Is Hub flush with aces? Rivalry spawns poker series

By Greg Gatlin
Friday, January 14, 2005 H igh-stakes poker lovers and Yankee-haters, it's time to ante up.


In the latest incarnation of the television poker craze, the New England Sports Network and the YES network in New York plan to bring the Red Sox-Yankee rivalry to the poker table.


Six players from Boston will be picked to square off against six players from the Big Apple for a Partypoker.net sponsored Boston vs. New York Poker Challenge, a nine-episode original series slated to be shot in February and air in the spring on the two cable sports networks.


And instead of keeping the usual poker face and checked emotions, players will be expected to talk some smack to opponents on the other side.


Casting agents will be holding casting calls next week in both cities, looking for players who have what local casting director Angela Peri calls ``the three p's.''


``We're looking for people with poker ability, passion for sports, and personality,'' Peri said.


Players also have to have money. It will cost $5,000 to buy into the no-limit Texas Hold 'Em game. In addition to prize money, the winner gets 10 tickets to a luxury suite at either Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium.


``They can't just have the $5,000 and want to get in on the game,'' Peri said. ``We need real poker players and people who really love the Red Sox.''


These days it's hard to flip through cable channels without stumbling onto a poker game. The Travel Channel has the ``World Poker Tour.'' Fox Sports has the `` Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament'' ESPN runs the ``2004 World Series of Poker'' and the new ``Tilt'' poker drama.


Ashley Adams, a local poker expert and tutor, says the card game's renaissance has been sparked by a full house of factors, including the rise of Internet poker sites. He said American Indian-run casinos brought poker to people who hadn't seen it.


``Two years ago, the introduction of the poker camera into this country, which had already been used in England, allowed for live coverage of poker games in a way that people found interesting,'' Adams said.


While it would seem like a boring spectator sport on the surface, the inherent drama of poker , combined with wagering psychology, provides the excitement, he said.


``There's also something quintessentially American about the game,'' he said. ``It combines skill, luck and, for lack of a better term, moxie.''


Peri's Boston Casting will hold auditions next Tuesday and recommends interested players visit its Bostoncasting.com Web site for information.


She also plans to look for candidates at a poker tournament at The Place on Broad Street Monday night.