Eric Drache talked about High Stakes Poker season 6 on the latest 2+2 Pokercast. They start talking about TV 43 minutes into the show. A summary:
They expect to tape at least 13 weeks of High Stakes Poker in the first week of November, right after taping Poker After Dark. Eric says he does more of Poker After Dark and Mori Eskandani does more of High Stakes Poker.
They're having meetings about who to invite to High Stakes Poker soon. They like loose players that talk a lot. They always like fresh money in the game, even if the players are bad for the game. People regularly approach them wanting to play in the game, but they've had a remarkably-high cancellation rate among those players so they'll require people they don't know to send money to the casino three weeks in advance.
The million-dollar buyin game a while back tightened up the game, and they're trying to find the right stakes. They hate prop bets and sportsbetting because it can dominate the table talk and viewers don't understand it, but that's what players like to do so they're trying to find the right balance.
Mori Eskandani estimated that Poker PROductions (which does High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark, National Heads-Up Poker Championship, and other shows) has produced about 530 hours of televised poker content. There was also some discussion of casting for the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
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Sunday, August 30, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Caesars Cup, America vs. Europe, To Be Aired By ESPN
The Caesars Cup is a made-for-TV poker show being shot during the WSOP Europe which pits America against Europe. It has an odd format: the first two matches will be "doubles" matches, where players alternate betting streets. Next will be two more doubles matches where the players alternate playing full hands every second hand. After that, the teams will compete in regular heads-up matches until one team has four wins, earning the Caesars Cup. The captains are choosing teams of eight players, with the following chosen so far:
Update: The WSOP Europe premieres January 31 on ESPN2.
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- Team Americas: Daniel Negreanu (captain), Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, John Juanda, Doyle Brunson, and Jennifer Harman.
- Team Europe: Annette Obrestad (captain), Peter Eastgate, Dario Minieri, Bertrand Grospellier, Patrik Antonius, and Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies.
Update: The WSOP Europe premieres January 31 on ESPN2.
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Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Poker on TV Update: Hellmuth and Negreanu On WSOP Tonight
There are no changes to the schedule this week, but ESPN did halve the time they planned to spend on day one of the Main Event, from four weeks to two (WSOP TV schedule). That means that we'll get days 1C and 1D tonight. The featured players will be Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth in the first hour, and Eric Lindgren and Peter Eastgate in the second.
This week's newsbites:
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This week's newsbites:
- High Stakes Poker season 6 is expected to air in the January to March range.
- The first episode of 2 Months $2 Million had more downloads on the Poker Bay than any other recent show, including the Main Event. It's been removed now however.
- Our 2 Months $2 Million updates include: good ratings, Blewjob posting about his play against KRANTZ in episode one, and many others.
- WSOP ratings were down 8% after three weeks.
- WPT attendance continues to decline, 25% at the latest event (and see our previous coverage).
- ESPN's expected variable-length Main Event final table is on the schedule for 2 1/2 hours now.
- Andrew "Good2cu" Robl and Alec "Traheho" Torelli filmed a reality-TV pilot in Las Vegas.
- World Team Poker announced their team captains.
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PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge To Air On Fox
Undeterred by the failure of Full Tilt Poker's Face The Ace, PokerStars is now running qualifiers for it's own heads-up poker TV show, to air on Fox later this year. Players that place well in Million Dollar Challenge freerolls on PokerStars will be able to submit an audition video. Qualifiers will be asked to bring two buddies. Compared to Face The Ace, the larger pool of applicants and the presence of the buddies could make for a better TV show.
Four or five players will be on each show. They will play best-of-three heads-up matches against three PokerStars pros and celebrities. Daniel Negreanu will coach the players. If they make it through three rounds, they'll face Daniel Negreanu himself for $1 million. The shows will air on Fox on October 11 and 18, November 22, and December 13 and 27, all at 4:30 PM.
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Four or five players will be on each show. They will play best-of-three heads-up matches against three PokerStars pros and celebrities. Daniel Negreanu will coach the players. If they make it through three rounds, they'll face Daniel Negreanu himself for $1 million. The shows will air on Fox on October 11 and 18, November 22, and December 13 and 27, all at 4:30 PM.
