New Poker Show Places Everyday People Alongside Professional Poker Players

Poker was a game accessible only in casino hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada or from electronic poker machines, but now it is more widespread than ever in Las Vegas, Nevada thanks to the the internet.

The famous Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino, is now banking on this popularity with its new audience-participation show called “The Real Deal!” in its Venetian Showroom, debuting in October.

This new idea will merge comedy and game show elements to entertain its live audience. The audience will also be able to join in the popular game of Texas Holdem’ alongside the world’s best poker players. There will be prizes for the audience including a chance to win 1$ million.

In “The Real Deal!” the audience will play with players like Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu. Around 10 professional players have already signed up for the poker game show. The audience will be able to play along with the 90 minute game thanks to handheld, wireless, touch screen devices located on each seat.

"People who come to Vegas casinos want to play poker,” Negreanu says, "but obviously they can't play in a big game with the players such as Doyle or Phil Hellmuth. But, in this show, they actually can.” At the beginning of each show, six audience members will be chosen to sit at the poker table on stage with two pros. Each audience member is then involved in the action by being dealt a unique hand on their devices. Everyone in the showroom is then involved in the action with big-screen monitors located on stage.

The show’s creators say that you don’t have to be a pro poker player to take part in the poker game. There are other ways to increase your point total, that doesn’t involve poker necessarily. Betting on the suit of the next poker card or trying to guess which state a particular audience member is from, are just some of the ways to come out a poker champion in this game.

The shows producers are also placing bets on the personalities of the pro poker players to create some interesting moments. People like Scotty Nguyen, the flamboyant five-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, definitely has an idea how to entertain the crowd and will provide some great entertainment in this TV poker game show .

Actors and Celebrity Poker Players Fight for New Poker Laws

Shortly after the start of last week’s charity poker tournament to support the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Ben Affleck goes all-in with a flop of Ace-Nine-King and two diamonds. He flinches when two of his challengers call the bet. He yells “Re-buy”, but the turn is a seven of hearts. Affleck is disappointed when a jack of diamonds is dealt on the river. He took the hand seriously even though there was no actual cash at stake. This is just the kind of thing that Affleck and several other online poker enthusiasts are petitioning for.

Over $100,000 was raised for the paralyzed victims, but this was not the only function of the celebrity poker tournament held in Coors Field. Members of the Poker Players Alliance are working very hard to legalize online poker in the United States. As part of their agenda, they are pushing to repeal the 2006 legislation Congress passed which bans U.S. Banks and credit card companies from processing transactions related to online poker websites.

John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, is optimistic about the direction that the new congress will lead this decision. Pappas says that the alliance is pushing for a licensed industry, just for internet poker, and not for all internet gambling. Pappas is interested in having a safe, regulated industry that all Americans can enjoy. The group is fighting for the rights of people and the privacy they deserve in their own home.

"There are misconceptions about poker and about online poker," poker pro Andy Bloch said in between hands during the charity celebrity poker game. "Some people think that online poker is gambling like a slot machine, and it's not."