PokerTek Appoints New Board Member

MATTHEWS, North Carolina – (PRESS RELEASE) -- PokerTek, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEK) today announced the appointment of Joseph J. Lahti to its Board of Directors effective March 2, 2006. Mr. Lahti has been appointed by the Board to serve on the Board's Audit and Compensation Committees.

"We are honored to welcome Joe Lahti to the PokerTek Board," stated Lou White, Chief Executive Officer of PokerTek. "Mr. Lahti's experience and leadership in helping Shuffle Master grow from a start-up company to an industry leader will be of considerable value to PokerTek. More importantly, Joe is a phenomenal business executive who, along with our other Board members, will keep PokerTek's management team accountable and focused on the execution of our strategic plan."

"After meeting with the team at PokerTek, I was very impressed with the PokerPro(TM) product, their business model and management team," noted Joe Lahti. "PokerTek is a young company with enormous potential. I am excited about the opportunity to join their Board and hope that my prior gaming experience and current business experiences will allow me to assist PokerTek in achieving their ambitious goals."