Casinos rushing to open card rooms to keep up with new demand

August 23

Just a few short years ago many casinos across the U.S. were closing their card rooms to make way for the more popular (and money making) slot machines.

But the highly unlikely event in 2003 of a 27-year-old accountant, who beat some of the world's best professional players on national television, has sent the nation into a poker frenzy. You would be surprised at who's watching too. Celebrities now have tournaments, TV has these showdowns playing all the time, and the new phenomenon is attracting a younger crowd as well. You can bet most casinos are looking to cash in, and cash in quick.

Some say it all started when a guy named Chris Moneymaker won a $40 Texas Hold 'Em poker tourney  on the Internet, which then allowed him to play in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, then he went on and outplayed a diverse cast of players to win a cool $2.5 million.

It is highly suggested that when the World Poker Tour got into TV and used that outlet to show every aspect of each player's hand that everything just exploded from there. People anywhere and everywhere now had access to watching these great player's in action, and they could see what they were holding in there hand. Being such a competitive country in general has to help too.

Harrah's has cashed in on the new poker popularity by purchasing Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas earlier in the year, and with it, the rights to the World Series of Poker. Thompson said Harrah's, which owns 28 casinos nationwide, recently opened poker rooms at three of its Midwestern casinos. It plans to add four more at other casinos.

Harrah's has capitalized on Moneymaker's star status by giving poker players all over the nation a shot at competing against the former world champion. He frequently plays at many locations.

Many of Harrah's billboards near interstate highways in Kansas City feature up-close pictures of Moneymaker during the most intense moments of the 2003 tournament.

Harrah's Kansas City casino opened a poker room on July 15, two weeks after the Isle of Capri opened one at its Kansas City parcel. Both casinos had poker rooms when they opened a decade ago, but Harrah's shut its tables down in June 1998, and Isle of Capri closed its room in 2000.

Now, it is said that these are not only re-opened, but packed most nights. Many experts feel that poker has the ability to stay hot too. With new amateur leagues forming, the televised tournaments, and the online gaming boom it is speculated that there is definite staying power.