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Monday, August 24, 2009
PartyPoker Buys World Poker Tour
WPT Enterprises agreed to sell its assets to its largest customer, PartyPoker parent PartyGaming (PartyGaming's sponsorship payments accounted for 30% of WPTE's revenue so far this year). PartyGaming's $12.3 million offer trumped Gamynia's previous offer of $9.1 million. WPT Enterprises will have to pay a $1 million termination fee to get out of its agreement with Gamynia, but PartyGaming is paying that amount up front. PartyGaming will also pay 5% of future revenue generated by the World Poker Tour brand, guaranteed to be at least $3 million over the next three years, which is also better than Gamynia's offer. The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter, after which a World Poker Tour-branded online poker site should appear. WPT Enterprises still plans to retain its investments and move into another business. CEO Steve Lipscomb is entitled to a substantial bonus for the sale: 5% (about $600,000) plus six months' severance (though I have no information that he will be terminated).
PartyPoker is the fourth largest online poker site/network in the world, and it doesn't take US players. The World Poker Tour, on the other hand, has most of its events in the US. The big two poker rooms (Stars and FTP) take US customers, so they might seem to be a better fit. The uncertain legal environment for online poker in the US, however, prevents US-friendly sites from satelliteing players into tournaments. Additionally, a US subsidiary of these companies would be at legal risk. PartyPoker's customers are mostly European, but they'll be able to satellite their players directly into US World Poker Tour events and add European ones. If PartyPoker is anywhere near as successful with the World Poker Tour as PokerStars has been with the European Poker Tour, this will be a boost to the WPT.
For more information see the press release, WPT Enterprises's SEC filing, and the attachments to it: asset purchase agreement, guaranty, and voting agreement.
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PartyPoker is the fourth largest online poker site/network in the world, and it doesn't take US players. The World Poker Tour, on the other hand, has most of its events in the US. The big two poker rooms (Stars and FTP) take US customers, so they might seem to be a better fit. The uncertain legal environment for online poker in the US, however, prevents US-friendly sites from satelliteing players into tournaments. Additionally, a US subsidiary of these companies would be at legal risk. PartyPoker's customers are mostly European, but they'll be able to satellite their players directly into US World Poker Tour events and add European ones. If PartyPoker is anywhere near as successful with the World Poker Tour as PokerStars has been with the European Poker Tour, this will be a boost to the WPT.
For more information see the press release, WPT Enterprises's SEC filing, and the attachments to it: asset purchase agreement, guaranty, and voting agreement.
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Windy City Poker Championship Airs In Midwest
Kirk Fallah teaches news and video editing/production in the TV department at Columbia College Chicago. His company hires his students to help produce a regional poker TV show, Windy City Poker Championship, which airs tournaments run by Main Event Charity Games. Having watched some of the shows on their site, I can say that they do a good job with a low budget: they use good onscreen graphics and commentary to convey the basics (cards, stacks, blinds/antes, and action) better than many more expensively-produced shows. Fallah's company buys airtime on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, sells all the ads, and uses the revenue to pay students that work on the show. Comcast SportsNet Chicago is available in much of the Midwest, including at least 90% of Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa, plus satellite. It also airs on Bright House Sports Network in Florida and Cox Cable's CST.
Update, October 6, 2009: the September 25 Ante Up podcast has a fascinating interview with Kirk Fallah. It starts at the 36 minute mark. Some interesting points:
Update, October 6, 2009: the September 25 Ante Up podcast has a fascinating interview with Kirk Fallah. It starts at the 36 minute mark. Some interesting points:
- They show almost all of the hands.
- Players in the charitable tournaments they broadcast have about a 10% chance of making the TV table.
- Post-production is the most expensive element of the show, and takes 2-3 weeks.
- Instead of having hole-card cams at each seat they have a staffer offscreen log each hand after it's mucked.
- Fallah is working on getting the show broadcast on other regional TV networks.
- Fallah is talking to Ante Up about creating a Florida poker show as well.
- He talked about the additional complexity of broadcasting pot-limit Omaha, but hopes to be able to do so in a few years.
