The Rise of Poker: Railbirds and Raisers

Written by Trent Gresh


Continued from page 1

Holdem was mainly covered only on ESPN until just a few years ago, and during those early yearsrepparttar game received only infrequent airtime for one hour episodes ofrepparttar 138308 World Series of Poker main event. Early into 2005, it already appears that at least five different networks will host holdem shows sometime this year. Examples include:repparttar 138309 Travel Channel (World Poker Tour), ESPN (World Series of Poker), FOX Sports (the Poker Superstars Invitational), NBC (National Heads-up Championship), E! (E! Hollywood Home Game), and Bravo (Celebrity Poker Showdown). The vast majority of these shows consist of many weekly episodes; several, in fact, have more than ten new episodes planned for 2005. Asrepparttar 138310 above examples illustrate, most ofrepparttar 138311 major media conglomerates have adopted some form of show aboutrepparttar 138312 most popular game, Texas Holdem. And believe me, they are looking for more opportunities.

It appears thatrepparttar 138313 sport has established itself as a contender for regular airtime on national networks going forward. Its rise intorepparttar 138314 public eye rivalsrepparttar 138315 television rise of other professional sports. An appropriate comparison, in my opinion, would berepparttar 138316 climb in popularity andrepparttar 138317 resultant paychecks onrepparttar 138318 PGA Tour overrepparttar 138319 last decade, particularlyrepparttar 138320 heavy increases in popularity followingrepparttar 138321 appearance of a young superstar byrepparttar 138322 name of Tiger Woods. The baseline ofrepparttar 138323 PGA audience and prize pools has been re-established during this time. Holdem should see similar results.

So, whilerepparttar 138324 incredible growth rate cannot be expected to continue indefinitely, it appears thatrepparttar 138325 new plateau has not been reached. Just look atrepparttar 138326 sports most popular event for an illustration. The main event ($10,000 entry) atrepparttar 138327 2003 WSOP had 839 entrants when Chris Moneymaker took home $2.5 million for first place. Just one year later,repparttar 138328 main event ofrepparttar 138329 2004 WSOP boasted well over 2,500 players (Greg Raymer won first place and $5 million). Most ofrepparttar 138330 people who follow poker on a regular basis expect that there will be at least 6,000 entrants inrepparttar 138331 main event ofrepparttar 138332 2005 WSOP.

All signs seem to point to a continued increase inrepparttar 138333 game until it becomes big enough to be considered a part of our daily lexicon. While there may be a component ofrepparttar 138334 population that has adopted or viewed this as a fad, it does not appear to berepparttar 138335 perspective ofrepparttar 138336 millions of railbirds and raisers that enjoyrepparttar 138337 skill and competition ofrepparttar 138338 game itself.

Trent Gresh began playing poker seriously in 2001 and became a full-time player in 2004. Mr. Gresh focuses mainly on Texas and Omaha Holdem. You can find out more about Mr. Gresh through his poker blog at Case Ace Poker.


Britney Spears in Danger of Losing Kevin Federline?

Written by Nathaniel Quest


Continued from page 1

Obviously, Shar didn't look very beautiful being pregnant. At least in Kevin Federline's eyes. Probably Kevin doesn't find pregnant women attractive?

But it's also possible that Britney Spears is finally growing up. Perhaps her impending motherhood is helping Britney become more mature. But don't grow up too fast--Kevin may not be able to catch up.

Nathaniel Quest frequently writes articles on diverse topics. He is the owner and publisher of the One Minute Blog (http://opportunities.typepad.com/news). His other websites include Opportunitiesblog.com (http://www.opportunitiesblog.com).


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