Blackjack Coming in a Close Second to Poker
While poker remains the undisputed champion of the online gambling world, a new rival is poking its face into poker rooms across the internet. In the past few years many online poker rooms are now offering blackjack as another option, either listed as a link to an associated blackjack room, or to their own blackjack site.

It's not only online sites that are boosting blackjack ratings, but many new blackjack television shows are in the works. The World Series of Blackjack aired for some time on GSN, and now blackjack professionals like Rene Angelil (husband to legendary singer Celine Dion) and Gavin Maloof, the owner of the Palms Casino and Sacramento Kings will compete on TV for the world champion title.

A major United States TV network, CBS, has jumped on the televised tournament bandwagon. The network will air the Ultimate Blackjack Tour, starting this September. CBS has already committed to airing the second series starting in spring of 2007.

CBS was the first station to broadcast poker games in the late 1970's, but are late in catching on to the current TV poker craze. The Intercontinental Poker Championships, which was held recently at the Palms, was filmed by CBS as a special made for TV tournament.

But will the current trend in televised blackjack tournaments give blackjack the success that poker has seen from such events? While blackjack boasts of a much higher popularity rate at brick and mortar casinos, the general public has remained faithful to online and televised poker games.