Poker Dome - Playing in the Fish Bowl

If you don’t like the feeling that you’re being watched, don’t tryout to play in the Poker Dome. Produced by MansionPoker.net and Fox Sports, the watching the Poker Dome will be like watching lab rats in some mad poker scientist’s laboratory.

The Poker Dome is a custom-built poker arena that will be housed in the Neonopolis mall in downtown Las Vegas. Three of Neonopolis’s movie theaters are being transformed into this truly one-of-a-kind spectacle. Inside the arena, up to two hundred audience members will partially surround a poker table enclosed in glass. The Dome will be sound-proof, so the six players at the table will have only each other, the cards, and their thoughts to worry about.

The spectators, however, will see and hear everything. All of the players will be miked up, so all table talk can be heard. Outside the Poker Dome, large monitors will show close-ups of each player’s face so that the audience can see every little tick, every bead of sweat. Even the players’ heart rates will be monitored and displayed for all of the viewing public to see. Is his heart racing when he’s bluffing or when he has a strong hand? Who is the coolest customer?

And, of course, like all of today’s poker productions, hole cards, chip counts, and even burn cards, will be shown.

The Poker Dome series will be televised by Fox Sports starting on May 27, and will air for a whopping 43 weeks, culminating with a $1 million finale. Perhaps a made-for-TV gimmick, perhaps simply a fun experiment, each player will only be given fifteen seconds to act. Expect television audiences to get a kick out of the heart rates and close-up cams with that feature.

Players interested in participating in the Poker Dome series can visit MansionPoker.net for qualification details.

Originally published April 18, 2006