Why Phil Gordon Left Celebrity Poker Showdown: For A CBS Show
Phil Gordon provided analysis for the first seven seasons of Celebrity Poker Showdown, one of the early poker boom (2003-2006) shows that introduced many people to poker. For the final season Phil Hellmuth took over as analyst, ratings declined, and the show was canceled. I've never known why Phil Gordon left the show until now: he was offered a poker show on CBS.
Gordon was approached by Tony DeRosa-Grund of ProjoPoker, an online poker site, to be co-host and analyst for the show and to bring in pro poker players to appear on it. Gordon wanted to move from cable to a broadcast network and hired a lawyer to get out of his contract with Bravo, which aired Celebrity Poker Showdown. Gordon and DeRosa-Grund signed a contract in December 2005 under which Gordon was to host 26 episodes of the show for $340,000. Projo had 15 days to make a $170,000 payment to Gordon after signing the contract, but failed to do so. Gordon sued Projo and DeRosa-Grund for breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation. The court found that DeRosa-Grund told Gordon the CBS deal was done even though he knew it might not go through, and awarded Gordon over $600,000. DeRosa-Grund recently lost an appeal and Gordon told PokerNews.com "He has moved to Texas and filed for bankruptcy to avoid dealing with the consequences. He's tried to use the judicial system to his advantage all the way, but we are not going to stop until this is settled."
I've always felt that Phil Gordon was one of the best poker TV commentators, and it's a pity we don't see him on shows any more. He was always willing to criticize play, and was one of the best poker teachers (his Little Green Book is still regarded as one of the best introductory no-limit hold 'em books).
For more information see:
Gordon was approached by Tony DeRosa-Grund of ProjoPoker, an online poker site, to be co-host and analyst for the show and to bring in pro poker players to appear on it. Gordon wanted to move from cable to a broadcast network and hired a lawyer to get out of his contract with Bravo, which aired Celebrity Poker Showdown. Gordon and DeRosa-Grund signed a contract in December 2005 under which Gordon was to host 26 episodes of the show for $340,000. Projo had 15 days to make a $170,000 payment to Gordon after signing the contract, but failed to do so. Gordon sued Projo and DeRosa-Grund for breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation. The court found that DeRosa-Grund told Gordon the CBS deal was done even though he knew it might not go through, and awarded Gordon over $600,000. DeRosa-Grund recently lost an appeal and Gordon told PokerNews.com "He has moved to Texas and filed for bankruptcy to avoid dealing with the consequences. He's tried to use the judicial system to his advantage all the way, but we are not going to stop until this is settled."
I've always felt that Phil Gordon was one of the best poker TV commentators, and it's a pity we don't see him on shows any more. He was always willing to criticize play, and was one of the best poker teachers (his Little Green Book is still regarded as one of the best introductory no-limit hold 'em books).
For more information see:
- summary of the original case;
- more detail on the original case, plus the appeal; and
- CBS's press release about the show.
Monday, August 17, 2009
ESPN Inks 7-Year Deal With World Series of Poker
ESPN announced an extension of their WSOP broadcast deal till 2018. The current deal had been set to expire after 2010. ESPN has committed to airing at least 32 hours of the WSOP each year, the same number as this year (schedule), and apparently committed to the November Nine concept.
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Poker on TV Update: WSOP Main Event Starts Tuesday
With ESPN's three TV experiments out of the way (and unlikely to return judging from the ratings), we finally get the only regular WSOP event we'll see this year, the Main Event, which starts Tuesday at 8 and 9 PM.
The EPT Kiev live stream is Saturday and Sunday. The European Poker Tour doesn't air in the US, but it is the world's leading poker tour and their webcasts are good quality.
For those of you who get it, the Windy City Poker Championship airs another episode on Thursday at 7 PM central.
If you haven't seen 2 Months 2 Million yet, I recommend you watch it. We have plenty of new information about it after our 2 Months 2 Million post, including the show's origins in 2007, the relationship between the stars (friends who spend every summer in Vegas), whether the show is realistic or not (KRANTZ says no then yes), and my initial impressions of it (I loved it).
