NBC Sports is betting on poker.

It won't have the hard hitting or the ratings of Super Bowl XXXVIII.

But it's being billed as the Battle of Champions.

From 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday on NBC — opposite of CBS's Super Bowl pregame show — 11 of the world's greatest will square off.

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They'll be sweating and strategizing and probably swearing under their breath when things don't go right.

But they won't be exerting much energy.

They'll have offensive and defensive plays.

They'll also have a few fakes up their sleeves.

They'll be scouting their opponents, looking for the slightest of advantages while at the same time hoping to not tip their own hand.

And the winner of this spectacular will walk away with a six-figure payday, which is significantly more than the Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

NBC Sports is betting on poker.

Guessing that football fans already will know everything they'll need or want to know about the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers, NBC is hoping viewers will turn on the "Travel Channel World Poker Tour Battle of Champions" where the ultimate poker champion will be crowned.

NBC's senior vice president of programming, Jon Miller, says this isn't a bluff.

"We have noticed how hot poker has become," Miller says.

"One thing that we have done successfully here is appointment programming. An example of that is the U.S. Open on Father's Day or the dog show on Thanksgiving Day when there is a big audience available."

As the title of the show indicates, NBC's poker venture is in conjunction with the Travel Channel, which has hit the jackpot with the World Poker Tour.

Its Wednesday night show — featuring the top poker players matching wits in exotic venues — has become the cable channel's top program.

Lately, it seems everybody is anteing up for poker.

For several years, ESPN has televised the World Series of Poker from Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas with growing success.

The originator of TV card shows, Late Night Poker from England, has found a home in the United States on Fox Sports Net.

And even celebrities like David Schwimmer and Jack Black are getting into the act on Bravo's Celebrity Poker.

"TV has helped bring poker back into the limelight," said Cheryl Gray, a poker dealer at the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track in Bonita Springs. "I hear people at the tables talking and saying that they only came in because they saw poker on TV and that's how they understand how to play it."

Over the past two years, TV poker has become the sports rival to Survivor or American Idol. In essence, the world's oldest card game has become TV's first realistic reality show.

Where else can an accountant from Tennessee named Chris Moneymaker (and that's his real name) walk away with a $2.5 million prize?

Anyone willing to put up the $10,000 entry fee for the World Series of Poker can do just that.

Amateurs can participate in other professional sports like tennis and golf, so why not poker?

"Obviously with tennis and golf, both of their championships are U.S. Opens so if you are good enough you can try to qualify and play. But that presupposes an enormous amount of athletic ability just to get to that point," Miller says. "But in poker, you can get a seat at a tournament for $20 and win that tournament and get a seat in the bigger game, which could ultimately lead to a World Poker title."

It's understood that in order to be successful at poker you need some skills. But does this make it a sport? Or is TV poker just a grander version of your home nickel-dime ante game?

Carol Losadelara, the director of marketing at the Seminole Casino of Immokalee, thinks it depends if you're watching or playing.

"It's like watching a sport," Losadelara says. "When it's on TV, it's like watching tennis or golf where you get to admire the skill of the player. You can see every hand and analyze the moves and that's what has made it effective for TV programming."

Miller says he got the idea to bring poker to NBC Sports when his 14-year-old son, Bobby, dropped his video games and started playing poker. Now, they play and watch poker together.

Miller credits the technology called the "Ace in the Hole" — which allows viewers to see the players' hole cards — for making poker enjoyable for the viewer.

"One of the things that I enjoy about watching it on television is that I want to watch the best players," Miller says. "When I watch golf and tennis I watch certain players. I want to see the best do what they do and learn from that. So when I watch poker, I love to watch a Howard Lederer or a Gus Hansen because I want to see what their thought processes are, what they do and they don't do."

The television networks aren't the only ones benefiting from this poker room boom. The two area establishments that offer card games have seen poker play basically double in less than a year.

The Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track had to move from a 14-table room to the upstairs clubhouse, which features 28 tables. And still on Friday and Saturday nights, wanna-be Amarillo Slims are waiting to get a seat.

Just this week, the Seminole Casino also expanded its card room from 15 to 27 tables.

Both card rooms say the state's change of the laws — raising the betting limits and lifting the ban on the unlimited pots, which occurred last August — is the main reason for the increases. But they also credit TV poker for adding extra excitement to their games.

"TV has opened play to more people," Losadelara says. "People are becoming more familiar with the game and comfortable playing it."

Another example of how TV poker has ignited a local craze is how Texas Hold'em — which is played on the World Poker Tour — has become the most popular game among the patrons.

Juan Fra, the poker room manager at the greyhound track, says 7-card stud used to be the game of choice.

When poker was first introduced locally in 1997, Fra said he spread four times as many stud games as Hold'em games. He says lately on a busy night there might only be one or two stud games and the rest of the tables are playing Hold'em.

Besides the bigger crowds demanding the popular flop game, Fra says he's seeing more diversified demographics among his players.

"The poker on TV has brought out a much younger crowd," Fra says. "You see guys wearing sunglasses, ball caps and flowered shirts looking like the professionals. It's kind of funny to watch."

But with only $1-2 betting limits, not all of the local players think they're on their way to the professional ranks and the World Poker Tour.

"It's the thrill of beating someone or bluffing someone out," explained 22-year-old Eric Keefe of Bonita Springs on why he plays poker. "It's quick cash if you win but really it's just a game of luck."

NBC is hoping to get lucky with poker, too.

Poker lingo


All in — to push every chip you have into the pot.

Bad Beat — When a strong hand is beaten by a lucky hand; a long shot win.

Big Slick — An Ace and a King in the hole

Blind — To start a round of betting, the first two players sitting to the left of the dealer button will make bets before any cards are dealt.

Bluff — To make other players think you have a better hand than them (even though you don't) by betting or raising the stakes, hoping they will fold.

Call — To match the previous bet made.

Cowboys — a pair of Kings.

Dead Man's Hand — Aces-8s, because it's the hand Wild Bill Hickock was holding when he was shot and killed.

Dead money — An amateur in the game, another word for easy money.

Doyle Brunson — 10-2, because the poker icon won back-to-back World Series of Poker in '76 and '77 holding that final hand.

Drown at the river — To lose on the fifth community card.

Gutshot straight — Need an inside card to complete the hand; also known as a bellybuster.

Hole Cards — At the start of round one, the first two cards dealt face- down to each player.

Fishhooks — Jacks

Fold — To stop playing a round by throwing your hand away (losing any previous bets made). People are most likely to "lay down their hand" when they don't have a strong or winning hand, especially when the stakes are raised.

Kojak — King-jack

Nuts — holding a seemingly unbeatable hand.

Pocket rockets — Aces

Ladies — Queens.

Raise — To increase the previous bet made. Also referred to as a bump.

Spike at the river — To hit your winning hand on the fifth community card.

The Flop — The first three community cards are dealt face-up in the middle of the table.

The River — The final community card dealt.

The Turn — The fourth community card dealt, also known as Fourth Street.

Top pair — To hold the best pair in the hole or on the board.

Source: Tom Hanson, Naples Daily News