The Poker Phenomenon
 
 

POKER IS RED HOT!

For years relegated to back rooms and home games, today, poker is king.

Thanks to extensive network television coverage and exploding internet poker play, more Americans than ever before have joined the poker nation. Estimates indicate that over 65 million people in the USA play in home poker games, watch poker on television, or play in poker casinos. Poker is no longer just a game -- it’s a national pastime!

Card Shark Media offers two features that enable your newspaper to attract this large and active marketplace.

“Playing Poker with Daniel Negreanu” brings new readers to your newspaper and builds readership among current subscribers. Like readers who count on your newspaper for advice on betting sports like horse racing and games like bridge and chess, perennial fan favorite and 2004 professional Poker Player of the Year Daniel Negreanu will provide insightful poker strategies and entertaining vignettes that will pull readers in week after week after week.

Card Player Magazine's Tournament Hand Matchup educates and entertains your readers with exciting poker action and concise poker hand analysis. This feature is an idea replacement for bridge columns and is the perfect addtion to the Sports, Features, or Classified sections of your newspaper.

Still not sold on the power of poker? Here are just a few facts and statistics that demonstrate the immense popularity of the game:

An estimated 65+ million Americans play or watch poker -- five times the number of bridge players in the USA

More than 53 million American adults – 26 percent of those 21 and older – made 310 million casino visits in 2003, according to the “Profile of the American Casino Gambler: Harrah’s Survey 2004”

Poker on television is a true phenomenon:

  • ESPN broadcasts the World Series of Poker
  • Bravo hits paydirt with its Celebrity Poker Showdown
  • The Travel Channel wins its biggest pot ever with The World Poker Tour
  • Fox Sports Net has a winner with the Superstars of Poker
  • Game Show Network doesn’t bluff with its hit High Stakes Poker
  • NBC goes all-in with its broadcast of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship
Over 1.8 million active money players playing online poker in February, 2005, according to PokerPulse.com
Approximately $200 million wagered per day on online poker sites
Younger Americans are playing more poker today than any other age group, according to Hartz/Luntz Research. 22% of those aged between 21 and 39 played poker within the last 12 months
Poker is very much a game played by men and women. While poker is more prevalent among men than women overall, women between 21 and 39 are more likely to play poker than 40 to 59 year old men.