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Columnist Jeff Haney: How poker player and inventor Henry Orenstein's miniature cameras made the card game a growing spectator sport
Published: 2005-11-16
 Jeff Haney's sports betting column appears Monday, Friday (gaming) and Wednesday (poker). Reach him at (702) 259-4041 or haney@lasvegassun.com.
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When Henry Orenstein first envisioned a miniature camera that could be installed in a poker table to show a player's hidden, or "hole," cards to the audience, televised poker games were little more than a novelty act.
Sure, you could find poker on cable TV in the mid-1990s, but it was usually relegated to a time slot in the middle of the night, alongside wild turkey hunting or the lumberjack competition.
With his invention -- sometimes called a lipstick camera or a "pocket cam" -- Orenstein cleared the way for subsequent TV poker coverage, which much like Secretariat continues to gallop ahead like a tremendous machine.
"It's the reason we see poker the way it's presented today," Orenstein said during a recent visit to Las Vegas.
Viewers have taken the miniature cameras for granted for at least a couple of years. Orenstein's technology, which makes it easier and more enjoyable for the audience to follow the action of the game, has driven the expansive coverage of the World Poker Tour, the World Series of Poker and other made-for-TV events.
The innovation met with a lot of resistance at first, Orenstein said. A decade ago players would tell him that hole cards represented hallowed information that they would never willingly reveal.
But Orenstein, an accomplished inventor who created the Transformers action figures, which are among the best-selling toys in history, knew he had a winner.
Although he couldn't have foreseen the cameras earning a sponsorship from Milwaukee's Best Light -- which happened this year on ESPN's poker coverage -- Orenstein said he always believed his invention would change the way the public perceived competitive poker.
"I remember telling people about the great potential it had," Orenstein, 81, said. "Poker is an exciting game, but without the hole cards, you can't see what's going on. It becomes boring, and not many people were watching it."
Orenstein was in Las Vegas because his production company was filming a new show at the Golden Nugget called "High Stakes Poker," which features well-known professional poker players, along with some celebrities, competing in a no-limit Texas hold 'em cash game.
Miniature cameras, of course, will reveal the players' hole cards.
Most televised poker shows -- including Orenstein's "Poker Superstars Invitational" -- center around a tournament where players pay an entry fee and then compete to win cash prizes by advancing as far as they can. Once they lose all of their chips or "bust out," they're finished. In a cash game, they can reach into their pocket and buy more chips.
The no-limit cash game format -- players had actual Golden Nugget casino chips as well as banded packets of hundred-dollar bills on the table -- should appeal to poker fans when it debuts in January on GSN, The Network for Games (Cox cable channel 344), Orenstein said.
"Remember, when you're watching a poker tournament and see a $200,000 hand, the buy-in (to enter the tournament) was only $10,000," Orenstein said. "Here, it's $200,000 of their real money."
Eight players at a time competed in the no-limit game on a specially constructed set at the Golden Nugget. Included were top professionals Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman, Ted Forrest and Doyle Brunson.
The minimum buy-in was $100,000 for each player, with no maximum. Negreanu, perhaps trying to intimidate his opponents, brought $1 million to the game.
"When you see one of these guys go all-in with $100,000, the question is, 'Can he keep his head on straight if he loses' " said Mori Eskandani, a professional poker player who was coordinating production of the show. "That's 10 times the buy-in for the World Series of Poker."
Orenstein, a survivor of Nazi concentration camps, not only develops poker TV shows, but also fanatically watches them. A successful tournament and cash-game player, he participates frequently in big Atlantic City games.
"Poker is a game that has more components, more factors, than any other game," he said. "You have to have patience and not go crazy after a loss. You have to have a good memory and be a good mathematician. You have to know how to handle your money.
"But the most important factor is reading people. There's one player in Atlantic City, just by looking at him, I almost always know exactly what he's holding."
And there's not even a camera in that table.
