TSN isn't bluffing with poker series
By ROB BRODIE -- Ottawa Sun

The poker craze, it seems, isn't dying down anytime soon. If anything, it continues to mushroom. Witness the creation of the Degree Poker Championship, the first all-Canadian version of the popular Texas Hold 'em duel. It's a project that's been in the works for a year at TSN, with the first of four shows airing last night.

It's an all-Canadian affair featuring "everyday" people, said Adam Ashton, TSN's VP of marketing. "The thing we asked ourselves was 'How do you create an authentic Canadian poker tournament championship to find our next undiscovered star?' " he said. TSN conducted an on-line registration for the free poker tournament in the spring and received more than 20,000 responses. Out of that group, 2,000 were randomly selected to compete, equally split into regional poker tourneys at casinos in Niagara Falls and Richmond, B.C.

Forty-five players -- five tables of nine -- made the finals, which were taped at Niagara Fallsview Online Casino Resort in June. The first of four parts of the TV presentation aired last night, with the others tonight, Sept. 23 and Sept. 24. The latter episode includes the $100,000 final and a bonus $1 million final hand poker showdown. Ashton said TSN hopes to draw about 170,000 viewers each night. The entire series has been shot in high-definition format.

So what's the appeal of it to viewers? Ashton believes a lot of it has to do with the way TV presents it. "People at home know what's going on," he said. "To see that unfold is the real drama ... it's a bit of an emotional rollercoaster."

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By Luis Gomez of the Union-Bulletin (Sept 6th, 2005)
In the Old West you might have been shot at a poker game. Fast-forward a couple of hundred years and today you might get a shot at winning millions in a matter of seconds. Or at least that's how poker TV makes it look, some folks would say. In fact, some of those same folks would tell you that Texas Hold 'em is not about odds or luck. It's about skill.

It's not a new game but poker, particularly Texas Hold 'em, has become a cultural phenomenon over the last few years, spawning countless online poker rooms, books, game kits, magazines and poker tournaments. Younger players are turning up at casino tables, waiting to make that big break. The 1998 movie 'Rounders,' a dramatic tale of two, slick, fast-winning poker players, inspired David Abajian to join the booming number of young faces at the Goldstrike online casino, on Ash Street in Walla Walla. 'It's a good mind game,' said the 18-year-old. ''I use my mind more playing poker than in anything else.' Texas Hold 'em is a beastly breed of nerd and slick: a combination of mathematical probability and hustling.

The beauty of the game: Anybody can beat anyone at any time,' said casino dealer and tournament champion Ted Newman. The 30-year-old local man competed at a Goldstrike Casino tournament and won a spot in a Reno, Nev., tournament last year. His strategy is to play passive-aggressive and set the other players in a trap, he said. He was no match for professionals like Men the Master' Nguyen or Dan Harrington, he conceded. All these young people, they see it on TV and say, Oh yeah I can go play and win,' but they don't,' said Ruben Ornelas, 38.

The boldest example to come out of a free poker tournament in Las Vegas is the story of Chris Moneymaker - his real name - who started out playing Internet poker rooms.
A $40 game won him a spot at the 2003 World Series of Poker. Within three days, Moneymaker talked out a millionaire. The way I see it...it's people that don't have a good job can make a lot of money in a matter of days,' said Abajian. But it's a huge risk. About $115 out of his hard-earned money goes into playing poker every week, he said. In reality, that's a minimum amount.
Goldstrike dealer Alfredo Garcia says the amounts of money per game depend on what the limit is. Some games may range between $300 and $2,500. At a small-scale tournament, a minimum of five players at a table can start with a small bet of $5 and raise it,' or double, that amount each time a community card is drawn. By the time the fifth card, dubbed the river,' is dealt and when most players fold out of the game, a mountain of chips accumulates to big money,' Garcia said.

Players get really excited to know they have a chance at winning a big pot and just knowing you have the best hand...it's an adrenaline rush,' he said. Ornelas, who has been playing for 20 years, says there is a thin line between a good player and a bad player. Good poker players know when to hold 'em' and when to fold 'em.' Bad players run on luck. The luck runs for so long and then you run out of luck,' he said.

But players like Abajian are far from discouraged. I think if you're good enough to play, it's worth (taking the risk),' said Abajian, who considers himself a good player. You also have to know when to quit.

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September 5, 2005
Jennifer Tilly has won her second major poker tournament, and confidence in her playing poker ability.
"I felt like I was suffering from the 'impostor syndrome,' " said Tilly, who jumped from the table after her win. "I had these niggling self-doubts. But now I know I can really play. These women were extremely tough poker pros with blood lust at the poker table."

Tilly's victory at the World Poker Tour Ladies Night III at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles on Thursday makes her the first poker woman to win that title and the World Series' Ladies World Poker Championship.

The win guaranteed her a spot in the $25,000 buy-in WPS Championship in April.
The actress, an Oscar nominee for her role in the 1994 film "Bullets Over Broadway," has been playing the game for a year. She said she learned pointers from her boyfriend, poker player Phil "Unabomber" Laak.

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