This week's newsbites:
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The EPT Kiev live stream is Saturday and Sunday. The European Poker Tour doesn't air in the US, but it is the world's leading poker tour and their webcasts are good quality.
For those of you who get it, the Windy City Poker Championship airs another episode on Thursday at 7 PM central.
If you haven't seen 2 Months 2 Million yet, I recommend you watch it. We have plenty of new information about it after our 2 Months 2 Million post, including the show's origins in 2007, the relationship between the stars (friends who spend every summer in Vegas), whether the show is realistic or not (KRANTZ says no then yes), and my initial impressions of it (I loved it).
This week's newsbites:
- Three NBC affiliates refuse to air Face the Ace because of policies against gambling.
- Funny clause in the WPT sale agreement: the sellers get 6 tickets to the WPT Invitational every year for life.
| With football season coming up, it's time to open a sportsbetting account. I recommend Bodog (review) because you can play poker from the same account and it's simply one of the most profitable poker rooms on the net. - Advertorial by FSJ |
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Sunday, August 16, 2009
World Poker Tour Earnings
WPT Enterprises (WPTE) announced their second-quarter earnings recently. The big news is that they were profitable (the previous quarter they returned to profitability, but only if you exclude one-time items). Their return to profitability, despite lower revenue, was due to massive cost reductions. They expect to be profitable in the third quarter as well. We'll probably only see one more quarterly report from them: WPTE's sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter, and they won't have publicly-traded stock after that.
They expect season 8 to air on Fox Sports Net in late 2009 or early 2010.
WPTE signed more season 7 (already aired in the US) sponsorship deals, and expects their international revenue from the season to be more than twice their US revenue (Full Tilt gave them $3.25 million to sponsor season 7 in the US).
ClubWPT (their free-play online poker site) has been growing due to partner FSN's promotional efforts, such as using its excess ad inventory to promote ClubWPT.
WPTE says they'll be licensing their brand to online poker companies for more non-US events (they've already booked Barcelona, Cyprus, Morocco, Slovakia, and Venice). With the subsequent announcement of their sale, however, I doubt they'll continue to seek sponsorship money from their future competitors.
For all the details see their press release, conference call or call transcript, and quarterly financial statement.
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They expect season 8 to air on Fox Sports Net in late 2009 or early 2010.
WPTE signed more season 7 (already aired in the US) sponsorship deals, and expects their international revenue from the season to be more than twice their US revenue (Full Tilt gave them $3.25 million to sponsor season 7 in the US).
ClubWPT (their free-play online poker site) has been growing due to partner FSN's promotional efforts, such as using its excess ad inventory to promote ClubWPT.
WPTE says they'll be licensing their brand to online poker companies for more non-US events (they've already booked Barcelona, Cyprus, Morocco, Slovakia, and Venice). With the subsequent announcement of their sale, however, I doubt they'll continue to seek sponsorship money from their future competitors.
For all the details see their press release, conference call or call transcript, and quarterly financial statement.
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Friday, August 14, 2009
World Poker Tour Season 8 Events
World Poker Tour season 8 started playing last month with 12 events that will be televised, down from 13 in season 7 and 20 in season 6. There is one new event: the Hollywood Poker Open, from the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Two events were dropped: the Foxwoods Poker Classic (one Foxwoods event remains) and the North American Poker Championship from Niagara. The Borgata Poker Open has an unusually-low $3,300 buyin (and overlaps with the WCOOP and WSOP Europe). There are an additional five non-televised European events sponsored by online poker sites.
Fox Sports Net has agreed to air season 8, but no airdates have been announced yet (update: it starts airing January 24). The new season will be broadcast in high definition. The company that is buying the World Poker Tour runs online poker sites that don't take US players (update: they sold to PartyGaming instead). The World Poker Tour hasn't announced a US TV sponsor for season 8 yet (Full Tilt Poker sponsored season 7), and I don't know what will happen with the US sponsorship situation (update: it will be sponsored by FTP). Since the WPT will be used primarily to market a non-US online poker site in the future I would expect it to become less US-centric.
