Card games.

Charter Communications Inc., the struggling Paul Allen-owned cable outfit, is planning a surprise for its 295,000 Los Angeles subscribers.

Emulating a promotion that Charter launched in Reno, Nev., the cable company will be giving out gift cards each month that could be worth more than $250 in credit redeemable at area businesses.

"Loyalty is difficult to elicit, but our cards basically give Charter's customers a tangible reason to stay with Charter each and every month," said Kirk Nagamine, co-founder and chief executive of Complete Access, the firm that is administrating the card campaign for the cable company.

Charter isn't doing it all with giveaways. The "triple play" package--cable TV, phone service and high-speed Internet access--that Time Warner Cable is planning to launch soon as the centerpiece of its L.A. business strategy, has been available for $100 through Charter for months.

Charter posted a $355 million loss in the second quarter, and has posted a quarterly profit only twice going back to 1999.

Staff reporter Dan Cox can be reached at [e-mail] or at [phone], ext. 230.