Poker Has Arrived at SKYCITY |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
21 November 2005
Poker Has Arrived at SKYCITY
The king of card games, poker, is arriving at SKYCITY Auckland from today (21 November 2005).
The Poker Zone (level 3, SKYCITY Auckland) starts up today, featuring the internationally renowned ‘Texas Holdem’ poker game.
SKYCITY Auckland’s introduction of poker follows an international resurgence in the game of skill, fuelled by blockbuster movies and televised poker tournaments.
“Around the world, poker’s popularity has taken off,” says Greg Hawkins, General Manager Gaming, SKYCITY.
“As the country’s largest gaming and entertainment venue, we want to be able to provide our customers with a wide range of gaming and entertainment options. “Demand for poker is huge - our customers say they want it here,” he says.
There will be four poker tables taking a maximum of 10 players each in the Poker Zone, which will open daily from 7pm until late. Stakes start from $2 and players play against each other – not the casino or the dealer - to win the pot.
To create some atmosphere sunglasses and visors will be allowed – but only by players in the Poker Zone.
Registration to play poker is essential. All persons must register in person on the day and will be called in order when their turn to play is up. For players waiting in line for a turn, or just wanting to have a look, there is standing room around the Poker Zone.
SKYCITY’s South Australian property, SKYCITY Adelaide, launched “Texas Holdem” Poker earlier this year. SKYCITY Queenstown Casino and SKYCITY Hamilton are also soon to launch poker.
For further information, or instructions on how to play see www.skycity.co.nz (Auckland, Casinos, Poker) or pick up a learn to play brochure from SKYCITY.
About poker:
Poker is a game of skill. The object of the game is to win the pot by forming the highest ranked fivecard poker hand or have all the other players surrender the pot to you by folding to your bet.
Hold 'em first caught the public eye as a spectator sport in the United Kingdom with the Late Night Poker TV show in 1999. The popularity of the show led to Phil Hellmuth competing in season 3 of the program and helping to spread the idea of lipstick cameras to an American audience.
In 2003, hold 'em exploded in popularity as a spectator sport in the United States. This was due to several factors, including the introduction of lipstick cameras that allowed the television audience to see the players' hidden cards. ESPN's coverage of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) featured the unexpected victory of Internet player Chris Moneymaker (his real name), an amateur player who gained admission to the tournament by winning a series of online tournaments. Two additional hold 'em series debuted in 2003, the "World Poker Tour" (abbreviated WPT) and "Celebrity Poker Showdown". All three of these shows are still currently (as of 2005) in production and garner a large and loyal viewership.
With the ability to edit a tournament that may last days into just a few hours, ESPN's World Series of Poker focuses on showing how various star players fared in each event. Key hands from throughout the many days of each event are shown, and similar, highly edited coverage of final tables is also provided.
The World Poker Tour does not offer general coverage of the multi-day poker tournaments. Instead, WPT covers only the action at the final table of each event. With aggressive play and increasing blinds and antes, the important action from a single table can easily be edited into a two hour episode. Although the tournament fate of fewer stars are chronicled this way, it allows the drama to build more naturally toward the final heads up showdown.
Celebrity Poker Showdown coverage is a single table like World Poker Tour, however, the players are invited to participate instead of winning their way on. Because the players are much less skilled and aggressive, significant editing is often done to trim the action to fit the broadcast time. And some Poker Forums and stuff.