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On Monday, Poker News Daily learned that the Eighth District Court in Nevada dismissed a lawsuit filed by Brandon McSmith, who claimed ownership of the idea for the NBC poker game show “Face the Ace.”
McSmith can now file an appeal or seek the intervention of a federal court. McSmith told Poker News Daily that while he was disappointed in the decision, he’s optimistic that an appeal will be successful: “Judge Michelle Leavitt dismissed the case on the basis that I didn’t state a claim. Leavitt has her fair share of appeals that have gone against her.”
McSmith purportedly created a show dubbed “All Star Poker Challenge” in which five pros would take on contestants in a series of heads-up matches similar to the structure of “Face the Ace.” Each match was worth $2,000 in prize money and players who fought through all five pros would take home a trip to the () Main Event. On “Face the Ace,” the top prize was $1 million and only three matches were held.
On why Leavitt may have dismissed his case, McSmith told Poker News Daily, “She didn’t want to listen to any of the evidence before her. Under Nevada procedures, you state a claim that’s plausible. I’m trying not to be negative, but it looked like it was all stacked against me. I will either appeal it or file in federal court. It gives the FBI a little more time to investigate.”
The FBI became involved in the copyright infringement case late last week, when McSmith successfully contacted Arlo Devlin-Brown of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Devlin-Brown was one of the primary forces behind a $30 million online poker funds seizure last July that affected more than 24,000 players. It’s speculated that Devlin-Brown’s interest in the case may stem from the involvement of , which sponsored “Face the Ace” and lent its pros to the program. 2009 WSOP Main Event November Niner was the series’ very first pro challenger.
Poker PROductions brought “Face the Ace” to life. The production company also creates new episodes of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” and NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and is headed by Mori Eskandani. On a timeline for his next move, McSmith forecasted, “I have my people working on it right now. It’ll be less than three weeks. We’re pulling everything together. I won’t sit back and wait, but I want to make sure to cross my T’s and dot my I’s first. I’m not too worried about going to federal court. The big decision is if I want to get her decision overturned.”
McSmith sent a package to an FBI Special Agent containing hard copies of e-mails and other correspondence related to his claims to “Face the Ace.” The agent actually asked him why he didn’t file his copyright infringement case in federal court in the first place, an avenue that McSmith may take. The plaintiff is a security worker at a casino in Las Vegas by trade.
“Face the Ace” debuted with a paltry 0.4 rating and a 2 share, equating to nearly 1.6 million viewers. It squared off against “America’s Most Wanted” on FOX, the movie “Red Eye” on ABC, and a re-run of “Numb3rs” on CBS, falling short in the ratings against all three programs. The series, which featured host Steve Schirripa of “The Sopranos” fame, has not yet been renewed for a second season. McSmith noted that despite the relative failure of the show, its worldwide syndication and being its creator make a lawsuit worthwhile.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest developments in the “Face the Ace” lawsuit.
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03 8th, 2010
“I’m so excited to win such a prestigious event and join the likes of Huck Seed, Chris Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth as Heads-Up Champion,” said Duke, who became the first-ever woman to win the NBC Heads-Up title.
“I came into this tournament really focused and it feels great to finally break through in this event.”
The road to victory at Caesars Palace was not an easy one for the sponsored pro. She beat 2008 runner-up Andy Bloch in the first round before getting past 2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon in the round of 32.
Next up was 2007 champion Paul Wasicka who looked to have the best of Duke when she was all in with ace-ten against his pocket aces at one point. Miraculously, Duke went runner-runner to make a straight, take the lead and eventually move on.
“I would have loved all of my matches to be easy,” said Duke. “I’m sure (Producer) Mori (Eskandani) is happy though, because it’s going to give the show some serious drama.
“One thing’s for sure, I can never complain about bad beats again after hitting that runner-runner king-queen against Paul Wasicka.”
In the end, Duke beat eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel in the best-of-three final to bank the $500,000 first-place prize.
“Annie was my number one pick to win,” said Seidel. “She played very tough. She had no fear. She really played the way you’re supposed to play in this sort of structure.”
A mother of four, Duke took some time off from her career as a professional poker player to film The Celebrity Apprentice last season.
Now she says a little time away from the game did her a world of good.
