PokerTalk Radio
with Cactus Jack

1. Why a poker talk radio show?

Everywhere I go these days, people are talking about poker. They have seen the reruns of the World Series of Poker in 2003 and 2004, gotten online, played a few hands, and got hooked. Or there buddies at work are talking about it. Or they've seen the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel or Celebrity Poker on Bravo. I wouldn't be surprised if someone such as the founder of the World Poker Tour doesn't start a cable-channel of nothing but Poker, similar to the Golf Channel. They said a channel devoted solely to golf wouldn't work. They were wrong. Who thought the World Poker Tour would be the highest rated program on The Travel Channel?

When I tell people I play poker, they want to talk about it. They'll see me with a book and they want to talk about it. They stand around the dog track and talk about it. (I heard about the tournaments at the track when I was standing in line at the credit union!)

It's the hottest new topic going right now.

2. Why is poker so popular? Isn't it just a fad?

I really don't think so. People love to play games. Years ago, people were crazy for Bridge. There are still people who actually make a living playing Bridge, still. But, no one plays Bridge anymore. It's a hard game to learn how to play.

People love sports. Many grow up competing in some sport. Or they've played games their whole lives. People love competition. But there are very few sports that anyone can play. Anyone can play poker! Women can compete equally with men, sometimes even beating the men at the same table. Teens are playing poker in record numbers. Most of the people I play against online are under the age of thirty. Once a person gets a taste of the game, they love it.

It will get bigger than it is now. You think you've seen it explode? Just wait.

What really makes this a great idea is the demographics.

As I said above, most of those who play online are under thirty. Many lie about their age. There are 15 year old kids out there who are playing winning poker. (Yes, there are also teens out there losing their allowances, but they are also the ones who are learning, fast.)

More women than ever are being attracted to the sport. Can we call it a sport? Why not. It has competition, you can keep score and you have ESPN behind it. I haven't seen the ratings, but I'd bet that the reruns of the WSOP do very well, indeed.

Poker is no longer a backroom game played by guys smoking cigars with three-day growths of beard. It's now played by doctors and lawyers and real estate agents and airline pilots. I know. I've played with them.

3. Isn't poker all luck?

Well, the more I study and play and work at it, the luckier I get.

Let's say you know nothing about Texas Hold 'Em or 7 Card Stud. If we play one hand, you may win. You might simply get better cards than I get. However, if we play 100 hands, I'm probably going to win more than you win. If we play a thousand hands, I'm going to have all your money.

4. Who would call in?

Anyone who hears about it, believe me. There are 180 players in the tournaments on Monday and Tues nights. David knows how packed the poker room is down there. There are home games all over town every night of the week.

5. What will you talk about for two hours every week?

First, it's more like 48 minutes. And, you have never heard me talk.

Aside from that, all things poker. Whatever the audience wants to talk about. It's their show; I'm just hosting. We're going to have the Bad Beat of the Week, Poker Tips for Chips, Who's on First?--talking about tournament pros. We'll get interviews with pros. I've got a dealer who is really funny and will cohost on occasion. Other players will sit in. We're going to do some Shooting Stars as part of the regular tournaments at the dog track. (Me and others will wear ESPN tshirts and anyone who knocks us out wins prizes.)

In time, we'll have more than we have time for.

I hope to keep the monologues to a bare minimum. They are getting way out of hand on sports talk radio. Sometimes it feels there is more time devoted to the host's ego than to sports. The callers are third. The listeners dead last. We're going to be trying to stay as close to the listeners as we can. That said, I'm going to do a monologue at the top of each hour which I hope will be entertaining as well as enlightening. Subjects such as LUCK, Surviving your first attempts, Online vs. Live, Information on the Internet, Reading and Winning, etc.

It's a start.

I told my friend a few months ago and I really believe it - within the next year, we'll be hearing of a poker channel on tv. It gets huge ratings, even on repeats of repeats and there are so many events being televised that they have enough to cover a consistent broadcast.

"To lead a parade, find a parade and get in front of it." Old Chinese Proverb

IN the UK a Poker Channel has already launched - available to all Sky users

...and the whole Poker on TV idea started over there. It's about time you guys got back in the lead in herding society in the direction it should be going! I think we Colonials are out of fresh ideas. You had to do something, after we sent you Baywatch.


CJ