash in an account. The Web site often gives players "bonus codes" and free money for continued play. As the electronic dealer dealt another round, at Table No. 420789, "Hightop243," holding a pair of jacks, raised the stakes from $5 to $10. "Bigdreamer24," with two pairs, called. "HomerBigTime" checked with a pair of queens and a flush of diamonds, winning the jackpot of $36. The round had lasted 38 seconds.

Poker publishers say they're not bluffing

Poker publishers say they're not bluffing Startup magazines jump on craze that has found acceptance on 5 TV networks. By Michael McCarthy With a poker craze in full swing on television networks like ESPN and Bravo, publishers are moving to launch poker magazines before celebrities such as Ben Affleck take up some other game. A former dot-com executive on Tuesday is launching a national magazine called All In. The bimonthly magazine will sell for $4.99 at chains including Wal-Mart, Target, Barnes & Noble, Borders and 7-Eleven. Time Distribution Services will distribute the magazine, which hopes to reach 150,000 paid readers by mid-2005. The 100-page first issue includes a story by Phil Gordon, host of Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown," about his game with New England Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady; tips from poker champs Chris Ferguson and Howard Lederer; and a 25-page spread on the art of bluffing. Advertisers range from Samuel Adams beer and Crown Royal liquor to the Mirage resort in Las Vegas and online poker sites. Startup magazines have a success rate similar to new restaurants: About six out of 10 fail. All In (poker slang for a player putting the last of his or her chips into a pot) is the latest offering in a niche market that could vanish fast if the fad wanes. Bluff magazine was launched recently, but Card Player has been in the game since the late 1980s. Bhu Srinivasan, the 28-year-old former InfoSpace.com executive who owns 80 percent of the newest magazine, All In, says two test issues have gotten a positive response. "We're in a hot market that has just found mainstream acceptance. If poker can support TV programming on five networks, we know it can support a couple of magazines."

Poker sales hit the jackpot

Beacon Journal | 12/18/2004 | Poker sales hit the jackpot U.S. retailers cash in on card craze by offering accessories such as clay chips, electric shufflers By Mary Ethridge, Beacon Journal business writer Life is filled with barely comprehensible things -- quantum physics, books by James Joyce and nipple rings come to mind. So, here's another -- poker on television. Observing people playing cards for hours hardly seems riveting to me. You may as well be watching a video of Grandma's bus tour to Branson. Nope, I don't get the country's new-found passion for poker, but the nation's merchants certainly do. And they're cashing in on the chips. If watching the Travel channel's World Poker Tour or Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown isn't enough for you, take a look next time you're walking through a mall or surfing gift Web sites. Kaufmann's, the mainline department store chain, offers more than a dozen poker-related items this holiday season, including an automatic card shuffler for $19.99 and a fold-up poker tabletop for $69.99. Sears, Roebuck & Co. sells a $99 poker set that includes a velvet case, 300 clay chips and two decks of cards. Restoration Hardware, a high-end home store based in San Francisco, is carrying everything from a suede card set for $19.99 to an electric card shuffler for $26.99. Thinker Toys in Montrose has poker chip and card sets that range from $24 to $180 depending on how elaborate the chips and carrying case. Borders Group Inc. has increased its poker-related inventory by 20 percent in the past year, a spokeswoman said. At the U.S. Playing Card Co. in Cincinnati, sales of poker chips have risen more than 100 percent in the past year and playing card sales are up more than 50 percent, said Scott Kling, vice president of sales and marketing. ``It's been building for a while, but we saw it really spike in the spring and it hasn't let up,'' he said. Robert ``Vegas Bob'' McArthur, owner of Vegas Game Supply on Graham Road in Cuyahoga Falls, opened holiday kiosks this year at Summit Mall in Fairlawn and Beachwood Place in suburban Cleveland. He's sold more than a quarter of a million poker chips since Nov. 1, he said. During 2003, his first holiday season in business, McArthur sold about two complete poker sets each week on average. Now, he sells at least two a day. ``Poker has become a very big thing. It just took off a couple of years ago and keeps on going,'' he said. Clay chips, which come in various weights, are the most popular of McArthur's items. Plastic chips are a poker faux pas, the equivalent of wearing black socks with sandals. Customers love fancy accessories, McArthur said. A favorite is a $25 card guard that weighs down a player's hand so it doesn't flip over. The real reason people like it is psychological -- it's a way of saying to other players, ``don't mess with me,'' McArthur said. Two age groups McArthur's customers come primarily from two groups -- people in their 50s and 60s who enjoy junkets to Vegas and teens and young adults who play it between study sessions and Internet surfing. It's the young people who most intrigue him. ``Think about it. This is the first real thing this generation does that actually involves socializing face to face,'' McArthur said. Well, besides making out, of course. John Zipp, head of the sociology department at the University of Akron, hasn't studied the poker phenomenon professionally but he has gotten a firsthand look. Recently, Zipp took his 13-year-old son to a chess tournament, and in between matches, the teens pulled out their cards and chips to play Omaha Hold 'Em. ``They knew what they were doing,'' he said. Ron Piekarski of C&P Sales on Romig Road in Akron said young people have boosted his business considerably. ``They used to play hearts and euchre sometimes in college, but now it's poker everywhere,'' he said. ``It's been a very good thing for us.'' Some concerns Not everyone is enamored of the idea of young people playing poker. A study by a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania estimates that 8 percent of all teens show signs of having a gambling problem. Some parents have heeded the warning, cutting back on casino nights at after-prom parties and other events. Officials at a growing number of schools have recently started banning poker- playing on their campuses. But Kling of the U.S. Playing Card Co. said he understands concerns but hears from most parents that they're happy their kids have taken up poker instead of other things. ``It's certainly a debate worth having,'' Kling said. ``But with poker, parents know where the kids are. They're supervised. And because there's a lot of strategy in poker, you have to be straight.'' Kling anticipates the passion for poker will continue unabated. ``It's cross generational and there's no stigma as far as men or women playing it,'' McArthur said. ``We think it's bigger than Cabbage Patch dolls.''

