Poker is so popular that it has become big business for retailers, some of whom are betting that the chips, cards and full sets of paraphernalia will be among the hottest gifts this holiday season.
Wal-Mart Canada Corp., one of the largest retailers in the country, has developed its own value-priced line of poker products under the Prestige label, having spotted the poker trend over a year ago and run with it.
"It's jumping off the shelves," Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Groh said of the line launched a couple of months ago. "Some of our poker packages will be among our best sellers for the holiday season in the games category."
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Poker is a card game in which players bet they hold the highest-ranking hand, at times by bluffing.
Driving the rage is the surge in televised tournaments on cable networks, including the trail-blazing World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel. WPT Enterprises Inc. is rolling out its own line of licensed merchandise for the holiday period, including complete sets, which comprise clay-filled chips, cards and a rule book, for between $150 and $200 (U.S.).
Chains such as Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Zellers, Canada Safeway and Mac's Milk are among those that will carry at least some of the products, said Audrey Kania, a co-founder of WPT in Los Angeles.
"One of our objectives was to make poker mainstream and bring it to the world," said Ms. Kania, who is also WPT's executive vice-president of marketing.
She said WPT is considering adding a tournament in Canada in a couple of seasons.
Marty Rabinovitch, a third-year political studies major at Queen's University in Kingston, is among the avid TV tournament watchers. He started a poker club on campus last year, and 75 people expressed interest in it.
This year, double that number wanted to join.
"I think that TV poker has had a huge impact on making poker more popular because it puts you in the mood to play," said Mr. Rabinovitch, 20.
"After seeing someone hit their flush or straight on the river [the last card] and beat someone with pocket aces and win a huge pot just makes you want to be part of the action."
He has bought poker chips from a dollar store for the club, but is eyeing sets for as much as $150 on eBay.com, similar to the clay chips used in casinos.
Still, only six students showed up at his last meeting because a university-sanctioned club is not allowed to run cash games on campus, he said. Most serious players "don't see the point to playing unless money is involved."
But retailers are thrilled about any renewed interest in poker.
"Yes, poker is definitely a trend," said Hillary Stauth, a spokeswoman for Hudson's Bay Co., which owns the Bay and Zellers department stores.
"The world of poker is making a comeback and HBC stores are going to up the ante this holiday season by offering merchandise that meets the customer demand for poker."
The 98 Bay stores and 300-plus Zellers will carry more handheld electronic poker games than ever before -- about 40 per cent more than last year, she said.
The chains will expand their poker products beyond the usual chips and cards to entire kits that will retail for about $9. The HBC.com website, meanwhile, features a $49 wooden game chest.
And retailers anticipate that, as more women take up the game, they will start to spend more on poker products.
Ms. Kania said about 30 per cent of WPT viewers are now women, up from roughly 20 per cent when the show began airing in early 2003.
Kristina Filmer, 31, started to play poker with a bunch of friends at the cottage this summer and quickly became hooked.
"It's nothing I'd have ever expected I'd do," she said with a laugh, allowing that she has since started to watch TV tournaments. "We play for small amounts, $5 . . . It's good fun, and a good thing to do with a group of friends."
When she gets around to hosting a game at her house, she'll head off to a store to buy chips and "a good set of poker cards," she said.
Brad MacIntosh, who owns three F.G. Bradley's game stores in the Toronto area, said he just sold a $179 poker set to a female player a day earlier.
He is shipping poker items to customers across Canada -- as far as British Columbia and Newfoundland -- as word gets out that his stores carry higher-end products, with sets ranging to about $400.
"I've never seen anything sell as ferociously in the summer," he said, adding that he expects feverish sales for Christmas. "It's just been crazy."
He is also finding that people are playing more poker on Saturday evenings now that a lockout has put a stop to National Hockey League games.
Among the items he can't keep in stock are books on poker playing, including one called The Winners Guide to Texas Hold 'Em Poker by Ken Warren for $22.99. That's the type of poker that's played at WPT tournaments.
Over all, Mr. MacIntosh's poker-related sales have jumped more than 600 per cent since the beginning of the year from the same period in 2003, he said. "People are generally buying what they're seeing on TV."
Darcy Paulin, owner of Drexoll Games in Vancouver, said he is constantly reordering poker products, particularly pricier sets, whereas a year ago his sales in the category were virtually nil. "It's an infinite increase."
Source: The Globe and Mail