“I know what my main priority is and that’s my family, so I’m never going to play as much poker as everyone else, but it’s really nice to come back with a bang,” she said. “I took the time off, I readjusted and now I’ve had some good results.”
Vanessa Rousso made runner-up at the Heads-Up Championship in 2009, the deepest finish by a woman in the event before this year.
Duke said it’s great to see so many female poker players rising to the top.
“I think it’s great that a woman came in second last year and a woman finished first year to really represent woman players,” she said. “There are some great female poker players out there.”
NBC’s coverage of the 64-person event will air Sunday’s at 12 p.m. ET beginning April 18 through May 23.
- With files from Matthew Showell
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Cable station G4 has elected not to renew the online poker reality series “2 Months, $2 Million,” according to show personality Jay “Krantz” Rosenkrantz. The future of the franchise is now up in the air.
Rosenkrantz recently learned of G4’s decision not to renew the show, which ran for 10 half-hour episodes beginning last August. “2 Months, $2 Million” featured four online poker players – Dani Stern, Emil Patel, Brian Roberts, and Rosenkrantz – trying to earn $2 million collectively over a two-month period. Ultimately, the quartet banked $676,000 during the 10 episodes, falling well short of the goal. However, the program appeared to be well received by the poker community, whose members could relate to the trials and tribulations that the “2 Months, $2 Million” cast experienced.
Rosenkrantz told Poker News Daily that the cast members are currently weighing their alternatives: “We’re exploring our options. I learned a lot doing ‘2 Months, $2 Million,’ not the least of which was what people really liked about it and what didn’t work. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to let that experience work for us.” Rosenkrantz and company rented a posh house in Las Vegas for the duration of the series, whose finale aired in mid-October.
G4 Vice President of Development, Laura Civiello, explained to Poker News Daily in a previous interview why “2 Months, $2 Million” was a perfect fit for the network: “There was something there that represented a lifestyle our audience is fascinated with. Every young guy wishes they could have this lifestyle, so it was very appealing to men ages 18 to 34, which is the majority of our demographic.” G4 does not currently air any gambling-related programming, instead opting for original series like “Attack of the Show” and “X-Play.”
The four “2 Months, $2 Million” cast members earned $35,000 in the first week before climbing to nearly $200,000 by the end of Week 2. In Week 3, the wheels fell off the proverbial bus, as the team suffered an $84,000 setback and were up just $114,000 overall. Rosenkrantz then battled poker pro in an epic heads-up match, dropping $60,000 to the () bracelet winner.
After four weeks in a Sunday nighttime slot, G4 shipped “2 Months, $2 Million” to Wednesdays. On Sundays, the program squared off against stiff competition that included HBO’s “True Blood” and “Entourage” as well as NFL football. On Wednesdays, its opposition appeared to be much softer.
After five episodes, the cast was up only $35,000 before rebounding by offering a boot camp at their Las Vegas house. Prodigies that turned out for the boot camp included Harry “UgotaBanana” Kaczka, Dave “NLsoldier” Schnettler, Wladimir “insyder19” Taschner, and Ben “pokiethepanda” Middleton.
A DeucesCracked fundraiser benefiting the Lili Claire Foundation took center stage on the September 30th installment of “2 Months, $2 Million.” After seven episodes, the team needed to average a colossal $625,000 in profit for each of the final three weeks in order to reach its $2 million goal. They promptly raked in $371,000 after Rosenkrantz battled David “Viffer” Peat online. Rosenkrantz exploited a betting tell to move from a $248,000 initial loss against Peat to a win of $351,000 on the week.
Perhaps the most memorable episode was a high-stakes home game featuring Peat, Team Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, , Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger, and Victory Poker’s Andrew “good2cu” Robl. The team profited $108,000 on the week to move to $615,000 overall. Entering the final week of the show, the “2 Months, $2 Million” cast adjusted their goal down to $1 million, which would have still been quite a feat.
In the season finale, the foursome ended up $676,000 over the ten-week show. Calls and e-mails placed to G4 for comment were not returned as of press time.
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02 28th, 2010
The NAPT held its first exclusive event at the Venetian and more than 800 players paid the $5,000 buy-in.
Meanwhile the stars were indeed shining bright at the WPT Invitational with Tia Carrera, Trishelle Cannatella, and Marlon Wayans coming out to play.
With all the excitement over the competing poker tours there were several poker stories that were almost forgotten.
