Can Online Poker Double Down on Blackjack?
Over the last couple years, we have seen the integration of blackjack into the arsenal of many an online poker interface. Most major online poker rooms either offers a link to Blackjack within the client interface, or one no more than one click away.
Television is coming to the plate with more and more blackjack offerings, interestingly enough many of them in the tournament format. GSN had the World Series of Blackjack on the air for a while, with such Blackjack experts as Rene Angelil (Mr Celine Dion), and Gavin Maloof, owner of the Palms casino, and the Sacramento Kings battling it out for the title of 'world champion.
Now, CBS has stepped to the plate in the TV blackjack world. The network recently announced that beginning in September, the network will air ten episodes of the 'Ultimate Blackjack Tour' on Saturday afternoons. CBS has already announced it will commit to air the series for a second season (with more episodes) beginning in the spring of 2007.
This is good news in that CBS, who were the first to broadcast poker on Television back in the late 1970's, but probably the last to embrace the poker craze, have begun to delve into the area of televised gaming. CBS will soon air the Intercontinental Poker Championships, a made for TV event filmed recently at the Palms.
Will all this add up into any interest in online blackjack from the general public? Certainly, blackjack is a much more popular game in the casino than poker, but will the heightened access, and increased mainstream media attention given to blackjack have an impact with online blackjack?
Certainly, we have seen a movement from the online poker rooms towards integrating all kinds of other games into their poker clients, but it seems that blackjack is by far the most prevalent, and probably has the best chance. For those of you our there who love your blackjack, it appears your time just might be coming.
Ed note: Ultimate Bet just added blackjack, and have other games like deuce to seven triple draw, and Crazy Pineapple. Sign Up today.