Belmont-bred poker ace becomes familiar TV face

Boston.com / News / Belmont-bred poker ace becomes familiar TV face By Michael S. Schmidt, Globe Correspondent From beneath the brim of his signature green Red Sox hat, Dan Harrington stared down his last three competitors in the 2004 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Two players had folded, and Harrington put his chips into play. After the first three cards -- the flop -- fell, Harrington moved his chips all in, a tactic that would either send him home or double his chip count if David Williams, the only other player in that hand, called his bet. Harrington, a professional player trying to push the amateur around, caught a bad break. In a rare bluff, Harrington lost the hand to a full house and walked away with $1.5 million, far from the first-place prize of $5 million, an all-time high. Still, Harrington finished fourth at the tournament, held in May; last year he finished third, and back in 1995 he was the World Series champion. Harrington, who grew up in Belmont, is one of the most successful players in the 35-year history of the event. And now, with televised poker tournaments all the rage, Dan Harrington has become a household name. "What Harrington did is one of the two or three top accomplishments in the history of the World Series of Poker," said Norman Chad, the color commentator for ESPN's coverage of the event, commenting on Harrington's performance in the past two years. Chad says Harrington's feats are even more noteworthy since the field of players at the tournament grew from 839 in 2003 to 2,576 this year. Harrington is one of the poker players who have turned back-room card games and weekends at casinos into national fame. These superstars, such as 2003 World Series champ Chris Moneymaker and legend Howard Lederer, have ridden the wave of poker popularity that began in March 2003, when networks started airing tournaments. "Ever sit in a restaurant and think people are talking about you?" Harrington said of his newfound fame. "They are talking about you now." In a world where poker players are often characterized as sore losers, hotheads, and eccentrics, Harrington has carved out a niche as a pleasant exception. "There are a lot of young punks who are just filing into card rooms," Chad said. "They don't know how to win or lose with grace. Dan is a class act all around on the short list of the class acts." The more than $3.5 million he has won playing poker are not the only millions Harrington has to his name. Unlike many of his competitors, poker is not Harrington's main source of income. He is one of the principal partners at Anchor Loans, an investing and mortgage company he started in Santa Monica, Calif., in 1994. Harrington has applied his business mind-set to his poker playing. He is known as "Action Dan," an ironic nickname for a guy known as one of the most conservative players in the game. "I'm more like an investment banker," he said. "I am very conservative. I take limited chances." In 1980 Harrington left Boston for Philadelphia to be closer to better poker games and to Atlantic City. By 1989 he had moved to California, where card rooms are legal and Las Vegas is reasonably close. Growing up a diehard Red Sox fan, Harrington attended Christopher Columbus High, a private Catholic school in the North End. He stayed in Boston for college, attending Suffolk University, where he received his undergraduate and law degrees. It was at the Suffolk lunch tables that Harrington was introduced to competitive chess, backgammon, and poker. He was fascinated with games that involved mental stamina and probability. In college, Harrington befriended Bill Robertie, a student at Harvard College, while climbing the ranks of the chess and backgammon players around Boston. Both earned the title of master chess players, and Harrington went on to win state championships in Massachusetts and New Jersey. The two stayed in touch while Harrington crossed the country. After Harrington hit success at the World Series of Poker, the two began to collaborate on a three-volume book series. The first volume, "Harrington on Hold 'Em: Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments" (Two Plus Two Publishing), was released this year. The other volumes will be out next year. Harrington said he loves Boston and might come back when he retires. "I cherish it," he said. "But if you are a poker player Boston is not a good place to be. I have to be in retirement if I go back to Boston."

Extreme Poker Ltd. Announces Appointment to Board of Directors

Extreme Poker Ltd. Announces Appointment to Board of Directors Extreme Poker Ltd. (OTC: EXTP) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Gerald E. Pearson to its Board of Directors: Dr. Gerald E. Pearson is a graduate from the University of Toronto. Throughout his tenure Dr. Pearson has served as Chairman of numerous academies, associations and societies. Dr. Pearson has lectured throughout North America, and has received numerous academic awards. Dr. Pearson has served on the Board of Directors of public companies, and brings years of experience to the board. Extreme Poker Ltd.'s (EXTP) wholly owned subsidiary, The Great Canadian Poker Tournament, is an entertainment company that is in the process of producing a Reality TV series, encapsulating the Poker Gaming theme. Along with the 10-week series will be a celebrity tournament in week 11. At the conclusion of the television series is a grand finale tournament. This tournament, crowning THE GREAT CANADIAN POKER CHAMPION concludes the Reality TV program. For more information, go to www.greatcdn.com. Extreme Poker Ltd. (EXTP) is an event co-ordinating and entertainment company. Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements contained herein which are not historical are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, certain delays beyond the company's control with respect to market acceptance of new technologies or products, delays in testing and evaluation of products, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

BBC NEWS | Snooker star wins poker's big pot

BBC NEWS | UK | Wales | South West Wales | Snooker star wins poker's big pot Snooker star Matthew Stevens has won $500,000 (£260,000) after swapping the green baize for the poker table. The Carmarthen potter who only started playing the card game 18 months ago won the UK's richest poker tournament. Stevens beat tennis star Yevgeny Kafelnikov and darts champion Phil Taylor in the televised final of the 888.com Pacific Poker Open. The 27-year-old has flown out to New York on a holiday to spend some of his winnings due to the exchange rate. Before he left Stevens said: "This is absolutely unbelievable and I am in a complete daze. "It's a dream to win a poker tournament having only been playing for a short time. "I was quietly confident going into the final but if at the start of the tournament you'd have told me I'd be winning it, I'd have thought you were barmy." The final, screened on Sunday night, was pre-recorded and Stevens has already set about spending some of the money. Stevens, who is ranked the sixth best snooker player in the world, became a father earlier this year. His agent Brendan Parker said due to the current exchange rate between the pound and the dollar Stevens was away this week in New York. "It's somewhere he had always wanted to go so he is away on a week's holiday spending some of his winnings," he explained. To get to the final Stevens had to beat poker professionals and online qualifiers that made up a field of 108 hopefuls. World darts champion Taylor finished second and Kafelnikov, who has announced his retirement from tennis to concentrate on professional poker, came third. Taylor said: "I couldn't have been beaten by a better person than Matthew. This tournament has been one of the highlights of my life."