The season 8 schedule (playing, not airing, schedule):
Update, additional tournament:
Grand Prix de Paris, Aviation Club de France, May 8-13, € 10,000
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Fox Sports Net has agreed to air season 8, but no airdates have been announced yet (update: it starts airing January 24). The new season will be broadcast in high definition. The company that is buying the World Poker Tour runs online poker sites that don't take US players (update: they sold to PartyGaming instead). The World Poker Tour hasn't announced a US TV sponsor for season 8 yet (Full Tilt Poker sponsored season 7), and I don't know what will happen with the US sponsorship situation (update: it will be sponsored by FTP). Since the WPT will be used primarily to market a non-US online poker site in the future I would expect it to become less US-centric.
The season 8 schedule (playing, not airing, schedule):
Tournament Name | Hosting Casino | Date | Buy-in |
Bellagio Cup V | Bellagio | July 13 - 19 | $15,000 +$400 |
Legends of Poker | The Bicycle Casino | Aug 22 – 26 | $9,800 + $200 |
Borgata Poker Open | Borgata | Sept 19 - 24 | $3,300 + $200 |
Festa al Lago | Bellagio | October 20 – 26 | $15,000 +$400 |
Foxwoods World Poker Finals | Foxwoods | Nov 5 – 10 | $9,700 + $300 |
Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic | Bellagio | Dec 13 – 19 | $15,000 +$400 |
Southern Poker Championship | Beau Rivage, Biloxi, MS | Jan 24 - 27 | $9,700 + $300 |
L.A. Poker Classic | Commerce | Feb 20 – Feb 25 | $9,600 + $400 |
WPT Invitational | Commerce | Feb 27 – March 1 | Invitation Only |
Bay 101 Shooting Star | Bay 101, San Jose | March 8 – 12 | $9,600 + $400 |
Hollywood Poker Open | Hollywood Casino, Lawrenceburg, IN | March 20 – 24 | $9,600 + $400 |
WPT World Championship | Bellagio | April 17-24 | $25,000 + $500 |
Update, additional tournament:
Grand Prix de Paris, Aviation Club de France, May 8-13, € 10,000
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Thursday, August 13, 2009
2 Months $2 Milllion Preview
2 Months $2 Million premieres Sunday at 9 PM on G4. Check out our full coverage and the below videos.
House tour:
Playboy bunnies visit the mansion:
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House tour:
Playboy bunnies visit the mansion:
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Videos About Online Poker Stars
With 2 Months $2 Million coming up, I was reminded that there are a couple of good videos about online poker stars that most of you won't have seen.
Jay Rosenkrantz (aka KRANTZ, pr1nnyraid), the guy behind 2 Months $2 Million, is a producer of the first of these videos. Jay was the second-winningest online poker player of 2007, up over $2 million. After that he founded DeucesCracked, widely regarded as the best poker training site. The video, From Busto To Robusto: Captain Zeebo, is available for free at his training site. It's very professionally produced, and it focuses on an extraordinary hardship that befell online poker star Greg "Captain Zeebo" Lavery. A second installment in the From Busto To Robusto series should be out in late November/early December.
The second video isn't as professional, but I still recommend it. It's called The Poker Film, and it's about a weekend in the lives of Team Domeski, four college kids who won millions playing online poker. Nat Arem, a well-known figure in the online poker business, is behind this one.
Both films are about a half hour long.
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Jay Rosenkrantz (aka KRANTZ, pr1nnyraid), the guy behind 2 Months $2 Million, is a producer of the first of these videos. Jay was the second-winningest online poker player of 2007, up over $2 million. After that he founded DeucesCracked, widely regarded as the best poker training site. The video, From Busto To Robusto: Captain Zeebo, is available for free at his training site. It's very professionally produced, and it focuses on an extraordinary hardship that befell online poker star Greg "Captain Zeebo" Lavery. A second installment in the From Busto To Robusto series should be out in late November/early December.
The second video isn't as professional, but I still recommend it. It's called The Poker Film, and it's about a weekend in the lives of Team Domeski, four college kids who won millions playing online poker. Nat Arem, a well-known figure in the online poker business, is behind this one.
Both films are about a half hour long.
