MaxPower
05-02-2005, 11:16 PM
Everything You Need for a Poker Party, Save a Winning Hand
By COELI CARR
ABOUT a year and a half ago, Jeff Cook, a Houston firefighter, poured a slab for a 12-by-16 structure in his backyard in Spring, Tex., a Houston suburb. The stand-alone room he built atop it has a phone line, air-conditioning, a cable television connection and a stereo system. Its outside light, when on, is an invitation to stop by.
"If we do a big tournament, everybody brings chips," said Mr. Cook, who is married and has infant twin daughters. He was not referring to the potato, corn or nacho varieties, but to the plastic or clay-composite kind used for playing poker. Mr. Cook has built what he and neighbors affectionately call "the card shed," and although the table seats only seven, the room allows him impromptu "casino nights." "It's all here, basically," he said.
Mr. Cook built his house of cards to last, and most specialists expect similar longevity for today's poker craze. Having already spawned many poker-related enterprises, the phenomenon shows no sign of abating - certainly not if Steven Lipscomb, founder and chief executive of WPT Enterprises, has anything to say about it.
"Poker had been on television for years, but nobody watched it and nobody cared," said Mr. Lipscomb, who came up with the idea of letting viewers see what the face-down, or "hole," cards were, betting that this would provide a lot more small-screen poker drama. Convinced that he had a winning concept, he raised the requisite millions of dollars himself, and in 2003 the Travel Channel introduced the show, called "World Poker Tour," featuring the popular game called Texas Hold 'Em. The program's debut, with hole cards visible to viewers, coincided with the growing popularity of online poker. The show now draws two million to five million viewers a week, both experienced players and neophytes.
And Mr. Lipscomb, anticipating consumer demand for products bearing what he calls a "poker lifestyle brand," entered the world of licensing.
His licensed products for the World Poker Tour - chips and tables, but also cards, games and apparel - are sold in stores and online. Folding tables sell at Wal-Mart for $100. At Sam's Club, tables cost $500 to $700; chip sets in wooden boxes sell for $100, and a silver tournament set with 300 chips and two decks of cards has a $60 price tag. The new "millionaire's set" sells for $400 on the company's Web site and at some retailers.
Mr. Lipscomb's company had licensing revenue of $1.9 million in the last quarter. "We've seen tremendous growth, quarter to quarter," he said. "It's been very interesting to watch people's appetites become more sophisticated, such as a desire for weighted ceramic chips, like the ones used at casinos."
His best-selling 2004 holiday product was Jakks Pacific TV Games World Poker Tour, a $25 plug-and-play video game, and he is also involved with the marketing for cellphone games through an agreement with the Mforma Group, a wireless company.
"Our research shows that people want to play like the pros, with all the accessories," said Scott Kling, vice president for sales and marketing at the United States Playing Card Company, a World Poker Tour licensee. The company creates official cards, chips, poker sets and foldable poker-table tops. It also produces its own biggest-selling Bicycle brand, as well as the Bee, Aviator and Kem lines; Kem decks sold early this year at Harrod's in London for £48 for a two-pack, or about $44 a deck. Bicycle brand cards cost $2.25 to $4.99 a deck, and Target stores recently introduced powder-blue and powder-pink decks, geared to women.
Not surprisingly, those who sell products and services that help poker lovers improve their game are also thriving.
"I could pursue baseball for the rest of my life, but I'm never going to hit a home run against a major-league pitcher," said Joshua Malina, an executive producer of " Celebrity Poker Showdown," which started in 2003 on Bravo and draws nearly a million viewers. But poker players who develop their skills, he said, might realistically compete with the game's legends.
Jules Herbert, a buyer for Barnes & Noble, said poker book sales increased 84 percent from 2003 to 2004. "Our stores have gone from one or two shelves of poker and gambling titles to a full bay of poker-only titles in some stores," Mr. Herbert said.
Among the favorites, whose prices range from about $20 to $35, are "Doyle Brunson's Super System" and books written by well-known pros. "Reading a book from them is probably the next best thing to playing a game of cards with them," Mr. Herbert said.