Online Poker Gold Website Launches - Poker Tutorials

Online Poker Gold Website Launches Woolley Design today announces the launch of a new website, http://www.online-poker-gold.com, which is designed to help the average poker player improve their online poker game. In order to help online players, especially beginners, http://www.online-poker-gold.com was lauched toay. This site helps good poker players become better poker players. Since 1999, when the first online poker game sites began to appear, poker players have been migrating to the internet. There are many reasons, including commuting time, no tipping, and most importantly, no second hand smoke. When Chris Moneymaker qualified online, and then went on to win the World Poker Tour first prize of $2,500,000.00, poker players worldwide began to rush to the online poker sites. Online poker is a much more difficult game than your local casino. The site http://www.online-poker-gold.com was created to help the average player improve their game. The site helps with Texas Hold Em rules, starting hand selection, position, and defining your poker strategy. You'll learn how to calculate pot odds, and whether to fold, call, or raise. They even discuss trap hands, which look good to most players, but which can cost you big money or kick you out of a tournament. Everything you will need to improve your online poker game is there. So, visit their site today, and shuffle up and deal!

Online poker software market goes on its explosion

Online poker software market goes on its explosion The online gambling software providers may not worry about their future. According to the recent studies conducted by industry analysts, e-gambling market will go ahead its constant growth due to the booming online poker industry. The most successful company that managed to cash in on the current trend was Toronto-based CryptoLogic, which surpassed the analysts' expectations for the third quarter. The software provider earned $2.9million (up 32% year over year) and made more than 15% of earnings from its poker business (up 55% from the previous quarter), reported Canada.com. CryptoLogic, which runs the fourth biggest network of online poker sites in the world, boasts more than 3,000 players on its networks at any given time. "Online poker is the fastest-growing segment in the history of interactive gambling, and Cryptologic has a great seat at the winning table," said Lewis Rose, the company's president and chief executive. So far, CryptoLogic shares are up 76% to $27.40 since January, and 52% since it reported third-quarter earnings. At the same time, Toronto-based CES Software PLC is up 28% to $3.86 year-to-date with Calgary-based Chartwell Technology Inc. up 145% to $4.90. Boss SS, an industry leader that trades on the Stockholm exchange, is down slightly on the year but up 23% since August. Experts tend to explain the poker popularity with the success of televised poker matches like "World Series of Poker," "World Poker Tour" and celebrity games. The online poker industry owes its loyalty to Chris Moneymaker, who managed to win the prestigious World Series of Poker 2003 and take home $2.5million prize after qualifying at an online tournament. His victory made people believe that online gaming may serve as a very useful device to master their poker skills. He was followed by two other online poker qualifiers Greg Raymer and David Williams, who became the winner and runner-up of the 2004 World Series of Poker.

Beacon Journal | Poker memorabilia cashing in

Beacon Journal | Poker memorabilia cashing in Unusual chips, holders, cards, rule books, even tables drawing collectors - By Ralph and Terry Kovel Poker has become the hot game of the year. Poker tournaments are featured on several TV networks, and ratings are high. This might be the time to collect poker memorabilia. There are many theories about the origins of the game. Some say it is based on a Chinese game invented about A.D. 900. Others think it is a revision of an 18th century game called poque, played by French settlers in New Orleans. Or the name of the game might have come from the term ``hocus-pocus.'' By 1843, poker was a well-known game played on Mississippi riverboats. By then, an observer had already written about the rules of the game, which he called the ``cheating game.'' Poker tables were soon in most towns in the West. Poker rules changed through the years. The draw and the straight became popular during the Civil War, and the joker as a wild card came into use about 1875. Poker chips are collected by many. Modern casinos usually have chips with designs featuring the name of the casino or important events or people. Early chips were made from colored plastic, wood or ``clay'' (clay and composite material). Today, collectors pay anywhere from a few dollars to $100 for unusual old chips. The large, round, revolving holders for chips and cards were popular by the 1930s. Holders are made of plastic or wood today, but before 1950 most were wood. Collectors also want cards, tables, rule books, ads for casinos and poker events, even table covers. Value rises if the memorabilia can be associated with an important person or a famous, long-gone casino.

The Eureka Reporter... New Poker Del Mar

The Eureka Reporter...New Poker Del Mar Champion named Bob Fornes of McKinleyville is the 2004 Poker Del Mar Champion. Fornes recently overcame more than 20 experienced poker players in Poker Del Mar’s annual no-limit Texas Hold‘em tournament. The final table went late into the night with Chris Pence from Arcata coming in third place and Paris Bauer from Eureka taking a close second. Poker Del Mar is a collection of experienced poker players in Northern Humboldt who gather to practice their skill and engage in excellent poker every week, according to a news release. “Good poker is patience; great poker is courage,” it states.

Lawsuit Filed Over Search and Gambling Ads

Lawsuit Filed Over Search and Gambling Ads Yahoo, Google, and several other major Web sites and companies (including ClickZ's publisher, Jupitermedia) have been hit with a lawsuit saying they carry online gambling ads in violation of California law. This comes after two of the major search companies earlier this year made moves that were supposed to remove online gambling ads entirely. The suit was filed on behalf of all Californians and specifically names two. One of them used search engines to find online gambling sites and lost $100,000, it's claimed. Although online gambling may be illegal in California, it's unclear whether just carrying ads for online gambling that are seen by people within the state is illegal. The lawsuit requests this be deemed the case: By this action, plaintiffs seek to have defendants' paid advertisement of Internet gambling in California declared illegal, seek to enjoin defendants from advertising unlicensed Internet gambling businesses to persons in California. As I've written before, removing ads won't prevent access to such material through editorial listings. The plaintiff who lost money could just as easily have found an online gambling site through a non-paid search engine listing. The only difference is the search engine would have earned no money from the click. The filing also attempts to make ads for "illegal gambling" appear different because of the "astounding" click rate of $12.97 shown in one instance compared to "modest" prices for other products and services. Of course, terms like "mesothelioma" and "structured settlement" have consistently hit Overture's $100 max price per click for months. Law firms seeking clients have contributed to driving up those prices. A high bid price, it's fair to say, doesn't indicate the legality (or otherwise) of a product or service. Both Yahoo and Google were supposed to have removed online casino ads by the end of April, following apparent pressure from the U.S. government. Nevertheless, they continued -- and still seem to appear. The lawsuit documents some examples. (Posts on the Search Engine Watch Forum support this. A longer version of this column also illustrates how such ads continue.) In reaction to the U.S. government's pressure, a new lawsuit just filed on behalf of Casino City claims online gaming advertisements are protected by First Amendment free speech rights.