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Best Poker Operator of the Year: PokerStars.com
Published: 2005-11-14
 LONDON, Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- PokerStars.com was dealt the winning hand
at this year's industry-recognized eGaming Awards. According to Scott
Longley, Editor of eGaming Review, PokerStars.com is "without question the
online poker room to watch at the moment." PokerStars.com is pushed to front
of the rank because of "its diversity of games and uptime stability,"
accompanied by exclusive ambassador programs with the last three World Series
of Poker Champions.
The short list of companies nominated for awards this year included some
of the biggest names in the industry and indicates how far the online gaming
industry has traveled in a short space of time. What sets PokerStars.com
apart from its competitors is its strategic partnerships with the creme of
champions. This proves a very powerful weapon in a highly-competitive market.
Since being founded in 2001, PokerStars.com has dealt over three billion
hands and run more than 14 million poker tournaments, awarding well over $1
billion in prize money. According to eGaming Review, PokerStars.com's
performance has stood out in the past year, as well as its growth, difference,
product and customer retention. The site is the world's largest poker
tournament website, having recently passed the 3.5 million registered users
milestone.
The recent signing of Joe Hachem, the 2005 WSOP champion, gives
PokerStars.com a triple crown. Currently, 2003 WSOP champion Chris Moneymaker
and 2004 WSOP champion Greg 'Fossilman' Raymer both serve exclusively as
PokerStars.com representatives. Hachem, who won a record $7.5 million top
prize at the WSOP in Las Vegas in July, will represent PokerStars.com as a
sponsored player and ambassador.
Consecutive World Poker Champions Raymer and Moneymaker won their seats to
the WSOP by qualifying directly through PokerStars.com. Now with the current
reigning champion Hachem on board, PokerStars.com has locked up the last three
World Champions.
The Judges Decision:
* Judged for its performance of the last 12 months, PokerStars stands
out, although it is not the biggest online site
* Leverage of stars names who emerged from the online scene is a key
differentiator
* Without question the poker room to watch
Tamar Yaniv, Director of European Marketing for PokerStars.com, proudly
accepted the award: "We are honored to be recognized by eGaming for our
performance over the last 12 months. We have worked hard at making PokerStars
the home of the ambitious tournament player and we are proud to have three
World Champion ambassadors -- earning us the trademark Where Poker Stars
Become Champions."
About PokerStars
PokerStars (http://www.pokerstars.com) is the world's most innovative online
poker site. PokerStars was the first site to introduce features that became
industry standard such as sophisticated multi-table tournaments, integrated
game statistics, players' notes, personalized images, time bank for
tournaments and big bet ring games, satellite tournaments, multi-table sit and
go tournaments, and much more.
To date, PokerStars has dealt over three billion hands and run more than
14 million poker tournaments, awarding well over $1 billion in prize money.
PokerStars is one of the world's largest poker rooms, with 3.5 million
registered player accounts. PokerStars' support team is truly unique, as help
and assistance is available around the clock from people who know and
understand the game of poker and the importance of impeccable customer
service.
The PokerStars.com site is also one of the most secure. PokerStars uses
industry-leading security software to ensure the integrity of the system,
including encryption, card shuffle randomness and preventative measures
against cheating and collusion. Money covering player's balances is held in
segregated accounts managed by the Royal Bank of Scotland, ensuring that
PokerStars can fulfill its obligations to players at all times.
PokerStars, an official member of the World Poker Tour, and the title
sponsor of the European Poker Tour (EPT) and the PokerStars Caribbean
Adventure. During the last three years, PokerStars.com sent more players to
the World Series of Poker than any other source or website. A whopping
1,116 entrants qualified to play this year via PokerStars satellites.
PokerStars is the site where the 2003 and 2004 World Series of Poker
champions won entries into the World Series of Poker. The reigning world
poker champion Joe Hachem, has also been an active player at PokerStars since
2001. He recently joined Moneymaker and Raymer as official representatives of
PokerStars.com, thus fortifying the company trademark, "Where Poker Players
Become World Champions."
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