(FORTUNE Small Business) – Nakamura's Woodstock, Ill., toy company was five years old when he had the idea of merging two trends in gaming: the explosion of user-friendly multiplayer videogames and the poker renaissance. Smart bet. The result, TV Poker, helped triple the firm's revenues, from $7.5 million in 2003 to $23 million last year.

IN THE CARDS: It would seem a hard sell to get customers to shell out $69.99 for a game that can also be played with a stack of change and a $2.95 deck of cards. But with at least 65 million Americans playing poker regularly, Nakamura found enough takers drawn to the game's speedy, shuffle-free play. "Without any advertising, we sold everything we made," he says.

UPPING THE ANTE: Now Nakamura, 43, is snapping up licenses for other multiplayer videogames, including The Apprentice and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. With TV Poker sold on shelves from Wal-Mart to Kohl's, Nakamura is hardly folding. "We are nowhere near finding the bottom of this business," he says.