Clever way to keep a caller on the line

Clever way to keep a caller on the line A lot of poker books tell you that a call is your weakest weapon at the table. It shows, well, weakness in a game where many believe that aggressiveness is rewarded by the poker gods. But sometimes, a smooth-call is the strongest play you can make. Especially after someone just tried that move on you. Antonio Esfandiari, an actual magician who brings his magic bag to the table, pulled off that trick at the World Poker Tour championship in Las Vegas last April. Warning: The thinking gets a little complicated. But it starts with Esfandiari's reputation as a fast, aggressive player. Typically, he raised with a 5-4 of diamonds. Three players called behind him. The flop came K-K-7, two spades. There's a lot of money in the pot, and chances are no one has a king, so I've got to take a stab at it," said Esfandiari, winner of a World Series of Poker bracelet this year. "If I can get through the first two guys, I can get by the guy on the button who is probably one of the best players, who plays aggressive and all over the place and you never know what he has." The first two players fold. The button calls. "A lot of not-so-good players, if they're making a move here, would raise," Esfandiari said. "Calling is a lot scarier than raising because when it comes king-king-7 and he calls you, you think he has to have something. Maybe he's trying to trap me with a king." The turn came a 7 for a board of K-K-7-7. "I know I can't bet," Esfandiari said. "I can check and try to get tricky. So, I check. He bets a decent amount. Instead of raising and making it look funny, I thought, 'What would I do here if I really did have a king? I would smooth-call because there's not a single card that can come that would be dangerous.' So, I called on the turn with absolutely nothing to try to take it away on the river." The river came a blank. "He has to think, 'Antonio must have something if he called my bet on the turn. He's probably trapping me,' " Esfandiari said. "So, I fired a huge bet and he folded. "He was calling me on the flop just to take it away on the turn, and he would've against a lot of players. But I took it to the next level because I knew that's what he was trying to do because that's what I would do. When I showed it, he was so sick."

Land Based Poker Tour Info - Free Poker Tourneys

Sports:Tournament Poker Here: "www.freepokerok.com" Want to play poker but not lose your shirt. Here's your chance. Free No-Limit Texas Hold-Em poker is now being held at several locations in Ponca City. This is tournament poker with no buy-in In fact, money is not allowed. Players play for points to qualify for a regional and then state tournament. A new inducement is a possible seat on the Millionaire Challenge TV show. That show combines world poker tour with the TV winner. Because there is no money involved, Free Poker is deemed legal in Oklahoma., This is a chance for experienced players to vie for bragging rights while newer players can sharpen their skills. Free Poker OK will teach players tournament poker even if they have just the basic knowledge of the game. The tournament sites now include the American Legion, VFW and Witchys. New locations are planned. Free Poker Ok was founded by Jack Murdock of Tulsa, There are several tournaments there and across the state. For information, log on to the organization's web site, www.freepokerok.com, or contact North Central Oklahoma Director of Free Poker OK, Mike Farris, at 762-2196. Players must be 21 years old and registar on the web site.

POKER ROYALE: THE WPPA CHAMPIONSHIP Hits a Casino Ratings High for GSN

POKER ROYALE: THE WPPA CHAMPIONSHIP Hits a Casino Ratings High for GSN SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- GSN's new original casino themed series, POKER ROYALE: THE WPPA CHAMPIONSHIP debuted last night with a solid ratings performance of 0.6. This outperforms GSN's previous premieres of WORLD SERIES OF BLACKJACK on March 15, 2004 which brought in a 0.5, CELEBRITY BLACKJACK July 5, 2004 with a 0.5, and CELEBRITY BLACKJACK II on October 12, 2004 which brought in a 0.4. Additionally there was a nice build for the show quarter-hour to quarter-hour, ending in a 0.7 for the last 15 minutes. Moreover, poker.gsn.com received over 4200 entries into the $10 million poker sweepstakes during the evening. Hosted by comedian Kevin Nealon (Saturday Night Live), POKER ROYALE features the country's top amateur and tournament poker players in a game of No Limit Texas Hold 'Em, rewarding the final winner with a grand prize of $125,000 and a GSN bracelet. Additionally, POKER ROYALE: THE WPPA CHAMPIONSHIP features a unique twist with an online sweepstakes allowing one GSN viewer the chance to split $10 million with the tournament champion live, on the final episode on January 11.

The Gaming Club Poker Room Players Win at the World's Most Exclusive Poker Tournament

The Gaming Club Poker Room Players Win at the World's Most Exclusive Poker Tournament MONTE CARLO, MONACO -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 12/07/2004 -- The world's most exclusive poker tournament attracted the world's top eighty professional players and satellite winners to luxurious Monte Carlo on the French Riviera. The final table began at 3pm with Phil Ivey in a commanding lead, having nearly double the chips of Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and Vince "Vinny Nap" Napolitano in second and third place. It would seem that at least one American at the first Monte Carlo Millions was intent on taking home the $400,000 first prize. But as all things go in poker, nothing is predictable. Phil Ivey had dominated the tournament since Day One and was the odds-on favorite among players and spectators alike. Phil kept to his relaxed, yet focused, style as players including Kevin O'Connell, Victor Ramdin and Chris Ferguson were eliminated. Following the dinner break, Daniel Larsson and Krister Hanson of Sweden, playing for Expekt.com, and Vinny Nap would also leave the table, leaving Phil Ivey to battle two Finns, playing for The Gaming Club Poker Room, Juha Helppi and Jani Sointla. Phil Ivey, who at one point had amassed $1.1 million of the $1.58 million in chips, continued to dominate the final table until the table was down to the final three. In a key hand, Phil made a move on Jani with an Ac6c and Jani raised from the small blind with a pair of 9s. Phil moved all-in over the top and Jani called. The 9's held up and Jani doubled up for nearly $300,000. The next hand brought more action between the two when Jani called on a pre-flop raise by Phil. When J, J, 10 came out on the flop, Phil bet $100,000 and Jani moved all-in for $405,000 more. Phil contemplated his move for more than five minutes before calling with a 10, 6 off-suit. Jani showed an 8c, 9c for a possible open straight. The turn card helps no one and a 7 came on the river, giving Jani the straight. Phil thought he had more chips than Jani but the count came out exactly even and Phil was eliminated. In the final hand Jani had a 5, 7 off-suit and Juha had Ac, 7. When the flop came down 4, 8, 10 both checked. The turn was a 6, giving Jani the straight and Juha a double gut straight draw and a nut flush draw. Jani bet $50,000 and Juha went all-in for $360,000. Jani called and when an Ah came on the river Jani took the championship and $400,000. Final standings of the Monte Carlo Millions: 1. Jani Sointula $ 400,000 2. Juha Helppi $ 200,000 3. Phil Ivey $ 100,000 4. Krister Hansson $ 60,000 5. Vincent Napolitano $ 45,000 6. Daniel Larsson $ 35,000 7. Chris Ferguson $ 30,000 8. Victor Ramdin $ 25,000 9. Kevin O'Connell $ 20,000 Jani Sointula and Juha Helppi are long standing poker rivals who often play live games together at the Grand Casino in Helsinki, Finland, and regularly play online at The Gaming Club Poker Room (www.gamingclubpoker.com/mw) on the PrimaPoker network. Jani and Juha are two players that formed part of a team of seven Gaming Club (www.gamingclubpoker.com/mw) players in the Monte Carlo Millions. Jani summed up his experience at the Monte Carlo Millions in this way: "It was an honor to play and win against the best poker players in the world. We Finns attribute our victories to what we call 'SISU' or the 'fighting spirit.' The Monte Carlo Millions was an experience of a lifetime, players were first class on all levels, the play was exceptional and Monte Carlo was amazing. We also got a warm welcome from The Gaming Club staff in Monaco, they were really nice to us, ready to help us anytime anywhere. What more can you hope for? To win of course!" The Monte Carlo Millions culminated in a glorious champagne cocktail party attended by all players, spectators and invited guests at the Salon Francois Blanc in the Sporting d'Hiver. The Gaming Club Poker Room gets you into the game -- both online and off! So be a part of the action and sign up at www.gamingclubpoker.com/mw now and get up to $200 free. Click here (www.gamingclubpoker.com/mw) to play where there are More Players and More Action!

