AUTHOR: Jerry "Jet" Whittaker
TITLE: Why NBC calls poker a sport
DATE: 4:04 AM
-----
BODY:
<p class="mobile-post">Right there, across the menu bar at NBCSports.com. Poker. Just to the right
of "Sunday Night Football." Must have something to do with the announcement
that for the next 52 weeks, six nights a week, the network will broadcast
"Poker After Dark."  The shows will be hosted by Shana Hiatt, "The goddess
of poker," according to the Web site. A news release described the venture:
"Set in the back room of various casinos on the Vegas strip, 'Poker After
Dark' gives viewers an intimate look inside a poker game usually reserved
for the eyes of the professional poker players themselves." The shows are
being produced Eric Drache  and Mori Eskandani, two pro players.  The site
already has lots of video, and links to an online poker game where you can
vie for a seat at a national tournament. You can bet the site will also have
highlights from the weekly games, and maybe a podcast. iTunes has nearly 70
poker shows in its podcast directory. Players who win the weekly "Poker
After Dark" contests will take home $120,000, which may well be enough to
get some of the game's big names in the games. All in all, sounds like a
seven-card-stud-fueled version of the World Wrestling Federation, which
managed to bond "athletes" and the managers to create pots of gold.</p>
--------