Glamour and big prize money is luring many to play Poker

Joe Cada is any other happy go lucky 21-year-old bloke you bump into on your regular street outing. A college dropout he chose cards over books.
And at an age where other students would be getting fidgety over the next course to enroll in before they can actually think of a career, Joe has earned enough, in fact far more than many of his colleagues.

He is this year’s World Series of Poker’s champion and has pocketed a cool $ 8.55 million as prize money. While the sum might sound astronomical but to convert it in Indian Rupees would make it seem absolutely unreal.

There’s something about poker that it’s becoming the chosen card game of many. Be it the prize money that’s on offer or the charm of being a great gambler making a fortune in one hand, this card game is really the chosen format of those who deal.

It’s the coverage the game enjoys and the glamour attached to it that attracts people. Why else would Shane Warne wait for his poker championship to get over before he resumed his commentator’s job for Ashes 2009?





Every year World Series of Poker and World Poker tour attract poker professionals and enthusiast from all over the world to try their luck. And luck is the essential ingredient for success as this card game is nothing but betting with every player relying mostly on various probabilities.

As one bets on low or high hands with winner of maximum number of high hands pursing the betting amount in the pot, every card dealt assumes significance. Texas Hold Em poker is one of the most popular formats of poker played all over the world.

While poker was mostly using variations to card games like blackjack by workers in Europe of America, this 20-card format gained global popularity from US. The casinos started endorsing as well as promoting it.

With World Series of Poker coming into existence in 1970 there was an official outlet for poker professionals to try their hand. World poker Tour also paved way for a lot of poker enthusiasts to try their luck with renowned pros like Stu Ungar, who has been a champion three times and Johnny Chan and Johnny Moss who has been crowned winners twice each.

Along with these championships, major boost to this game has been its broadcast like any other big sporting event and ESPN and NBC being the regular broadcasters. NBC’s late night series Poker After Dark with glam hosts like former Playboy model Leeann Tweeden have helped immensely in getting viewers hooked to the glam game.

World Poker Tour too got Shana Hiatt, a model and a poker enthusiast herself to host their three inaugural tours. These beauties brought in a lot of new converts willing to chase fortune and fame. A huge help to the sport has also been the sites like 888.com that have enabled people to test their skills online and make money. Texas Hold Em in fact is also one of the most popular applications on social networking sites.

So get set to deal. Count your blessings and stars and who know every hand you win might just be enough to rid you of the daily rut. Joe just realized it. When are you testing your fortune!