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Tuesday, August 11, 2009
2 Months $2 Million Premieres Sunday
2 Months $2 Million premieres Sunday at 9 PM on G4.
ESPN is showing the Ante Up For Africa Celebrity-Charity Event Tuesday at 8 and 9 PM. It's an annual event run in conjunction with the WSOP.
Face the Ace now moves to monthly airings, with the next one in September.
This week's newsbites:
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ESPN is showing the Ante Up For Africa Celebrity-Charity Event Tuesday at 8 and 9 PM. It's an annual event run in conjunction with the WSOP.
Face the Ace now moves to monthly airings, with the next one in September.
This week's newsbites:
- High Stakes Poker season 6 is expected to film in October or November.
- We have loads of new tidbits about 2 Months $2 Million, including one of the stars claiming "Honestly, we've had sex before."
- ESPN has a new poker show that airs only on the web: Inside Deal. It will run until the WSOP Main Event final table. The first week's guest was Chris Moneymaker.
- Poker players Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho are on the next season of Amazing Race, premiering September 27 (1, 2).
- There's been plenty of additional criticism of Face the Ace.
- Last week's WSOP broadcast was the second time ESPN expanded a final table (from 9 to 10 players) to fit Phil Hellmuth.
- The Windy City Poker Championship, run by Main Event Charity Games, is airing on CSN in Chicago.
- PokerStars's latest regional tour is the Italian Poker Tour, broadcast only in Italy.
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Scammers Seeking Show Staff
Matt Sowash and Andrew "Doc" Hicks were arrested for securities fraud last month, but that hasn't stopped them from looking for staff for their latest startup, Poker Television Network. On August 3 they ran the following Craigslist ad:
The Poker Television Network is producing four brand new shows that will be filmed at Binion's. I have listed each show below along with the talent needed. If you know poker and want in on a ground floor opportunity with a new television network please reply ASAP. We have productions starting in one week from today. I will be conducting interviews this Thursday at noon at Binion's.Sowash (now going by the name Matt Bradford) and Hicks ran a free bar poker company called Amateur Poker Tour in Denver. It was funded by illegal securities sales, it failed, and it left behind a lot of angry investors. One of them even planned to kill Sowash with rattlesnakes.
1. Wake up with Poker
Talent: Attractive male & female co hosts
Production: Camera People, Writer/News gatherer
2. Poker Talk Live
Talent: Band, co host, Future host
Production: Writer, Production Assistant, Camera People
3. Poker School
Talent: Attractive Female Host
Production: Writer, Production Crew
4. Strip Poker
Talent: Attractive Female Host
Production: Writer, Production Crew
I watched a few minutes of one of their shows, Four Of A Kind (below). You really must watch it: it's hilariously bad.
Note that they even inserted some well-known companies' ads into the show, apparently in the hope that potential investors would believe they sold the ads. Expect their programming to be picked up by major cable systems... never.
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NHL Charity Shootout Filmed For TV
The NHL Charity Shootout tournament was held at the Rio alongside the WSOP while the NHL was in town for their awards ceremony. Four hours were filmed and will air on ESPN Classic, the NHL Network, and TSN in Canada. The final table consisted of Vanessa Rousso, Mats Sundin, Scott Hartnell, Roberto Luongo, Glenn Anderson, Kris Versteeg, Jeremy Roenick, Eddie Olczyk, and Murray Ungurain (a PokerStars qualifier).
Airtimes on ESPN Classic:
11/24 at 10pm (ep. #1)
12/1 at 10pm (ep. #2)
12/8 at 10pm (ep. #3)
12/15 at 10pm (ep. #4)
See also the press release, PokerNews.com.
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Airtimes on ESPN Classic:
11/24 at 10pm (ep. #1)
12/1 at 10pm (ep. #2)
12/8 at 10pm (ep. #3)
12/15 at 10pm (ep. #4)
See also the press release, PokerNews.com.
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Monday, August 10, 2009
World Team Poker To Stream Events On The Internet
World Team Poker is a new concept that will field teams of five players chosen by country captains. The country teams will play each other in heads up matches of various forms of poker. Captains include Phil Hellmuth (USA), Men "The Master" Nguyen (Vietnam), and Johnny Chan (China). The first event, Vietnam vs. USA, is planned for November in Las Vegas, and they plan to stream it live over the internet.