Internet poker more popular than ever

San Mateo County Times Online - Business News: "Internet poker more popular than ever" JEFF SEIBEL, a 52-year-old computer programmer who lives in Albany, says he got into playing poker on the Internet after he threw out his back playing table tennis a year and a half ago. Up until that point, he says, he hadn't played poker since high school. Now he regularly plays online, betting real money to enter tournaments or play straight up games. Seibel, who works from home and plays mostly limit Texas Hold'Em at various Internet sites, is a member of the new breed of poker players who choose to play poker for money online rather than at land-based casinos. This year, more than $1 billion is expected to be wagered at Internet poker sites, according to PokerPulse.com, which tracks activity at 21 of the largest poker sites. Seibel plays at various sites -- including PartyPoker.com. He likes that site because a lot of the players are loose, he says, which means he can make money. In the middle of providing that explanation, he pauses. "Sorry about that, can you hold on?" he asks, saying that he is in the midst of playing poker online even as he's being interviewed over the phone. "I'm in the middle of a good hand. King Queen suited. I got a King on the flop." About twenty seconds later, he returns to the phone conversation to report that he won $32. The allure of winning money by playing an age-old game on the Internet has pushed online poker, which experts say is legal to play in California, to the forefront of the gaming industry. In January 2003, $11.1 million was wagered at the major Internet sites, according to PokerPulse.com. In October 2004, the monthly total reached $136.1 million, the firm says. For some, online poker is a way to make money. For others, like Seibel, making money is good -- but it's not the reason they play. "I make a lot more money when I'm writing software. I play mostly for enjoyment and fun," Seibel says. The online poker craze is largely credited to the explosive growth of televised poker. And everyone familiar with the industry cites the same pivotal event. In May 2003, an unknown 27-year-old Internet poker player named Chris Moneymaker (yes, his real name) won the Kentucky Derby of poker -- the annual World Series of Poker held at Binion's Horseshoe Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The prize for beating the swarm of professionals and other amateurs was $2.5 million. The real kicker, though, was that Moneymaker qualified for a seat at the tournament (which normally costs $10,000) by winning an online series of satellite tournaments, which cost him only $40 total to enter. Moneymaker also said he had never played in a live poker tournament before the World Series. He had only played online. "We've seen quite a few unknowns go to final tables of major (land-based) events and do extremely well against the pros. And where have all these people honed their skills? Online," says Vikrant Bhargava, general manager of PartyPoker.com, which is owned by iGlobalMedia, based in Gibraltar. Bhargava says his firm's site -- which PokerPulse.com calls the largest online destination -- has 60,000 players at tables in peak traffic, suggesting a couple hundred thousand visitors per day. The bulk of the customers come from the U.S. Most of the players are male, Bhargava says. Patrick Selin, CEO of competitor PokerRoom.com, owned by Sweden-based Ongame, confirms this demographic trend. About 85 percent of players at PokerRoom.com are male and the average age is 28, Selin says. While almost all online poker sites let players play around with play money, the operators don't earn any money from them. So efforts are made by the sites to encourage players to load up accounts and play with real money. During Halloween weekend, PokerRoom only allowed players who had money in their accounts to play. To entice new customers, special bonuses were offered for deposits. The draw for many players continues to be the tournaments and the hope of becoming the next Chris Moneymaker. "With tournaments, it's that dream ... meeting the big poker stars, being able to travel somewhere and hopefully winning a million dollars or whatever (the prize) is," Selin says. But while poker is growing at a phenomenal rate, Selin admits the gold rush could diminish soon. He says the amount wagered online skyrocketed by more than 600 percent in 2003, but this year's growth rate is expected to be 150 percent. He expects next year's growth rate will be 100 percent -- meaning total wagering will double.

