TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

"Before our show aired, there was no interest in (televised) poker," says Lipscomb, founder and CEO of the World Poker Tour. "Poker had been airing for years, but it was so poorly done that neither you nor I would want to watch it."

Lipscomb believed, however, that there was an untapped market in the 50 million-plus estimated Americans who regularly play poker. In spring 2002, he entered into a joint venture with Lakes Entertainment Inc., whose founder and CEO, Lyle Berman, is a Hall of Fame poker player. Then Lipscomb set about signing up 12 high-stakes tournaments held at casinos around the world and united them under the World Poker Tour banner.

Before signing with a network, though, Lipscomb had asked for certain concessions: To build an audience, he wanted a regular time slot and no less than two hours a week. The Travel Channel agreed, and Discovery Networks president Billy Campbell greenlighted 13 episodes of the series "before he saw one piece of tape," Lipscomb says.

Rick Rodriguez, executive vp and general manager at the Travel Channel, admits that the network took a gamble when it signed on to air the show. "Basically, management rolled the dice and decided to do it, but no one expected it to do as well as it has done," he says. "It's given us a buzz the network has never had."

Lipscomb, however, was confident from the beginning. "I had turned down a number of great shows to do this," he says. "The only reason I would do that was if I knew I could create a universe and the viewers would come."

And they did. The first season averaged 790,000 total viewers, while the second, which premiered March 3, is doubling that figure, with an average of 1.5 million, according to Nielsen Media Research. That's as much as 200%-300% higher than the average for other Travel Channel programs, which also are getting a boost as a result of the show's success, Rodriguez says.

What Lipscomb brought to the table, literally, with the "WPT" series were his patent-pending WPT Cams: He uses up to 17 cameras for each tournament, including some that allow viewers to get the ultimate glimpse of the action, the players' hole, or their face-down cards.

"I had to put you in the seat and let you look at the cards at the same time as the players," he says. "It adds a voyeuristic element and allows you to be in the game, so you don't miss out on the human drama."

The ability to see the hole cards makes the game intriguing, but that's not all, says "WPT" co-commentator Mike Sexton, who calls the series exciting, entertaining and educational. "You can't become a better football player by watching the NFL every Sunday, but you can become a better poker player by watching the 'World Poker Tour,' " he says.

Sexton credits Lipscomb for turning poker programming into appointment viewing. "In the past, no one even knew when poker was on," he says. "Now, Wednesday night is poker night."

Other networks also are raising the stakes for poker viewers. ESPN, for example, has been airing World Series of Poker specials since 1994 but only last year began producing its own shows.

"A year and a half ago, if asked what the next big thing for ESPN was going to be, I don't think anyone would have said poker," says Mike Antinoro, senior coordinating producer at ESPN Original Entertainment. ESPN's telecast of the 2003 World Series of Poker championship earned a 1.9 household rating, with 1.9 million viewers tuning in.

Antinoro says poker draws viewers because of the high stakes as well as the fact that it's one of the few games in which amateurs can compete alongside the pros. Not everyone can play against Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour, but the aptly named Chris Moneymaker, a poker amateur who won his way into the 2003 World Series of Poker championship by playing online, ended up taking home the $2.5 million purse.

The pros themselves, however, were initially hesitant about the "WPT" show. Says Annie Duke, who's been paying the family bills with her winnings for the past 10 years: "A player likes to keep the hole cards close to the vest, so I didn't want people finding out how I play," she says. But now, Duke uses the program to her benefit: She records episodes to study her competition -- plus, she's also a big fan.

Both Duke and Jennifer Harman, who has won two world championships, say their lives have changed dramatically since the explosion of televised poker. Both are getting recognized and asked for autographs more often. But Harman doesn't mind; she's just happy the game is getting more exposure. "Everyone is so intrigued with poker," she says. "To be able to help people out and show them that people actually make money at the game is pretty cool."

That intrigue with poker appears to be growing. At Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of people playing the game since televised poker took off, says Nancy Friedman, the casino's advertising/marketing/entertainment manager. Commerce, a charter member of the World Poker Tour, has seen a 10%-15% increase in its poker business since the show's first season, Friedman says. "People walk in wanting to see 'the game that's played on television,' " she adds.

Poker's surge has even led to some bold decisions by networks to take on other sports programming. In February, the Travel Channel and WPT partnered with NBC to air "The Travel Channel World Poker Tour Battle of Champions" on Super Bowl Sunday.

Jonathan Miller, senior vp programming at NBC Sports, says the peacock had found success with the National Dog Show broadcast opposite the NFL on Thanksgiving, which led to the idea that "we didn't need to be afraid" of football. Nevertheless, "we aired opposite the pregame, not the game," he says. "We're bold, but we're not stupid."

Despite airing against the biggest TV event of the year, the two-hour broadcast exceeded the network's expectations in drawing 9.5 million viewers, Miller says.

Fox Sports Net also challenged Thanksgiving football last year with poker with its broadcast of "Showdown at the Sands."

"We felt that Thanksgiving was a good day to try a stunt, and we felt poker would be OK against football," says George Greenberg, executive vp programming and production at FSN.

The six-hour telecast's average 0.4 household rating was up a whopping 167% over the same period in 2002, and the series has performed even better in repeat airings, which proves the format's resiliency, Greenberg says. "It's a programmer's delight," he says. FSN also airs a half-hour version of the British series "Late Night Poker."

Bravo, meanwhile, has wooed such famous faces as Ben Affleck and Don Cheadle to its "Celebrity Poker Showdown." But the celebrities aren't the only draw, says Bryan Scott, the show's executive producer. "People tune in with the idea of watching celebrities, and then they get hooked on poker," he says.

For the foreseeable future, poker appears set to remain a winning hand for broadcast and cable outlets. Travel Channel has a deal with the WPT for a third season, NBC is planning another broadcast for next year's Super Bowl Sunday, while ESPN has upped its coverage of the World Series of Poker from seven hours to 22, starting June 8. Cable's GSN (formerly Game Show Network) is even betting that viewers will tune in for a different game of skill and chance with its new "The World Series of Blackjack."

As long as there is drama in the cards and stakes for the players, viewers will tune in, Lipscomb says. "We're telling a story about the about human condition, translating the human condition to the extreme," he says. "That's why people sit on the edge of their chairs when watching. In every moment with every hand, there's $1 million on the line. It doesn't get any better than that."