Fortunately as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief we’ve compiled a list of the lesser-known stories below.
This week we’ll take a look at PartyPoker running an endurance promo, new schedules for two PokerStars tournaments, a training seminar by Mike “The Mouth” Matusow and more.
Class in Session for Mike “The Mouth” Matusow
When The Mouth talks you’d better listen.
That’s what organizers are hoping participants will take out of the upcoming Mike “The Mouth” Matusow poker training session in California.
Matusow, who is the dean of DeepStacks University, will teach a special five-hour session that covers winning strategies for tournament and cash game poker in addition to giving one-on-one poker analysis at the tables.
The training session will cost $495 to attend and every contestant will receive a copy of the Team Full Tilt Pro’s new book Check Raising the Devil.
The event will take place March 12 at the Palo Casino Spa and Resort.
Big Names Headline The Poker Show Live
One of the poker’s most popular radio shows is returning with Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Galfond, Tony G, David Benyamine and Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz all coming along for the ride.
The Poker Show Live, sponsored by Boylepoker, will feature all the aforementioned poker players in new episodes for the show’s third season beginning March 2.
Hosted by Jesse May, The Poker Show Live has interviewed almost every well-known poker player over the span of its first two seasons.
Tom Dwan, Vicky Coren, Andrew Feldman, Huck Seed, Neil Channing, Erik Seidel have all taken their turn on The Poker Show Live microphone.
The show is available on ThePokerShowLive.com, BoylePoker.com and iTunes.
Ontario Considers Online Gaming
The Canadian province of Ontario is taking a serious look at running its own official online gambling service that could potentially include poker.
Ontario Lottery and Gambling chairman Paul Godfrey and Premier Dalton McGuinty want the province to provide Internet gambling instead of letting potential revenue go to offshore gambling sites.
In Canada, British Columbia and Atlantic Lottery Corporations already officially allow online gambling. The BC Lottery Corporation offers a limited poker game called Pacific Hold’em Poker, which is played against the house.
Loto-Quebec’s poker site is set to launch this fall and analysts are estimating it could potentially net $50 million in revenue for the government over the next three years.
Gladiator Promo Returns to PartyPoker
One of the most popular promotions on PartyPoker is returning this March.
The Gladiator promo rewards players who generate at least 10 PartyPoints every day for a minimum of five days. There are potentially bigger rewards available for players who earn up to 2,000 PartyPoints.
“The Gladiator is back and the rewards are greater than ever before,” said a PartyPoker spokesman.
“This promotion is about spreading play over a period of time for maximus rewards! It is simple and offers great value and we encourage players to challenge themselves and take a closer look.”
If a player manages to earn 2,000 PartyPoints a day from March 3 to April 1 they will instantly earn a $12,500 package to the 2010 WSOP Main Event.
To learn more about The Gladiator check the PartyPoker
PokerStars Releases SCOOP, NAPT Mohegan Sun Schedules
PokerStars announced the dates for one of its biggest online series and its burgeoning North American tour this week.
The PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker will take place over 14 days from May 3-16 with 33 events. Like last year, each event will have a low, medium and high buy-in variant.
The series will culminate with the Main Event on May 16, with guarantees of $1 million, $3 million and $5 million for each buy-in level.
Meanwhile the PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour’s next stop, at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, will take place April 7-11. The main event carries a $5,000 buy-in and there will be a $10k High Roller Bounty Shootout.
To see the complete schedules for the upcoming SCOOP or NAPT check the PokerStars .
Versus Picks Up Season 2 of Poker2Nite
Poker news show Poker2Nite is returning for another season, but leaving Fox Sports Net behind for Versus.
Poker2Nite follows an informal news format with UB Poker pro Joe Sebok and poker personality Scott Huff acting as hosts. Dana Workman also produces the satirical Weekly Misdeal for the program.
All 13 episodes of the first season were shown on Fox Sports Net. The second season will kick off this Wednesday at 11 p.m. ET on Versus, which was formerly OLN.
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02 26th, 2010
The UB.com sponsored poker news show “Poker2Nite” has seen its final new episode air on cable station Fox Sports Net. Season 2 of the franchise will appear on Versus, according to a post on PokerRoad.