Howard Lederer also believes in letting poker fans mingle with the pros. He has just finished being the host of "Howard Lederer's No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em Poker Fantasy Camp" in Las Vegas. For $3,500, which included hotel accommodations at the MGM Grand, two dinners and a show, participants received five hours' worth of seminars with top poker money winners, as well as the chance to participate in two casino tournaments. More than twice as many people signed up for this year's event as for his first event last year.
Johnny Marinacci and his business partner, Mike Scelza, who recently served as consultants for the poker-themed film "Lucky You," starring Robert Duvall, have also seen requests for their expertise increase. "We're very in demand," said Mr. Marinacci, who has also consulted - and had a bit role - on "The Sopranos." The two men give private lessons for $100 an hour and have offered group instruction at forums as diverse as corporate meetings and bar mitzvahs.
Subscriptions to Card Player magazine have also soared, to more than 30,000 today from 3,000 in 2001, said its chief executive, Jeff Shulman. A one-year subscription of 26 issues costs $40; the cover price of an issue is $4.95.
While many people participate in poker as a social activity, experts say some players can develop a dangerous addiction to gambling.
"The more it's part of the culture, the greater the number of people that get pulled into it," said Richard J. Frances, a clinical professor of psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine and editor of "Clinical Textbook of Addictive Disorders," whose latest edition (Guilford Press, 2005) has a new chapter on gambling. "For some, the stakes begin to get very high, and it becomes part of a whole lifestyle of betting." Part of the problem, he said, is that people see their own abilities mirrored in the big winners and think that they will have similar success. "The guy who's winning may be somebody with a 180 I.Q. who really is a superexpert," Dr. Frances said.
For companies selling poker-related products, returns have been good - so far. Mehran Mikail, sales director for Global Sources USA, a year-and-a-half-old company in Roswell, Ga. Mr. Mikail and his business partner formed the company in late 2003 after they saw the category exploding on eBay and elsewhere. In 2004, he said, it racked up $2 million in revenue.
But the proliferation of competing companies has had an effect.
"Prices have dropped dramatically," said Mr. Mikail, who explained that a chip set that sold for about $120 in the 2003 holiday season sold for less than $50 a year later. He believes that prices will stabilize once weaker companies drop out, he said, and he expressed optimism for the category over the long term.
"Anyone who starts playing poker never quits," he said. "People who played 20 and 30 years ago still play. It's a social event."
By COELI CARR
ABOUT a year and a half ago, Jeff Cook, a Houston firefighter, poured a slab for a 12-by-16 structure in his backyard in Spring, Tex., a Houston suburb. The stand-alone room he built atop it has a phone line, air-conditioning, a cable television connection and a stereo system. Its outside light, when on, is an invitation to stop by.
"If we do a big tournament, everybody brings chips," said Mr. Cook, who is married and has infant twin daughters. He was not referring to the potato, corn or nacho varieties, but to the plastic or clay-composite kind used for playing poker. Mr. Cook has built what he and neighbors affectionately call "the card shed," and although the table seats only seven, the room allows him impromptu "casino nights." "It's all here, basically," he said.
Mr. Cook built his house of cards to last, and most specialists expect similar longevity for today's poker craze. Having already spawned many poker-related enterprises, the phenomenon shows no sign of abating - certainly not if Steven Lipscomb, founder and chief executive of WPT Enterprises, has anything to say about it.
"Poker had been on television for years, but nobody watched it and nobody cared," said Mr. Lipscomb, who came up with the idea of letting viewers see what the face-down, or "hole," cards were, betting that this would provide a lot more small-screen poker drama. Convinced that he had a winning concept, he raised the requisite millions of dollars himself, and in 2003 the Travel Channel introduced the show, called "World Poker Tour," featuring the popular game called Texas Hold 'Em. The program's debut, with hole cards visible to viewers, coincided with the growing popularity of online poker. The show now draws two million to five million viewers a week, both experienced players and neophytes.
And Mr. Lipscomb, anticipating consumer demand for products bearing what he calls a "poker lifestyle brand," entered the world of licensing.
His licensed products for the World Poker Tour - chips and tables, but also cards, games and apparel - are sold in stores and online. Folding tables sell at Wal-Mart for $100. At Sam's Club, tables cost $500 to $700; chip sets in wooden boxes sell for $100, and a silver tournament set with 300 chips and two decks of cards has a $60 price tag. The new "millionaire's set" sells for $400 on the company's Web site and at some retailers.
