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Minneapolis, MN, Sep. 23 -- Poker may prove to be a
winner beyond the million-dollar Las Vegas Texas Holdem
poker tournament games seen on television.
Retailers, hoping to cash in on the popularity of the
rich-pot games on TV, are stocking up on tables, chips
and other poker gear. Casinos and card clubs are making
room for poker tables while more tournaments show up on
TV.
Bob
Stevenson, manager of All-American Recreation in
Bloomington, Minn., says he sells five to six poker
tables per week at $299 and up with deluxe chip sets at
$129.
"Two
years ago, we wouldn't have sold a one," Stevenson told
the Star-Tribune. "People wouldn't have been interested
at all."
At a
Minneapolis-area racetrack, card games now bring in more
revenue than horseracing, with poker income up 50
percent from a year ago.
"There's a little bit of an awkward feeling to the card
club being more than half of our revenue and driving the
growth of the company," says Canterbury Racetrack and
Card Club president Randy Sampson. "But in the end, they
work well together."
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