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It's Texas Fold 'em: everybody wants a night on the tiles playing dominoes
So you've been taken in by all those glitzy TV shows. You've practised counting cards, you've learnt all about the flop and the turn and the river. You're ready for your first game of Texas Hold 'em.
Well, sorry, but Poker is so last year and you're frankly behind the times. If you want to get ahead of the crowd, get some dominoes.
Flush with the success of its coverage of the World Poker Tour, Disney-owned cable sports network ESPN is hoping it can turn those little black and white tiles into the next sensation. With prize money of up to $500,000 (£285,000), expect a host of celebrity domino players to emerge from the woodwork within the next few months.
But before you think "Easy money! Any fool can play dominos!" It may not quite be as simple as all that.
Occasional players who took on their parents when they were kids, or enjoy the odd quiet game down the boozer, are not quite what ESPN, or the newly formed Professional Domino Association, have in mind.
Instead, they've been heading to the Latino neighbourhoods of New York where the verbal sparring, the shouting and the bragging, not to mention the beers, turns every game into a colourful fiesta.
Almost every game, whether in a club or on the pavement, turns into a spectator sport, with every onlooker more than willing to offer their advice - especially if it's unwanted.
"We think it will be the next cool thing," said Lino Garcia, the general manager of Spanish language channel ESPN Deportes, which already broadcasts dominoes and hopes it will translate on to its English counterparts.
"We're connecting with the best places dominoes is played, so naturally we're going to start in uptown Manhattan and the Bronx, the places where it really happens."
He says that like poker, domino games offer plenty of suspense and drama at the table, with clever decision-making and reading the strategies of other players all pivotal to winning. And you thought it was just a case of matching the numbers.
Get ready for some domino jargon. Bluffing an opponent is known as "juice-mouthin'", while a player forced to draw another domino is told to "go to the boneyard!"
Some big money has already lined up behind Jay King, founder of the PDA. So far King's sponsors include Crown Royal and Pit Bull energy drinks. He says he's in talks with Microsoft's Xbox and who else but Domino's Pizza.
This year's official PDA Tournament season - oh yes, there is one - kicked off in February and lasts until August this year. The PDA will host 12 high-stakes tournaments in several major cities throughout the country, promising some serious "fast-paced bone slapping action", and the season ends with the National Championships from Las Vegas.
The amount awarded for each tournament is $30,000, with $10,000 going to the first-prize winner, while the National Championship has a total award of $150,000 and first place prize of $50,000.
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