Mr. Lipscomb's company had licensing revenue of $1.9 million in the last quarter. "We've seen tremendous growth, quarter to quarter," he said. "It's been very interesting to watch people's appetites become more sophisticated, such as a desire for weighted ceramic chips, like the ones used at casinos."
His best-selling 2004 holiday product was Jakks Pacific TV Games World Poker Tour, a $25 plug-and-play video game, and he is also involved with the marketing for cellphone games through an agreement with the Mforma Group, a wireless company.
"Our research shows that people want to play like the pros, with all the accessories," said Scott Kling, vice president for sales and marketing at the United States Playing Card Company, a World Poker Tour licensee. The company creates official cards, chips, poker sets and foldable poker-table tops. It also produces its own biggest-selling Bicycle brand, as well as the Bee, Aviator and Kem lines; Kem decks sold early this year at Harrod's in London for £48 for a two-pack, or about $44 a deck. Bicycle brand cards cost $2.25 to $4.99 a deck, and Target stores recently introduced powder-blue and powder-pink decks, geared to women.
Not surprisingly, those who sell products and services that help poker lovers improve their game are also thriving.
"I could pursue baseball for the rest of my life, but I'm never going to hit a home run against a major-league pitcher," said Joshua Malina, an executive producer of " Celebrity Poker Showdown," which started in 2003 on Bravo and draws nearly a million viewers. But poker players who develop their skills, he said, might realistically compete with the game's legends.
Jules Herbert, a buyer for Barnes & Noble, said poker book sales increased 84 percent from 2003 to 2004. "Our stores have gone from one or two shelves of poker and gambling titles to a full bay of poker-only titles in some stores," Mr. Herbert said.
Among the favorites, whose prices range from about $20 to $35, are "Doyle Brunson's Super System" and books written by well-known pros. "Reading a book from them is probably the next best thing to playing a game of cards with them," Mr. Herbert said.
Howard Lederer also believes in letting poker fans mingle with the pros. He has just finished being the host of "Howard Lederer's No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em Poker Fantasy Camp" in Las Vegas. For $3,500, which included hotel accommodations at the MGM Grand, two dinners and a show, participants received five hours' worth of seminars with top poker money winners, as well as the chance to participate in two casino tournaments. More than twice as many people signed up for this year's event as for his first event last year.
Johnny Marinacci and his business partner, Mike Scelza, who recently served as consultants for the poker-themed film "Lucky You," starring Robert Duvall, have also seen requests for their expertise increase. "We're very in demand," said Mr. Marinacci, who has also consulted - and had a bit role - on "The Sopranos." The two men give private lessons for $100 an hour and have offered group instruction at forums as diverse as corporate meetings and bar mitzvahs.
Subscriptions to Card Player magazine have also soared, to more than 30,000 today from 3,000 in 2001, said its chief executive, Jeff Shulman. A one-year subscription of 26 issues costs $40; the cover price of an issue is $4.95.
While many people participate in poker as a social activity, experts say some players can develop a dangerous addiction to gambling.
"The more it's part of the culture, the greater the number of people that get pulled into it," said Richard J. Frances, a clinical professor of psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine and editor of "Clinical Textbook of Addictive Disorders," whose latest edition (Guilford Press, 2005) has a new chapter on gambling. "For some, the stakes begin to get very high, and it becomes part of a whole lifestyle of betting." Part of the problem, he said, is that people see their own abilities mirrored in the big winners and think that they will have similar success. "The guy who's winning may be somebody with a 180 I.Q. who really is a superexpert," Dr. Frances said.
For companies selling poker-related products, returns have been good - so far. Mehran Mikail, sales director for Global Sources USA, a year-and-a-half-old company in Roswell, Ga. Mr. Mikail and his business partner formed the company in late 2003 after they saw the category exploding on eBay and elsewhere. In 2004, he said, it racked up $2 million in revenue.
But the proliferation of competing companies has had an effect.
"Prices have dropped dramatically," said Mr. Mikail, who explained that a chip set that sold for about $120 in the 2003 holiday season sold for less than $50 a year later. He believes that prices will stabilize once weaker companies drop out, he said, and he expressed optimism for the category over the long term.
"Anyone who starts playing poker never quits," he said. "People who played 20 and 30 years ago still play. It's a social event."