The poker craze is hotter than ever. ESPN has opened the door to the mainstream audience for the game with televised tournaments and a North Carolina company is betting on its success.
Summus, Inc. is raising the stakes when it comes to the poker craze. The Raleigh-based company designs games and other applications for mobile telephones. What has put them on the map is a new version of Texas Hold'em by Phil Hellmuth.
It's available on 30 different handsets on the carriers of Verizon and Alltel. Summus CEO Gary Ban said ESPN has brought the games to players of all ages who can now take advantage of it with their cell phones.
"Poker is not just a game for the older crowd anymore,” Ban said. “The young crowd is playing it now. The high school kids and the grade school kids... my seven-year-old daughter plays our game on the handset as well and actually does very well."
The name Phil Hellmuth is popular to so many because he's the nine-time World Series of Poker champion. And Summus is cashing in on his fame. Summus is so certain of prospects they recently shot their first television commercial with him and their cell phone game.
"We couldn't have partnered with a better brand than with Phil Hellmuth,” Ban continued. “He is the rock star of poker and the poker craze really started with ESPN and being able to see the hold cards on the table. It really turned poker into a spectator sport. So we looked at developing the game about a year and a half ago and came up with the multi-player aspect and felt that playing head to head against one another was really a unique thing for the company. "
To make sure their applications are at the top of their game, techs go over all of the latest handsets every day.
"We test all the applications here at Summus,” explained Bob Krzywicki. “We have numerous test guides that we go through everyday, point by point checking numerous things on the phone. So if the phone doesn't reboot we want to get you the information as fast as possible."
Poker is the most popular application for Summus but it's not the only thing they offer. They've partnered with the Wall Street Journal and several others to bring customers the latest news, entertainment, sports and games. People are demanding more out of their cell phones and Summus is betting they can deliver.
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