Back in 2002, WPT Enterprises (NASDAQ: WPTE) revolutionized the gambling business. That is, the firm created the highly popular World Poker Tour television show. In fact, by the middle of 2005, WPT's stock hit $26.50.

Unfortunately, things haven't been so rosy since then. Today, PartyGaming PLC -- a major online gambling operator in the U.K. -- agreed to buy WPT at a paltry $12.3 million. On the news of the deal, the shares of WPT are up 3% to $1.08 per share.

When it first appeared, fans flocked to the television to watch the world's best poker players and the world's biggest chumps vie for huge pots on the World Poker Tour (NASDAQ: WPTE). Unfortunately, one of the biggest losers walking away from the table now is the World Poker Tour itself, having turned a table stake at one time estimated at $500 million into chump change. Last week, the company announced that it had reached agreement to sell all its rights and operations for slightly over $9 million, plus a share of future profits, to Gamynia Enterprises, a privately held company.

According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), WPT was a victim of its own success. Given the eagerness of the gaming industry to popularize its products, there was no shortage of funds to sponsor poker broadcasts. And the low cost of producing such entertainment meant that any idiot could set up a camera and create a show (and many did). At one time, poker was on television more often than Billy Mays.

There are some pretty bizarre entertainment/niche media companies: International Fight League (OTC BB: IFLI) and World Poker Tour Enterprises (NASDAQ: WPTE) come to mind. Last night I stumbled upon another one to add to that list: National Lampoon (AMEX: NLN). The brand is best known for the classic movie Animal House, but has been in decline of late.

In June of this year, The New York Times did a story on the company's efforts to revive itself. The Times writes that "has run on little more than fumes, licensing its name to dozens of movies that failed spectacularly while producing few of its own. The company has not published the magazine that first made it famous in nearly 10 years."

But now the company is going to back to producing its own movies, something it hasn't done since the early 1990's. According to Alexa, the National Lampoon website has seen its traffic spike in recent weeks.

CEO Daniel Laikin owns about 40% of the company, so he has strong incentives to make the rebirth of the brand a success and if he does, shareholders could see some very nice rewards.

The company hasn't turned a profit in some time and appears to be in the early stages of its attempted comeback. But with a market cap of under $16 million, it may be worth keeping an eye on in case it finally does get its act together.

Poker fans rejoice! House Financial Services Committee Chairman, Barney Frank, introduced a bill on Thursday that would allow Americans to gamble online once again. The bill would allow online gambling companies to apply for licenses to accept bets from U.S. citizens. Frank referred to the ban on gambling as "an inappropriate interference on the personal freedom of Americans" and called internet gambling a victimless crime. The WTO has previously declared the U.S. ban illegal.

Congratulations to Mr. Frank for standing up on this issue. I will give a piece of pie to anyone who can make a compelling case as to why it isn't hypocritical for states to offer lotteries while simultaneously cracking down on people who play online poker. How can you muster up moral outrage when you're selling the same product? This is like Hostess accusing McDonald's of marketing unhealthy foods.

If you're a political junkie closely following this issue and counting probable votes, here are a couple stocks that could be affected:

Cryptologic (NASDAQ: CRYP) - This company provides the software platforms for numerous online gambling ventures. The stock took a beating when Americans were banned from internet gambling, but has since recovered and is close to its 52-week high.

World Poker Tour Enterprises (NASDAQ: WPTE) - This company produces the World Poker Tour Series on the Travel Channel (soon to be moving to the Game Show Network) and also operates an online gambling site. While the company hasn't targeted U.S. consumers in the past, that could possibly change.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Today's most noteworthy upgrades were Reynolds American, Inc (RAI), PRA International (PRAI), Wendy's International (WEN), 3M Company (MMM) and PMC-Sierra, Inc (PMCS):

• JP Morgan upgraded shares of Reynolds American Inc (NYSE: RAI) to Neutral from Underweight to reflect the company's solid 2007 outlook and improved cigarette mix.

• Baird raised PRA International (NASDAQ: PRAI) to Neutral from Underperform.

• Wendy's International (NYSE: WEN) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight with a $26 target at Prudential.

• 3M Company (NYSE: MMM) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Prudential...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Bear Stearns upgraded shares of ArvinMeritor, Inc (NYSE: ARM) to Outperform from Underperform.

• Roth Capital raised WPT Enterprises (NASDAQ: WPTE) to Hold from Sell.

• Soleil upgraded the semiconductor sector to Overweight from Underweight, believing a recovery in fundamentals is likely over the next 6 months and expecting shares to outperform over the next 12 to 18 months.

• First Albany upgraded shares of Xilinx, Inc (NASDAQ: XLNX) to Buy from Neutral to reflect operating leverage and the end of the inventory concern.

• Wachovia upgraded shares of Agco Corp (NYSE: AG) to Market perform from Outperform.

• Deutsche Bank raised Dover Corp (NYSE: DOV) to Buy from Hold.

• Corning (NYSE: GLW) was upgraded at Goldman to Buy from Neutral with a $31 target.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Mixed martial arts, also known as ultimate fighting, is probably the most dangerous sport on television. Enjoying a huge surge in popularity, it's wooing major networks with it's ability to target the 18-35 year old male demographic that can be so difficult to reach.International Fight League (OTCBB: IFLI), one of the premier organizations in the field, has seen its share price shoot up from the low-single digits in November all the way up to 17 dollars, before the recent pull-back to Tuesday's closing price of $11.90. While it may be as exciting to watch, it may also be as dangerous as stepping on the mixed-martial arts star Jens Pulver.

The IFL has been riding high with contracts with Fox Sports Net and MyNetworkTv. That's what the company does. It produces live events and television shows. The hype and excitement reminds of the ever-so-briefly high-flying World Poker Tour Enterprises, which produces poker shows for the Travel Channel. Take a look at this chart for WPTE (You may remember the bizarre disappearing bid for the company from poker legend Doyle Brunson):