Read more at PokerListings and Gaming Today.
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Read more at PokerListings and Gaming Today.
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Sports Legends Challenge Filmed For TV
The Sports Legends Challenge will take place at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort in the Bahamas in September. It will feature 25 poker stars (including Johnny Chan, Antonio Esfandiari, Mike Sexton, Annie Duke, Jamie Gold, Gavin Smith, Layne Flack, and Men “The Master” Nguyen), 25 star athletes (including Joe Namath, Mike Ditka, Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Troy Aikman, Emmit Smith, Hershel Walker, Sugar Ray Leonard, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving, Richard Petty, Reggie Jackson, and Tony Hawk), golf, workshops conducted by the poker pros, a sportsbetting workshop, and the opportunity to interact with the poker stars and athletes. The top players in a tournament will be paired up with an athlete and a poker pro coach to play in a tag-team, $1,000,000, winner-take-all event that will air on Fox Sports Net on Thanksgiving Day. Satellites to Sports Legends Challenge packages are running at Absolute Poker.
Update, September 3, 2009: The event has been postponed. It turns out this isn't the first time a poker venture organized by Bruce Bibbero and Larry Lubin has turned sour. They also spammed the net about the event. Read more at Pokerati, which broke the story.
Update, October 5, 2009: Their parent company was sued by the Venetian over bailing out of a planned event, and they shut down their office. Pokerati summarizes the mess.
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Update, September 3, 2009: The event has been postponed. It turns out this isn't the first time a poker venture organized by Bruce Bibbero and Larry Lubin has turned sour. They also spammed the net about the event. Read more at Pokerati, which broke the story.
Update, October 5, 2009: Their parent company was sued by the Venetian over bailing out of a planned event, and they shut down their office. Pokerati summarizes the mess.
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WSOP Ratings Down
Ratings for the first two WSOP broadcasts of 2009 are down 8% from last year, apparently about 4% for the $40K and 12% for the Champions Invitational. For further details see Poker News Daily (1, 2).
Update, August 17: Ratings after three weeks are down 8%, according to Fox Business. That indicates that the third broadcast, the charitable tournament, was down about 8%. I expected much worse, as it's one of the worst ESPN poker broadcasts I've ever seen, which is saying a lot.
Update, September 25: Ratings were reportedly up 11% this year through four weeks of Main Event shows.
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Update, August 17: Ratings after three weeks are down 8%, according to Fox Business. That indicates that the third broadcast, the charitable tournament, was down about 8%. I expected much worse, as it's one of the worst ESPN poker broadcasts I've ever seen, which is saying a lot.
Update, September 25: Ratings were reportedly up 11% this year through four weeks of Main Event shows.
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Sunday, August 09, 2009
Face The Ace Ratings Miserable
Face the Ace's ratings have been miserable so far: it's been by far the lowest-rated show on the four major broadcast networks on Saturday evenings. The first episode, on August 1, averaged 1.6 million viewers. Other network shows had between 2.3 million and 4.6 million viewers. The second episode had even fewer viewers: 1.5 million, again putting it in last place. Those numbers are very poor for prime time on a broadcast network.
Sources: 8/1 ratings, 8/8 ratings.
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Sources: 8/1 ratings, 8/8 ratings.
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Tuesday, August 04, 2009
WSOP Champions Invitational On ESPN Tonight
Tonight ESPN is showing the WSOP Champions Invitational. All the previous Main Event winners were invited, and the winner gets a 1970 (year of the first WSOP) Corvette. No bracelet is awarded. You can expect to see Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Dan Harrington, Carlos Mortensen, Peter Eastgate, and Huck Seed, among others.
Face The Ace and Sam's Game continue their runs.
This week's newsbites:
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Face The Ace and Sam's Game continue their runs.
This week's newsbites:
- Check out the previews for the upcoming show 2 Months, $2 Million on their site.
- Face The Ace was widely lambasted by the peanut gallery, but it was about what I expected.
- Barry Greenstein is expected to do another charitable fundraiser in conjunction with High Stakes Poker season 6.
- The WPT provided more details about some of their non-televised overseas tournaments.
