The Poker Generation?

You can run, but you can't hide. No matter where you go or what you do, you can't hide from poker anymore. Poker, poker, poker, it's everywhere: TV shows, TV ads, radio ads, bookstores, magazine racks, e-mails, gadget stores, toy stores, catalogs, websites, books, videos, classes, blogs, and so on.

I think it's time to take inventory of our newly pokerized culture. Sometimes I feel like I've entered the "Twilight Zone" – as there's no escape from poker. Will we go down in history as the poker generation?

Let's start with the great American pastime of channel surfing. I can't do a full rotation without running into some poker advertising. I've seen TV advertising for beer in which you don't have to be a sanitation worker to recognize garbage (poker hands). I thought that was pretty clever. And then there's the new guy at the poker game who says he'd buy the burgers if there were a place open. The lady at the burger takeout window says, "You must be the new guy." If you don't catch the movie Rounders on TV, you can always see the ads for the DVD with the latest, greatest, recut, enhanced version with some new scenes and an introduction by Johnny Chan. Go, Johnny! Then there are the ads for the online poker rooms, where you can play for free or attend a free poker school. I understand that they want to avoid controversy with the government and/or the TV stations, but let's call a spade a spade. For better or worse, their ultimate goal is to get real-money players to play on their sites.

If we keep channel surfing, we'll find tournaments on the Travel Channel, ESPN, FoxSportsNet, MSG, Bravo, and occasionally the "major" networks. I think the public is almost primed and ready for the Superheroes of Poker tournament, in which all the players will be required to wear their favorite superhero costume. This one should be a slam-dunk for Tobey Maguire (Spiderman).

A regular regimen of channel surfing will usually lead to a new poker show, old poker movie, or sitcom rerun with a poker game. The two poker series I've seen in the past year are Lucky and Tilt. I don't even know if Lucky is still running. On a scale of "high card" to "royal flush," I'd have to give Lucky a "two low pair" and Tilt a "two high pair." It was a pleasant surprise to see Daniel Negreanu and T.J. Cloutier make a cameo appearance together on Tilt. Go, Danny and T.J.! Neither Lucky nor Tilt gives a very good impression of poker players or casino executives, but I guess that's show business.

If Lucky or Tilt isn't on TV, you can usually find some network that's showing one of the better-known movies with some poker, such as Rounders, Maverick, Honeymoon in Vegas, or The Sting. Some older poker movies worth watching are The Lady Eve, A Big Hand for the Little Lady, and The Cincinnati Kid. The Cincinnati Kid is a little slow, but a true poker enthusiast should enjoy a couple of great lines delivered by Edward G. Robinson to Steve McQueen. One line is, "Once in a while you've got to do the wrong thing at the right time, just like in life." The other line is, "Kid, you're good, but as long as I'm around, you're only second best." If you haven't found a poker series or movie, your chances are pretty good that you'll find a sitcom rerun with a poker game in it. Just off the top of my head, I can recall some good poker episodes from Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, Friends, Cheers, MASH, and The Odd Couple. One of my favorites is a Seinfeld episode in which George is trying to keep a big secret and Jerry can read his poker face. Jerry asks him if he's got a pair of bullets, then asks him if he's got two pair, then three of a kind, then a flush, and then a full house. He finally pressures George to give up his "full house" secret. Obviously, I've been watching too much TV.

I don't like shopping, except for taking my daughter to Toys R Us. Guess what I saw there? Plastic poker chips and cards. I guess they're starting young these days. I can understand seeing poker chips in a toy store. Toy stores have lots of games, and poker is a game. But, you can't walk into a department store, Bed Bath & Beyond, Brookstone, Sharper Image, Kmart, Walmart, or luggage store without seeing poker chip sets. In fact, the covers of recent catalogs from some of these stores have featured poker chip sets. Barnes & Noble is displaying poker books in the front window. I heard that somebody is selling underwear that says, "One big pair," with a pair of aces printed on it. My wife and I were picking up a relative at the airport recently and a couple of skin magazines caught my eye; they listed poker stories on their covers, including Hustler advertising "Women of Poker." I couldn't resist buying them to see which women of poker had "laid" their cards on the table. To my surprise, none of the women of poker had "spread" their hands open. I was actually relieved not to see some, and disappointed about not seeing others. The important thing is that poker has finally proven itself to be truly and completely mainstream by making it onto the cover of Hustler!

Since the explosion of poker, there's been a secondary explosion of games in casinos that are derivatives of poker and are located next to the blackjack tables. Of course, many people have heard of Caribbean stud, Let It Ride, and three-card poker, but now there's a new generation of poker variations. Hal Rubin, a high-stakes gambler and business partner of mine, came up with a brilliant idea for a new poker variation for the blackjack pits. It's a game called HAWAII HI-LO. We recently introduced HAWAII HI-LO to Atlantic City and Mississippi with an overwhelmingly positive response from players. We invite you to come and play HAWAII HI-LO, the game in which you can "Get Hi, Get Lei'd, and Get Paid."

This is our contribution to the poker generation!

If you're part of the poker generation, click your heels together and repeat three times, "There's no place like the final table."

Robert is the 2002 World Series of Poker champion. He recently introduced the popular new card game of HAWAII HI-LO to the casinos of Atlantic City and Mississippi.