APP.COM - TV coverage draws 'em to poker

APP.COM - TV coverage draws 'em to poker A boom box blares alternative rock in the background as a teenager deals cards to himself and six friends for a round of Texas Hold 'Em -- a poker game growing in popularity since being glamorized on television. Nolan Horowitz, a 17-year-old senior at Middletown High School South, has a pair of kings. He makes a big bet, trying to force out the remaining player who hasn't folded. But that player, 15-year-old schoolmate Joe Sonatore, recognizes Horowitz's semi-bluff and matches his bet. Sonatore wins the $25 pot with a flush -- five cards of the same suit -- beating Horowitz's pair. Horowitz, smiling, acknowledges that one of his poker buddies might have had a flush, but he rationalizes the loss. "I tried to buy the pot," he says. On this recent Thursday evening, the boys are gathered around a professional-looking poker table built by South graduate Tony Stoble, 18, in the basement of his parents' Middletown home. The friends, most of whom play on the high school's ice hockey team, started playing Texas Hold 'Em at a pre-game pasta party last year. They've been hooked ever since, they said, and in doing so, have joined the growing number of teens across the country who play poker. "It's addictive," admitted Sonatore, a sophomore who plays about two days a week and has dreams of one day competing in the annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, the granddaddy of all poker tournaments. "I can sit here for hours." Chances are, many high school students play or have friends who do. Some casino industry experts call these teens the next wave of casino gamblers. But some compulsive gambling experts warn that television's glamorization of the game could create a new generation of problem gamblers. Call this new trend a hip youth movement or a fad, or call it the changing face of card playing. These adolescents effectively are squashing stereotypes that poker games are reserved for cigar-chomping, visor-wearing men in a smoky parlor. "These are the kinds of games your grandparents played," said Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University in New York. "It's now been discovered by this generation." Experts credit the poker explosion in America to the hours and hours that cable television stations, such as Bravo and the Travel Channel, now devote to the game. But it was as a result of ESPN's coverage last year of the World Series of Poker -- when 28-year-old accountant and poker amateur Chris Moneymaker of Tennessee took home a $2.5 million grand prize -- that Texas Hold 'Em earned a place in the social itinerary of teens. "There's a poker renaissance going on right now," said Thompson, also the director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television. "They have figured out a way to make poker and card playing good television." Through player interviews and tiny cameras that reveal players' hands and their odds of winning, television stations have created a ratings gem, Thompson said. State experts on compulsive gambling are worried, however. Terry Elman, education coordinator for the Hamilton-based, nonprofit Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, said poker is now the No. 1 form of adolescent gambling in the state, pushing sports betting into the No. 2 spot. The third most common form of youth gambling is playing dice, traditionally reserved for urban areas, Elman said. He defines adolescents as peo-ple ages 13 to 21. "We believe it's (poker) a major problem," Elman said. "It's causing more young people to gamble. Because it can be orga-nized with friends, more people are losing money." Although the game is "glamor-ized" on television, teens can end up losing a lot of money, Elman said. He estimates one-third of teenage boys actively play poker. "If you're in one (poker) tourna-ment a day for a week, and you have a buy-in at $20, and you're a loser, you've lost $100 a week," Elman said. "What kid can afford to lose $100 a week?" The council is producing a vid-eotape detailing the conse-quences of gambling on poker. It hopes to distribute the tapes to school districts across the state before the Feb. 6 Super Bowl, the most heavily wa-gered sports event in the world and a popular day for teenage gambling. Area teens interviewed said they practice their poker skills on online Web sites. While at school, they schedule games to play at someone's house after classes are over. Rarely do they play in school because a game such as Texas Hold 'Em requires too much time to play, and they don't want to risk getting in trouble, the teens said. "We don't mess around with that," said Scott Anacker, 17, a senior at Allentown High School who regularly plays poker. Wall High School Principal Steve Genco, for example, said card playing has not been an issue in his school. The teens said they often play after school until dinner time, but on weekends, the sessions last much longer, sometimes until the wee hours of the morning. For most, Texas Hold 'Em is their first foray into betting money. Some parents said they don't necessarily support the idea of their child gambling, but if it means their teens are staying off the streets, are under parental supervision and aren't drinking or doing drugs, they might as well shuffle up and deal. "They do put a limit on it," said Jackie Stoble, 54, the mother of Tony Stoble. "They never do it on school nights. If they do, they're out by 6." Each participant in Texas Hold 'Em typically "buys in" for $10 or $20, and the big winner sometimes can walk out $200 ahead, the Middletown teens said. "As long as you tell your parents you didn't lose, they don't care," said Brendan Keelen, 17, a senior at Middletown South. Anacker, the football team's quarterback at Allentown, said he and his friends started playing poker at the end of last year after watching broadcasts on ESPN. It was the first time they seriously gambled. Now they play cards so much that their female classmates are getting jealous. "They want to spend time with us," said Anacker, an Allentown resident, laughing. "We pick poker over them sometimes. Instead of hanging out with the girls, we just do the guy thing." Jillian Nelson, 17, of Millstone, a senior at Allentown High, agreed. "The guys are like, 'Should we go out tonight with the girls or play poker?' And it's play poker," she said. Teens interviewed said the game can be risky in terms of losing money, but they argued Texas Hold 'Em requires critical thinking and mathematical prowess, just as much as it does luck. "Your chance of winning in this is a lot better (than other casino games) because there's skill involved," said Matt Bruncati, 16, a Middletown South junior. Players need to correctly read their competitors and must calculate how much money is in the pot to justify holding 'em or folding 'em, the teens said. "There's a huge element of skill," said Jared Mesznik, 21, of New York, a senior at Brown University in Providence, R.I., who has designed a course on poker theory that will debut in the spring semester. "Luck will create short-term (wins), and skill will produce long-term profits." Thompson, the Syracuse professor, said playing poker is fun and fits well into a teenager's life. "Poker is perfect," he said. "It's perfect for the geographical and physical limitations that many high school kids have." And once these teenage poker players reach 21, the casino card rooms will be waiting. "Five years ago, the average age of a poker patron was in their 50s," said Stan Strickland, the poker room manager at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. "That has changed. It's probably averaging 30 now because of the college student coming in and playing." Even some teenage girls are finding themselves drawn to the poker table. "It's so popular," said senior Samantha Cotler, 17, of Bradley Beach, who attends the Monmouth County Academy of Allied Health and Science in Neptune. "Everybody plays it. It's weird." Cotler got interested in poker this summer while participating in a Governor's School program at Monmouth University in West Long Branch. She said now she plays just about every Friday night, and the game is rotated among friends' homes. "It just became popular all of a sudden, out of the blue," she said. "I'm teaching my grandmother how to play."

