Producer gambles on poker TV show

Wasilla, Alaska - TEXAS HOLD 'EM: Alaska's strict gaming laws put him on a fine line.

Texas Hold 'em poker may be the parlor game of the decade, but will viewers tune in to watch local players go head to head on the flop, the turn and the river?

Lazy Mountain Television producer Bob Elyard thinks so. Elyard plans to air the first "Alaska Poker Showcase" show on local access Channel 303 at the end of the month.

He said he envisions a weekly 10-table setup in which the winners from each table face off in a televised battle for a chance to win a ticket to the big time: a trip to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

"This is something I've been wanting to do all my life in broadcasting," Elyard said. "To set out and do something beyond the norm is exciting."

There's no doubt the show would liven up Lazy Mountain TV's current lineup of round-the-clock weather updates and televised meetings of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly. But could it be a hit?

Alaska has hosted game show auditions, been a backdrop for a few game show segments and is home to numerous game show contestants. But the state has limited experience with its own game shows.

Back in the days of RATNET, the Rural Alaska Television Network that beamed television shows into 248 Bush villages before shutting down in 1995, there was a local game show called "Ask an Alaskan." Taped in Bethel, the Alaska fact show aired in the early 1990s. It was described as a cross between "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune," and included a Yupik version.

Elyard's concept is more along the lines of "World Poker Tour" than "Jeopardy."

Like other televised poker games, Elyard said, the show would have commentary on why which player did what, breakdowns of odds for different moves and that kind of thing. He's working with some local Texas Hold 'em experts who will do the commentary, he said.

Elyard said the games won't be televised live. They'll be filmed, commentary will be cut in and then they'll be broadcast on LMTV a few times a week.

Strategically located cameras will show viewers the cards each player is holding, he said. He and his producer, whose name he said he isn't yet ready to announce, are buying cameras and are in the process of choosing a Valley venue, he said.

Elyard said he might make the show available to other stations. But for now he plans to air it only on Channel 303 on Matanuska Telephone Association's digital TV lineup. Non-MTA subscribers can catch it online later this year, when Elyard gets the Internet simulcast up and running, he said.

Alaska Poker Association president Wayne McGregor said he hasn't heard of Elyard's plan and isn't involved with the television show. But he's for anything that's good for poker, he said.

McGregor's group began five years ago with fewer than 100 members. Now his membership is close to 800 and shows little sign of slowing down, he said. He's working to make poker an official charity fundraising event in Alaska, like pull-tabs currently are, he said.

"We have politicians who see the word 'poker' related to gambling and see it as political suicide," McGregor said. "I've spent the last five years trying to get away from the stigma of it being a 'smoky, backroom hustler' type of thing. Look at the demographics. I have everything from college students to 80-year-old grandmothers playing with me. It's universally popular."

But Alaska gaming laws are strict and Elyard, like the Alaska Poker Association, may have to walk a fine line to not run afoul of state gambling laws.

The Poker Association has members and $25 yearly dues but anyone can participate in its games, McGregor said. Records of points won and lost are only kept for members, he said. The members with the highest points in each region come to Anchorage for an end-of-season tournament. The key, he said, is that the games are free.

"Anyone can play in our free venues," McGregor said. "If it's not free to play, it's illegal."

"Free means free," said Alaska Alcohol Beverage Control Board director Doug Griffin. That means no cover charge, no drink minimum, no food purchase required, he said.

Griffin said three key elements make up illegal gambling. There's consideration, which could be money paid upfront to play or a bet wagered. Then there's the payoff, or the prizes players try to get. Finally, there's the element of chance, which Griffin said is present in any kind of card game. A game can contain two of those things, but not all three.

Pool tournaments and dart games are legal because they're considered a game of skill, not a game of chance, Griffin said. But with cards, particularly Texas Hold 'em, part of the allure is the idea that a good player can get a bad hand or a rookie can be dealt good cards and beat a veteran.

"It is the great equalizer," McGregor said. "At any time, anyone can beat anyone at Texas Hold 'em. There's no other sport that does that."

Griffin's agency watches closely for gambling where alcohol is served. Griffin said he likes elements of the poker trend, particularly that it encourages people in bars to be social and that it provides entertainment "besides seeing how much alcohol they can consume." But the game has to be aboveboard or it'll get shut down. It's a fairness issue, he said.

Elyard said he thinks he's got the legal details in hand. Contestants won't play for money, but for prizes distributed based on points, he said. He's basing the game off what he's seen happening around the state.

"I know there have been poker games at various hotels around the state," he said. "My idea was, well, if they're having these games, why can't we just get together and videotape one of them?"

News Added: 14 September, 2007

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