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Monday, August 03, 2009
World Poker Tour Sold, Will Start Online Poker Site
WPT Enterprises announced today that Gamynia Limited agreed to acquire the Company's assets, other than cash and investments, for $9,075,000 plus a percentage of future revenues. The World Poker Tour will continue its operations and will enter the online gambling market (a market they have previously failed in). Gamynia has a contract with Hardway Investments, a major player in the non-US online gambling market, to operate the assets. Hardway's sites include Titan Poker and Casino Tropez, and operate on Playtech software (which powers the iPoker Network).
The sale should be completed in the fourth quarter, after which WPT Enterprises intends to purchase a non-poker business.
See also the SEC filing regarding the transaction and our previous coverage of the WPT's potential sale.
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The sale should be completed in the fourth quarter, after which WPT Enterprises intends to purchase a non-poker business.
See also the SEC filing regarding the transaction and our previous coverage of the WPT's potential sale.
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Poker After Dark Schedule
The Poker After Dark schedule for the rest of 2009 is:
Weeks of September 7 and 14, cash game, "Top Guns:" Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Patrik Antonius, Howard Lederer, Eli Elezra, Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies, and Phil Ivey.
Week of September 21, tourney, "The Magnificent Six:" Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, and Phil Hellmuth.
Week of September 28, tourney, "USA vs. Italy:" Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Erick Lindgren, Marco Traniello, Max Pescatori and Dario Minieri.
Week of December 7, cash game, "Railbird Heaven:" Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Gus Hansen, and Phil Hellmuth.
Week of December 14, cash game, "Railbird Heaven:" Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Gus Hansen/David "Viffer" Peat, and Phil Hellmuth.
You can find player biographies and the lineups for rerun weeks on NBC's web site.
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Weeks of September 7 and 14, cash game, "Top Guns:" Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Patrik Antonius, Howard Lederer, Eli Elezra, Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies, and Phil Ivey.
Week of September 21, tourney, "The Magnificent Six:" Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, and Phil Hellmuth.
Week of September 28, tourney, "USA vs. Italy:" Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Erick Lindgren, Marco Traniello, Max Pescatori and Dario Minieri.
Week of December 7, cash game, "Railbird Heaven:" Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Gus Hansen, and Phil Hellmuth.
Week of December 14, cash game, "Railbird Heaven:" Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Gus Hansen/David "Viffer" Peat, and Phil Hellmuth.
You can find player biographies and the lineups for rerun weeks on NBC's web site.
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Sunday, August 02, 2009
High Stakes Poker Season 6
High Stakes Poker season 6 will air on GSN starting February 14 at 8 PM...
Update: click the link for our complete, current High Stakes Poker season 6 coverage.
High Stakes Poker season 6 will film 13 episodes at the Golden Nugget from November 11th to 13th. They will air on GSN starting February 14 at 8 PM, with reruns at 11 PM and 2 AM. AJ Benza will be replaced by a female interviewer, reportedly Kara Scott. As in the past, blinds will be $400/$800 with a $200,000 minimum and $500,000 maximum buy-in and no prop bets will be allowed. Barry Greenstein will do another charitable fundraising drive where he says a popular poker phrase on the show, this time "bing, blang, blaow."
This post is regularly updated with new information about High Stakes Poker season 6, so sign up for our weekly newsletter or subscribe to our feed to follow the news, and read the comments below for more detailed information.
Update: click the link for our complete, current High Stakes Poker season 6 coverage.
High Stakes Poker season 6 will film 13 episodes at the Golden Nugget from November 11th to 13th. They will air on GSN starting February 14 at 8 PM, with reruns at 11 PM and 2 AM. AJ Benza will be replaced by a female interviewer, reportedly Kara Scott. As in the past, blinds will be $400/$800 with a $200,000 minimum and $500,000 maximum buy-in and no prop bets will be allowed. Barry Greenstein will do another charitable fundraising drive where he says a popular poker phrase on the show, this time "bing, blang, blaow."
This post is regularly updated with new information about High Stakes Poker season 6, so sign up for our weekly newsletter or subscribe to our feed to follow the news, and read the comments below for more detailed information.
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