Poker ace Nitties scores high at PGA - Golf

Poker ace Nitties scores high at PGA - Golf Had he been born a different era, rookie golf professional James Nitties would have fitted in nicely with Jack Newton. Nitties' high place on the Australian PGA leader board today was a position familiar to Newton before a tragic accident almost killed him and ended his career. Like Newton, the 22-year-old Nitties hails from Newcastle, also home to another outstanding Australian golf prospect, Nick Flanagan, who created a piece of history last year by winning the US Amateur. That's not all Nitties and Newton have in common. Newton, who once lost a British Open play-off to American Tom Watson, had a reputation for enjoying himself and for always backing his ability. Nitties' official tour bio suggests he's from the same mould. If he wasn't playing golf, he'd be a professional pool or poker player. He lists his interests as girls and his likes as girls. His dislikes? Girls. Basketballer Michael Jordan is his role model and he names Playboy pin-up Brooke Burke as one of three people he would invite to join him for a fourball. The other two players would be actor Ed Norton and Tiger Woods. His mother is a Croatian/German extraction while he father is Greek. He had an email address of greasygolf-wog when he was about 13 but says he'd just got a computer and the address was created by one of his mates. After shooting a second round 65 to take the club house lead at 12 under in the second round in only his fourth professional tournament, Nitties revealed himself to be a player with a sizzling golf game and a personality to go with it. Born in Fitzroy in Melbourne, he admitted to jumping on the Brisbane Lions' AFL band wagon and, at the risk of offending Newton and his son Clint, who players for the Newcastle Knights, he supports Cronulla in the National Rugby League. Most rookie professionals coming out of the amateur ranks find the transition, and the dollars, often play with their mind when they get into a position similar to Nitties. This weekend he could be playing in the same groups at Peter Lonard, Peter Senior, Craig Parry, and seasoned American campaigner Bob Estes, so his nerve will be soundly tested. Nitties said his love of poker would help him handle the biggest occasion of his budding career. "I love poker, it's a good practice for golf," he said. "It makes you concentrate, but most of all, it makes you not underestimate the person you are playing with." The stakes though might be higher on Sunday afternoon if he is standing over a putt for $180,000 and a chance to have his name engraved on the Joe Kirkwood Cup alongside the likes of Kel Nagle, Billy Dunk, Bruce Devlin, Ian Baker-Finch and Norman. "People say what 'what about the money?' but it's not like we're thinking about the money out there. "When you drop a shot out there you don't think that is $10,000, you think about getting it back. "You don't realise about the money until your day's work is done."

Online poker sites and software gain web acceptance - and growth

Online poker sites and software gain web acceptance - and growth Dec. 4, 2004 - As online poker enjoys a popularity surge on the back of television shows like Celebrity Poker, younger players are emerging. Part of the trend is fueled by Web sites targeted at the youth market. Some of the online poker room websites can have as many as 50,000 players worldwide at the same time, even doling out rare seats at the World Championship of Poker to winners. Rick Salois, a hockey referee, is far enough along into the game to have acquired a nickname -- a must-have for serious players. His is "hackey," and it comes from a hackey-sack he fiddles with while playing. (Raymer's comes from fossils he uses as card protectors.) His parents have grown used to his habit by now, and don't mind it "as long as it doesn't turn into a problem." Perhaps what is unusual about players like Salois, and his friend Adam Randall, a University of Maine at Augusta student, is that they do not fall to the lure of playing big. "In college, we played quarter games, or dollar games," Salois said. "Every once in while we play $5 to $10 games." His biggest losses run up to about $30 or $40. For Salois, who says he is "terrible at counting cards," the point is to relieve tension and socialize. "There's a (online) sidebar with a chat tab, and for the most part, it's pretty friendly," he said. Randall, 24, plays the game more often, logging on nearly every day, he said. He picked the game up three years ago, also in college. But the stakes stay low. "You can play as big as $200 or $400, or as low as $5 or $10 or even 5 cents or 10 cents," he said. "The (Web) sites don't make money." Brian Lessels, a freshman at Colby College, said that he is an avid player, sometimes going through days on end of playing online. But he often plays for no money at all. "There are all kinds of free services," Lessels said. "It's just a lot of exhilaration." The game is not rampant at Colby, but it isn't hard finding someone to play poker with, said Lessels, who picked the game up in high school with friends. Wednesday nights would sometimes be poker nights in his dining hall. For those like Salois, the appeal of the game partly lies in its quirky traditions. Raymer wears glasses with hologram eye prints, Salois pointed out. The championship winner for 2003, Chris Moneymaker, sports Oakley sunglasses as his talisman. But television broadcasters, quick to sense any youth trend, play a part. The Travel Channel runs the World Poker Tour, while Bravo shows Celebrity Poker. ESPN has taken to running the 2004 World Series of Poker and even old games from the early 1990s. "I guess it gets the blood flowing watching it," Salois said. "It gets you excited to play." And when the game gets going, the buzz begins. "As long as you're not losing, you're into the zone," Salois said. "You kind of see things before they happen. That's the fine line, between people who say it's a luck game, and people who say it's a skill game." Some would warn against the well-known dangers of falling into the gambling habit, even as they laud the social aspects of playing. "If it's done for gambling, it can be just as addictive as drugs or overeating," said Bert Jacobs, chairman of the psychology department at the University of Maine at Farmington. "But if it's done for socialization, then I don't see any harm in it." Jacobs does not think much of online poker, since he believes players who log on are in fact playing against computer programs. But he acknowledges that poker has an enduring appeal in this society. "A large component of it is bluffing, the ability to impose yourself on others by tricking them," he said. "Some people find that very attractive. But I don't believe poker is any more evil than chess. Also, it goes back to the Wild West. It's a way for people to develop a community." Still, sales of poker products appears to have picked up at local retailers. "We have seen an increase in that type of paraphernalia, probably because of the television shows," said Julie Gilbert, manager of Skowhegan's Wal-Mart. "We're selling more cards and chips. In bigger stores, the (card playing) tables do very well. It started this summer, and we expect it to go through the holiday season." Most who buy the paraphernalia are male, Gilbert said, in the 20-to-30 age range, "especially the guys heading up for weekend going to camp," she said. "It sells well, but it's not like we're not bringing in extra to keep up with demand," said Gerald Tyler, manager of Augusta's Wal-Mart. For all its current popularity, the game's young online fans don't expect it to last. Salois believes the television shows are jumping on a bandwagon while the trend lasts -- "Its popularity will start to wane," he predicted. "It's very 'in' right now, but I'm not sure if it will stick around," Randall said. "It might peak out at some point and level off."

