This story appears in the 12.5.2011 issue of Forbes. 
 
 By the standards of professional sports, poker is distinctly a penny-ante game. Calling it a sport is likely to earn you funny looks from people who see it as a shady pastime that falls, on the respectability scale, somewhere south of bar darts and north of cockfighting. 
 
 Changing that is the mission of the International Federation of Poker, which launches this month with a kickoff tournament in London and $10 million from the Japanese ad agency Dentsu. They’re gambling that poker, minus the gambling, can be a much bigger business — and seen as something people do for fun and personal betterment, not money. 
 
 “The fact is there are all these people who are attracted to poker but have stayed away from it because they didn’t want to risk money,” says Peter Alson, president of IFP’s U.S. affiliate. He points to the success of Zynga Poker, the Facebook-based game that has 60 million users who play for points and status, not dollars. “It’s a different type of person being drawn to the game.” 
 
 To rebrand poker, Alson and his colleagues are emphasizing the similarities between poker and other so-called mindsports like chess and bridge, which teach and reward strategic thinking. They’re organizing “nano-federations” for amateurs and inviting professional card players to participate in events that, crucially, don’t require them to stake their own cash. 
 
 That means getting sponsors, now mostly casinos and energy drinks, to front the prize money. The IFP wants mainstream advertisers like banks, airlines and carmakers. A pipe dream? Not in the view of its founder, Patrick Nally. 
 
 Sometimes referred to as “the father of sports marketing,” Nally helped secure Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of FIFA and spent decades advising the International Olympic Committee before turning his energies to rehabilitating poker. “I have no doubt mindsports can look forward to enjoying the kind of commercial support FIFA and IOC have enjoyed,” he says. In other words, all in. 
 
 Face-Lifts 
 
 If poker ever manages to transcend its unsavory origins and become a mainstream sport with big-league sponsorship — and that’s a big if — it will have followed a familiar path. 
 
 -MIXED MARTIAL ARTS 
 
 It was banned in a majority of states until a series of careful rule changes helped pacify critics. In November the first prime-time UFC match drew an audience of 5.7 million for Fox. 
 
 -STOCK CAR RACING 
 
 The sport was popularized by Prohibition-era bootleggers, who souped up their rides to help them outrun the feds. Now Nascar generates more than $1.5 billion annually in merchandise sales, and an afternoon at the oval has become a mandatory stop for presidential aspirants. 
 
 -FOOTBALL 
 
 It’s America’s most beloved sport now, but a century ago football was almost banned over its high fatality rate. The introduction of the forward pass changed that. Can the NFL find a similar fix for its concussions problem? ||||| Anyone who has ever gambled realizes that partaking in such activities, especially one like poker, will have its ups and downs. However, over the next few days, the sport of poker and the term "ups and downs" will take on new meaning as The Nation’s Cup, a duplicate poker event designed to showcase the skill and strategy of poker versus the luck of the draw, will take place in, of all places, The London Eye. 
 
 It will be the first step in a long-term plan by the International Poker federation to elevate the sport from a gambling platform to more of a mind sport, which will open more doors for poker and other games of strategy. 
 
 The event will have players from 12 nations competing against each other in the various pods of The Eye. While the eventual winner will take home some money, the focus remains on highlighting what the game, and other mind sports, can do to help. 
 
 The United States will have a very eclectic team of participants, led by Hall of Famer Barry Greenstein, picked by U.S. Federation President Peter Alson. 
 
 “We wanted to find a team that was both recognizable and diverse both in playing style and personality, and we think we have been able to achieve that mix, led by Barry,” Alson said. “They are great spokespeople with diverse interests, as well as world class players.” 
 
 “I am excited about playing, it’s not every day you get to represent your country, or your livelihood, in such a unique setting as The London Eye," added Greenstein, who has three World Series of Poker and two World Poker Tour titles, as well as numerous high finishes in other elite events. 
 
 Perhaps the most recognizable name to the casual fan, especially those following the just-completed World Series of Poker, is Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, who spent the last few weeks calling the elite event for ESPN. Esfandiari, who turned an elite magic career into success in high stakes games, already holds two WPT titles and a WSOP bracelet. 
 
 Vanessa Selbst (credit: flipchip) 
 
 Joining that pair will be Californian Ali Eslami, known best for his introduction to the professional side of the sport by Los Angeles Lakers' owner Jerry Buss, and also for his analytical ability, which saw him take on and defeat the University of Alberta’s Polaris AI poker computer in an event with Phil Laak. 
 
 Two elite women, Delaware native Jennifer Leigh, known to thousands of fans as “Jennicide,” and Vanessa Selbst, arguably the best female player today, will also represent the U.S. Brown University graduate and chess expert Isaac Haxton rounds out the team. They will also be joined by another elite player—Yale graduate, Matt Matros, who has two WSOP gold bracelets and 11 major event final tables on his resume. 
 
 “It is going to be a great event to showcase the sport, especially to an audience that will see and hopefully understand more of the strategic and exciting elements of poker maybe for the first time,” Eslami said. 
 
 Leigh, who grew up playing the sport and has made her career in the online poker world, is equally excited about the venue and the competition. 
 
 “I love history as much as strategy, so being able to spend time in London and compete against some of the world’s greatest players will be a double thrill,” she added. “People have not embraced the analytical side of the game and all the aspects of what it takes to be successful, so it is my hope that by contributing to the team and representing the U.S., I can help lift image of the game.” 
 
 The competition will feature duplicate poker, with each player playing a similar hand in a similar position to his or her teammates. Losers will exit the Eye as it travels around (“Hopefully on the bottom, not the top,” joked Selbst, who is completing her law degree at Yale in January) in a competition that many feel will emphasize skill and curtail luck. 
 
 However, cautions Greenstein, luck will still be a part of the game. “Every game has an element of luck, that’s what makes it so exciting to spectators,” he added. “Maybe it will be minimized and the strategy maximized, but we all need a little luck, that’s what makes the competition fun.” 
 
 In the end, the skill and international flavor will look to boost the IFP and its partner federations, who hope to use the event as a global springboard to a bigger global competition for all mind sports in 2012, and eventually mirror the schedule of the Olympic games and cities going forward. 
 
 “There are many aspects of poker that marry well with traditional athletic competitions, and the benefits of these events, we hope, will create a new fan and participatory base not just for poker, but for all Mind sports together,” Alson added. “That type of international competition and discussion will be very exciting, and we are elated to say we are part of the start of this process.” 
 
 Is it a gamble to try and change the image of the sport of poker? Maybe, but if the Nation’s Cup hits, the payoff could be huge. 
 
 Jerry Milani is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand.
– The International Federation of Poker is making its biggest gamble yet—that poker can become a bigger game by getting rid of the gambling. “The fact is there are all these people who are attracted to poker but have stayed away from it because they didn’t want to risk money,” the president of the federation's US branch tells Forbes. After all, he notes, one of the most popular Facebook games is Zynga Poker, which has 60 million users, despite not using real money. The IFP hopes to rebrand the classic game in the vein of bridge or chess—a smart sport for strategic thinkers, notes Bleacher Report. The first big push comes this weekend in London with a "Nation's Cup" tournament featuring top players from around the world playing for their countries. (And, yes, there's a Team Zynga.) If it's a hit, the IFP hopes to land mainstream sponsors for subsequent tournaments. "It’s a different type of person being drawn to the game," says the federation official. Click for more.