Turning Stone Is A Draw For Poker-Faced Competitors
The high-stakes poker hands on TV will be a hit like never before at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in New York this week. It will be the first time the Tour Finals will be broadcast live on national television.
Jason DiBenedetto, the casino's poker room manager, believes that TV poker's popularity is already skyrocketing through live broadcasts.
"It makes poker a sport similar to other sports and allows you to play as it happens," he said.
Up to 108 players will participate in the "No-limit Hold'em" tournament, which starts at noon today. Players paid a $10,000 "buy-in" fee to secure a spot in the tournament. The six-player final will air Wednesday at 6 p.m. on Fox Sports Net, and the winner will be allowed to leave with $500,000 in cash.
As part of the live broadcast, Fox will introduce a computer-based card reader system that instantly displays players' cards on television. The new technology will eliminate the need for "picker" cameras, which are usually necessary to view players' cards, DiBenedetto said.
The promise of a televised final helped attract famous players, including Chris Moneymaker, the 2003 Poker World Series champion.
Fayetteville's Al Crooks, who finished sixth in the 2004 World Poker Series, is looking forward to the event but acknowledges that the competition will be fierce.
"This tournament at Turning Stone will feature some of the best players," said Crooks, who has been a professional for about 35 years. "I bet there will be 30 to 40 of the best players in the world, maybe there will be more."
Meanwhile, Peter Giordano, a professional poker player from Liverpool, thinks poker is attractive to the mainstream audience because it is a game that anyone can play. "People started looking at it and saying, 'I can do it,'" he said.
Giordano, who has won several Internet tournaments, knows that competition is bound to be fierce in Turning Stone. However, he is confident that he has as many chances as anyone to make it to a televised final and a big win. 바카라사이트 추천
"I can't beat Michael Jordan by playing basketball. I can't beat Tiger Woods by playing him," he said. "But I got the card and I was lucky, so I can play against the best poker players in the world and beat them."