by Dan Michalski, Dec 31, 2007 | 7:25 pm

Two years ago, poker items were the hottest holiday shizznit in the retail stores. It didn’t matter if you were shopping at Oshman’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, or CVS … the poker goodies were on prominent display and selling like proverbial hotcakes. Then last year, you saw some of these same items — only they were marked down on clearance, as their didn’t seem to be too much demand for the crappy variety of poker supplies. I’m guessing the real poker merchants still did fine, but don’t know for sure.

This year, I again took note of poker’s place amongst the Christmas merchandise … and here’s what I found:

Who knew that Popeye the Sailor Man played poker? This t-shirt did, and it was the only poker-related apparel I saw in the whole mall.

It still amazes me that there’s not a poker calendar out there — these didn’t even exist at the height of the boom days. But poker is referenced in one 2008 calendar that makes fun of the things people do at their offices.

I wonder who actually buys the game of Texas Hold’em in a box. Probably the same people who buy the Newlywed Game.

WPT-branded cards … about as relevant as Pinochle and people with bad eyes.

Not-so-pokery, but I found this rack amusing — knowing there’s a fine line between Congress and Canasta.

Also nothing to do with poker … but this kid was really intrigued by the female mannequin.

Only one poker magazine for sale at the bookstore this year — nestled amongst magazines for all variety of sports and recreation. NOTE: When I went back to this same store two days later, there were only two copies of Bluff left, so that says something.

Last year there were whole shelves and even aisles for books about poker. This year the poker tomes were mixed in with the important books related to other all-American games.

Hey, where’s Tom’s book?

Some stores are giving away poker books when you buy discounted poker video games.

But fear not, because you can always get yourself a poker chip thumb drive … or one that’s shaped like Lego’s if that’s more your style.