There is now a dedicated poker channel dealing out hour after hour of action...

Anyone suffering the outer reaches of satellite television recently, could be excused for thinking that poker - the old card game traditionally associated with last-chance saloons and gunslinging desperados - was making a belated attempt at respectability. There is now a dedicated poker channel dealing out hour after hour of action, and even the Home and Leisure channel (gardening, DIY, property redevelopment) dons its Stetson and most inscrutable poker face every night at 11pm.

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Moreover, channel Five, like Channel 4 and Sky Sports before it, has embraced the game, and is broadcasting nightly coverage of the PartyPoker.com World Open featuring "celebrities, professionals and online qualifiers." Audience figures are apparently astronomical, a fact less surprising when you consider the increasing number of punters taking up the game. Somehow, poker has crossed over from the fringes of popular culture to the mainstream, and has a decent claim to be one of the world’s fastest growing leisure activities.


The internet is largely responsible for enabling new players to get to grips with the game, everyone from grannies to students seemingly taking it up with alacrity. Indeed, recent figures from a sports research company (Arksports) reveal that online poker is challenging traditional sports such as tennis and snooker when it comes to player earnings in Europe. A 21-year- old Swede, Erik Sagstrom, earned more in prize money ($1.02m) from online poker in 2004 than Ronnie O’Sullivan ($0.97m), Stephen Hendry ($0.54m) and Greg Rusedski ($0.34m) earned from their respective sports.

It is almost tempting to give up the day job and reinvent one’s self as an online poker adept, which is exactly what more and more people are doing. A recent mailshot from Ladbrokes, one of Europe’s biggest online poker sites with over 20,000 players a day, highlighted the case of Belfast teenager Lee-Anne Smyth, who jacked in a career in banking to pursue the more lucrative activity of poker. She apparently now pockets four-and-a-half grand a week.

Goodness knows what Gamblers Anonymous make of it all, because one thing is certain: despite the glossy bumph and tales of riches, there are always going to be a lot more losers, than winners. Still, it is a free country, and responsible adults can do what the heck they like with their disposable income.

There are even so-called poker academies springing up, where new players can hone their nascent talent before venturing into the unforgiving world of competitive play.

One of the interesting thing about televised poker is the way it is marketed to a mass audience. Although commentators never fail to cite the game’s picaresque, outlaw heyday, the fact is that most modern players are pretty ordinary characters. Middle-aged IT consultants and overweight builders are hardly glamorous figures compared to the game’s erstwhile exponents, but The Wild West image is still peddled by pundits.

Channel Five have two co-commentators: an American (the patter merchant) and a Brit (the no-nonsense bloke). The Brit is an ex-pro with the inside track on players and tactics, but he got everything so wrong on Wednesday that it soon became clear why he was sitting in the commentary booth and not at the table. Second-guessing a player’s next move is not easy, and commentators who try to do so always run the risk of looking silly.

Neither the American nor the Brit mention the word "luck" very often, because viewers are led to believe that it is only skill and cunning that determines the outcome of a hand. Luck, it is implied, plays only a minor role at this level. Nonsense. A player with limited tournament experience will beat a hardened pro if he is dealt good cards and plays them competently.

Here’s an example: prior to the online boom, the same small band of pros invariably appeared on television every time a game was screened. These guys pooh-poohed the notion that someone sitting at a computer terminal could compete with "real" players in a live game.

It was part snobbery, part ego, but Wednesday’s coverage of the World Open saw several young online qualifiers dispatch so-called poker high-rollers without too much trouble. So much then for poker mythology.

Tune in tonight - and every night, it seems - for more bluff and brinksmanship.

Source: Scotland on Sunday