Ok, just to make sure you have the correct stuff in your .htaccess file, I've successfully accomplished what you are trying to do using this exact code in my htaccess:
Code:
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^recentpoker.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.recentpoker.com/$1 [L,R=301]
RedirectMatch 301 recentpoker.html http://www.recentpoker.com/
Website is hosted by hostgator. Let me know if it works.