If you want to sell a poker game to the mainstream, here's a few tips: 1) strike while the iron's hot and kick it out at the high of the poker craze, 2) make sure you take the time to make the game decent instead of just crapping it out to capitalize on point 1, and 3) promote the sucker in a way that'll get it picked up by all the kids wanting desperately to be as cool as the blond-haired bad boy on the cover. STACKED with Daniel Negreanu (say it with us now, neg-rahn-oo) seems to have tackled all three rather nicely.

Case in point, the fact that they got a freakin' half-hour MTV special lined up to push the game. MTV Presents: STACKED Poker is exactly what you'd expect from an MTV special: tons of glitz (it was shot at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino in Vegas, Negreanu's home town), a bit of real info (Negreanu will introduce the game itself to the home audience), some games (again, the star of the game will play some college kids, then some pros) and then of course there's the pointless celebrity inclusion (a poker session with Good Charlotte's Benji and Ryan Cabrera?! Eeeeeek!). Though it all, Dan the Man will stop to pull a Zach Morris-style freeze-frame time-out to highlight some poker strategies. Bonus points if we see him make the "T" with his hands and his voice cracks a little.

“STACKED is the perfect way for a beginner to learn poker,” explains Negreanu. “It won’t disappoint the advanced players either, especially when they have to face off against me!”

“STACKED brings the excitement and strategy of professional poker into your home,” added Ken Woo, producer at Myelin Media. “Whether playing alone against the game’s realistic learning AI or online against real world opponents, you will feel the same exhilaration with every big bet, bluff and victory as if you were at the final table of a high stakes tournament.”

“MTV Games was formed with the vision of creating and promoting original video game IP and unique gaming experiences that encapsulate the passions and interests of the MTV audience,” oozed Jeff Yapp, EVP, Program Enterprises. “STACKED represents the first true MTV Games 360° initiative by delivering a video game experience, television special and an online component with the Stacked Masters multi-table tournaments."

The game is on shelves now for the perfect price point of $30 for both PSP and PS2, and the MTV special airs this Friday and Saturday, June 2nd and 3rd at 9PM Eastern/Pacific. For some clips of the show, feel free to visit the STACKED game page and click on the videos link.