NTN Communications Announces the Release of Texas Hold 'Em Poker on the NTN iTV Network

New Interactive Game From NTN Is the World's First Fully Interactive, Multi-Player On-Premise Electronic Poker Game CARLSBAD, Calif., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NTN Hospitality Technologies, a division of NTN Communications, Inc. (Amex: NTN - News), a leader in interactive communications and entertainment products for the hospitality industry, announced today the limited release of a fully interactive, electronic version of Texas Hold 'Em on its North American iTV network. Capitalizing on the game's widespread and unprecedented interest sweeping the country, NTN Hospitality Technologies is bringing the world's first fully interactive, skill-based electronic poker game to the hospitality industry. The new interactive NTN Texas Hold 'Em poker game allows up to 10 players to participate, using the company's hand-held, wireless game devices at a virtual table displayed on televisions and be ranked against other players at enabled sports bars and premiere casual dining restaurants. The product is currently in limited release, with widespread deployment scheduled for the early part of 2005 throughout the company's new iTV2 dual channel interactive network. In addition to the game itself, consumer promotions are planned throughout 2005, subject to local and state legal compliance. "As part of our commitment to bring fresh and interesting content to our interactive entertainment network, Texas Hold 'Em is the latest addition to our new NTN BLAST channel," commented Mark deGorter, President and Chief Operating Officer. "Leveraging the tremendous popularity of Texas Hold 'Em by creating an interactive, skill-based, on-site experience will allow us to drive new consumers into our subscribing sites, as well as appeal to an entirely new universe of locations interested in jumping on the Texas Hold 'Em phenomenon." NTN Texas Hold 'Em was developed with insights from Phil Gordon, World Poker Tour Champion and host of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown. Mr. Gordon, a world-renowned poker expert and commentator, says: "The introduction of Texas Hold 'Em to the NTN iTV programming lineup marks an exciting time for poker fans nationwide, who will soon be able to participate in the first multi-site electronic poker tournaments of their kind. I'm pleased to be associated with NTN, both as a spokesperson as well as co-developer of the game, and am excited that fans now have a new venue in which to learn the game and test their skills." The current limited release of NTN Texas Hold 'Em Poker is expected to lead to expansion to the over 800 NTN BLAST-enabled sites. The company is currently undertaking efforts to convert the balance of the over 3,600 sites located in North America to the new NTN BLAST platform allowing Texas Hold 'Em to be a part of the entire network programming line-up going forward. In addition, all new installations feature the NTN BLAST technology, allowing them to feature the new NTN BLAST content, including Texas Hold 'Em where permitted by state regulations. About NTN Communications Based in Carlsbad, CA, NTN Communications, Inc. is the parent corporation of the NTN Hospitality Technologies segment and Buzztime Entertainment, Inc., a subsidiary. The NTN Hospitality Technologies segment, which focuses on integrated front-of-house solutions for the hospitality industry, is comprised of the NTN iTV Entertainment Network, NTN Wireless Communications, Inc., and NTN Software Solutions, Inc. NTN Hospitality Technologies provides services and products to leading restaurants such as The Cheesecake Factory, Darden Restaurants, Domino's Pizza, Gaylord Entertainment, TGI Friday's and more. Except for historical information contained herein, this release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management's current views of future events and operations, including, but not limited to, statements pertaining to the deployment of NTN Texas Hold 'Em, consumer acceptance of NTN BLAST, NTN's penetration into sports bars and casual dining restaurants, and NTN BLAST's ability to attract a broader demographic group to sports bars and casual dining restaurants, all of which are subject to risks and uncertainties including the risks of changing economic conditions, product demand and market acceptance, and the impact of competitive products and pricing. Other important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements are discussed in the "Risk Factors" section and other sections of NTN's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003 and the Company's registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-33078), which are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. NTN does not undertake to publicly update or revise any of its forward-looking statements even if new information or future events show that the indicated results or events will not be realized.

Morongo Casino Hosts World's Top Poker Players in Fox Sports Network Televised Tournament

Morongo Casino Hosts World's Top Poker Players in Fox Sports Network Televised Tournament New $250 Million Casino, Resort & Spa Pushes to the Forefront of the Rounders World With the Second Annual Fox TV 'Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament' MORONGO INDIAN RESERVATION, Calif., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The new, $250 million Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California has been tapped to host Fox Sports Network's (FSN) second annual Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament, where 24 of the world's top players will compete. Among those anteing up are poker legend Doyle Brunson, 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Champion Chris Moneymaker, two-time WSOP Champion Johnny Chan and numerous other WSOP bracelet winners. Starting with a special two-hour premiere on March 13, 2005, the series will air weekly on Sundays at 8:00 p.m. for 34 episodes, culminating in the final hand being dealt during a two-hour on Oct. 30, 2005. In order to qualify for the invitation-only tournament, players must have a history of successful cash game play for at least 10 years or been involved in a string of final tables at major poker tournaments in the last three years. These top players will compete in a five-day, $40,000-buy-in, no limit, Hold'em tournament, beginning at 10:00 AM PST on Thursday, December 2. The field will be narrowed down to sixteen after three days of competition and eight after the fourth day. On the fifth day, the eight quarter finalists will compete in two groups of four and the winners along with the runner ups from each group will advance to the semi-finals. The semi-final will be two head-to-head matches with a best two-out-of-three format to determine the finalists. The two finalists will again engage in a heads-up match with best two-out-of-three winner capturing the championship of the Poker Superstars Invitational II. The tournament will be held under the direction of Mori Eskandani and Eric Drache. "We're privileged to bring the best poker players in the world to take part in and celebrate the grand opening of the new Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa. Poker Superstars Invitational II is a continuation of our successful major championship poker on FSN," said Eskandani. "Being selected as the site of FSN's second annual championship poker tournament is a tremendous opportunity to host some of the world's best players at the new Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa, the premier, high-stakes gaming and entertainment resort on the west coast," said Bill Davis, general manager of the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa. "Viewers will be treated to the highest level of poker playing, and world-class poker players will be among the first to enjoy this fabulous property, including one of the largest casino floors outside of Las Vegas and a sequestered 14-table poker room." Located on 44 acres of beautiful desert landscape, the $250 million Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa is California's grandest Indian-owned resort destination, and will open in December 2004. Offering visitors a cool respite from the high desert, the resort combines the heat of high-stakes gaming, Las Vegas nightlife and five-star dining with the ultimate in relaxation in four-star caliber hotel accommodations, a luxury spa and oasis-inspired pool area. The casino resort is located 90 minutes west of Los Angeles and 20 minutes east of Palm Springs off the I-10 freeway, close to the Cabazon Desert Hills Outlets and Hadley Fruit Orchards. For hotel reservations, call toll-free at (888) MORONGO or visit www.morongocasinoresort.com. For groups of 10 rooms or more, ask for the sales director. FSN reaches more than 82 million homes through its network of 20 regional sports channels. FSN, based in Los Angeles, serves as the cable TV home to 62 of the 81 MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States, and produces over 4,600 live events each year. In addition to home team games, FSN telecasts a wide variety of national sports events and programming, including Best Damn Sports Show Period, I, Max and Beyond the Glory. For the latest up-to-the-minute sports news and opinions, visit the FOX Sports/FSN website at www.FoxSports.com.