Poker Room Radio puts focus on fun
By Arnold Warner

There’s lots of laughter at Poker Room Radio these days. Not that there wasn’t before … it’s just different. After about a year with their original lineup, big changes were made with the on-air talent, as well as with the organization as a whole, including a change in nights and radio stations.

The show is now on Friday nights at 8:00 p.m. on ESPN 1320 AM in the Sacramento area, then on Saturday’s at 7:00 p.m. on KNEW 910 AM in the Bay Area.

The one constant PRR has had from the beginning is the amply talented Tara “the Queen of Hearts” Pascale, who continues to host the show in addition to dealing cards at the Lucky Derby Casino in Citrus Heights. These days she is joined in the studio by Lou Gallagher, a veteran of over 25 years experience in radio. According to their website (www.pokerroom
radio.com) Gallagher runs a tight ship when at the controls and insists that “Tara has to keep her clothes on for at least the first twenty minutes of the show.”

Gallagher says that when they went looking for a new voice to work with Pascale, the emphasis was on finding someone who knows radio and likes poker, not necessarily a veteran poker player, expert, or professional. As a radio pro who is a home game veteran and big poker fan that had never set foot in a brick-and-mortar cardroom, he certainly fit the bill.

It’s not that they’ve abandoned the ­focus they once had on instruction and teaching, they’re just more interested in developing an entertaining show that’s fun and engaging for listeners. Pascale says. “We want everybody to listen. We want pros to listen. We want amateurs to listen. We want the middle players to listen. We want Grandma and Grandpa to listen that play their dime games during the holidays. Men. Women. We want them all to listen.”

When asked to describe what PRR is like these days, Pascale response was, “Fun. Energetic. Loose. We go with the flow.” Gallagher elaborates: “Too many people think that you have to go on the air and be funny. And I think that if you’re trying to be funny, you’re really missing the boat. You’re missing the whole target in fact, because the target should be fun. And there’s a huge difference.”

Recent and upcoming guests on the program include Susie Isaacs, J.J. Liu, Kelli Griggs, J.C. Tran, Michael Mizrachi, Dr. Jen the Poker Shrink, and The Cardroom’s own Davin “Kamikaze Korean” Anderson among many others.