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 Televised
high-stakes poker is coming to Central New York's Turning
Stone Resort and Casino this week with a never-before-seen
hook: It'll be the first time a tourney final will be
shown live on a national broadcast.
Jason
DiBenedetto, poker room manager at the casino, believes
the live coverage will bolster the already surging popularity
of TV poker.
"It
makes poker a sport similar to any other sport, where
you can play the event right as it happens," he said.
Up
to 108 players will compete in the "No-limit Hold
'em" tournament, which begins today at noon. Players
paid a $10,000 "buy-in" fee to secure a place
in the tournament. The six-player final will be broadcast
at 6 p.m. Wednesday on Fox Sports Net, and the winner
could walk away with $500,000 in cash.
As
part of the live broadcast, Fox will introduce a computer-based
card reader system that will display players' cards immediately
on television screens. This new technology will eliminate
the need for "peeker" cameras, which are usually
necessary to view the players' cards, said DiBenedetto.
The
promise of a televised final has helped to draw a pool
of high-profile players, including Chris Moneymaker, the
2003 World Series of Poker champion.
Al
Krux, of Fayetteville, who placed sixth in the 2004 World
Series of Poker, is looking forward to the tournament
but admits that competition will be stiff.
"The
cream of the crop will be there for this tournament at
Turning
Stone," said Krux, who has been playing professionally
for about 35 years. "I'll bet there will be 30 to
40 of the best players in the world - maybe more."
Meanwhile,
Peter Giordano, a professional poker player from Liverpool,
believes poker appeals to mainstream audiences because
it's a game that anyone could play. "People started
watching it and saying, 'I can do that,' " he said.
Giordano,
who has won several Internet tournaments, knows that competition
is bound to be fierce at Turning
Stone. Still, he's confident that he has as good a
chance as anyone to make it to the televised final - and
to win big.
"I
can't play basketball with Michael Jordan and beat him.
I can't play Tiger Woods and beat him," he said.
"But I can play the best poker players in the world
and beat them because I got the cards and I got lucky."
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LAS
VEGAS -- For the fifth consecutive year, Harrah's Entertainment,
Inc. received more awards than any other casino operator in Casino
Player's Best of Gaming Awards, the magazine's annual poll of
gaming customers from across the country.