Retailers are betting poker chips will win big this holiday season as the nation's craze for Texas Hold 'Em continues to surge.

In 1999, Poker Chips USA in Northridge raked in $60,000 in sales over the holiday season. The online store tripled that amount over the same time frame last year, said owner Gus Fanfassian.

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"This is the hottest trend in games right now," said Ellen Heaney Mizer, game buyer for Barnes & Noble, which set up displays of poker products in all its stores for the holiday season.

Feeding the frenzy for multicolored chips, cards, tables and all things poker-related are shows like ESPN's "World Series of Poker" and Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown," among others, Fanfassian said.

"They're showing a whole bunch of young people how to play," said Will Hunt, who started a retail line of poker products called All N' Poker this summer.

"College kids love the game because it allows them to sit around a dorm room and play for several hours with just a few bucks," he said.

But everyone from 18-year-olds to 80-year-olds is getting in on the action, Fanfassian said.

Even Restoration Hardware, a high-end furniture store in San Francisco, is carrying everything from Ace shot glasses to mechanical card shufflers. Wal-Mart, Target and other retailers are offering an array of poker goods as well.

Aahs! The Ultimate Gift Store began carrying poker-related products about a year ago, and sales have increased steadily since, said Vida Bakshi, assistant buyer for the Commerce-based company.

Poker Chips USA's most popular item is a 1,500-chip Texas Tournament set that ranges in value from $449 to $649.

Aahs! carries everything from dice to poker sets that range from $60 to $200. There is a sign next to the store's prominent display of poker products suggesting how many chips are needed for games of varying size.

Since Hunt started All N' Poker in Davis, Calif., this summer, he said orders for T-shirts and visors bearing the company's trademark logo, "Dominate the Table," have swelled to the hundreds on a weekly basis.

The demand shows some retailers are missing out on a rapidly growing pool of poker fans who want game-related products, Hunt said.

"Surfers have Quiksilver and basketball players have Nike - we want to be that brand for poker players," Hunt said.

All N' Poker is rolling a line of T-shirts bearing remarks like "Do you go all in?," "Backdoor straight," "Slow play," "Straddle bet," and "Flopping the nuts."

"T-shirts with double meaning are popular right now. This takes that concept and applies it to poker," Hunt said. "We're trying to capitalize on a craze that's only going to get hotter."

Source: Candice Choi, Los Angeles Daily News