The new season will hit television airwaves on Wednesday, March 3rd, where it will appear in the 11:00pm ET time slot. The show stars poker pro Joe Sebok and PokerRoad personality Scott Huff, who break down the latest news and events from the industry. In addition, Dana Workman offers up a satirical look at the latest poker headlines in the Weekly Misdeal. The program runs for 30 minutes and aired an original season that lasted for 13 episodes.
Now, it’s on to Versus, although no official statement has been made by show sponsor UB.com on its future. Text found in an article posted on PokerRoad explains what viewers can expect on the show’s new home: “Versus, formerly OLN, is already a regular cable stop for fans of NHL hockey, cycling, and outdoor sports like hunting and fishing, but thus far hasn’t ventured far into the world of poker. However, with Poker2Nite now in their rotation, that may all change for the better.” OLN stands for the Outdoor Life Network.
Versus is owned by cable goliath Comcast and airs over 50 National Hockey League (NHL) games every season. In addition to smash mouth hockey, Versus airs cycling, hunting, fishing, Mixed Martial Arts, Indy Car racing, bull riding, and college football. According to the network’s schedule posted on its website, two episodes of “Sports Jobs with Junior Seau” will serve as the lead-in to “Poker2Nite” next Wednesday. Following the poker show is a 30-minute program called “Whacked Out Sports.” The channel airs in stunning high-definition.
November 18th marked the first episode of “Poker2Nite” on Fox Sports Net. The show welcomed ESPN () announcer Lon McEachern to the stage. McEachern, who was fresh off a trip to watch the WSOP Main Event final table unfold in Las Vegas, told Huff and Sebok, “It’s an event now. To have that many people watching nine guys sit and play cards was incredible. To come from the obscure beginnings to where it is now has been the ride of a lifetime.”
Initial reviews of the poker news series were favorable, although many critiqued Sebok’s nervousness in front of the cameras. By the time the show welcomed UB.com pro on December 9th during its fourth episode, Sebok was in full stride. Hellmuth announced that he had taken a break for the remainder of a rough 2009 calendar year and noted, “There is some luck. That’s what people at home don’t understand. I just have to find a way to come back in 2010 and win one or two. That’s what it’s all about.” Hellmuth is an 11-time WSOP bracelet winner, which leads all players.
Besides Hellmuth and McEachern, other “Poker2Nite” guests have included 2009 Poker Hall of Fame inductee , (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas, prop better extraordinaire , 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, and tournament director Matt Savage. Its final new episode, which aired on February 3rd, featured “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander, who previewed the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Recurring contributors on “Poker2Nite” included , Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, and pro Lacey Jones.
Fox Sports Net continues to air Seasons 7 and 8 of the () on Sunday nights. The network often sees its original programming preempted due to local sporting events, including college hoops, college football, and pro contests.
We’ll have a full recap of “Poker2Nite” Season 2’s kickoff episode right here on Poker News Daily.
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Top female poker pro will join live on Sunday, March 14th at 5:00pm PT for an in-depth interview. The internet series is coming up on its one-year anniversary and has featured guests including “The Man Show” host Adam Carolla, “Anchorman” actor David Koechner, and Dave Coulier of “Full House” fame. Duke’s appearance will be archived after the live airing.
Pollak was formerly the host of Bravo’s “Celebrity Poker Showdown” and is a regular in some of Hollywood’s richest home games. Pollak hosted six episodes of the first season of the celebrity poker show alongside pro before comedian Dave Foley assumed the role. Pollak started his chat show last April and the franchise has become a major hit. We sat down with the talk show host to preview the March 14th episode, which will be sponsored by Poker News Daily.
Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. Why bring Annie Duke on Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show?
Kevin Pollak: The choice of Annie Duke was simple and easy. I’ve played with her. I’ve admired her skill and success. Hers is a great story and one that is worth sharing. My chat show is always about having interesting people on from as many walks of life as possible.
PND: Tell us about your poker background.
Kevin Pollak: I’ve been playing against the pros since 1995 in casinos. Bravo asked me to help them launch “Celebrity Poker Showdown” by hosting the first six episodes. It was an easy choice, but the notion was that I’d just be on six episodes. Bravo didn’t have much original programming at the time other than “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” so they replayed it for a year. When I bowed out, people would come up to me and say, “I’m sorry that you got fired.” That was funny. Through Phil Gordon and other players, I got to meet some of the pros and played in a cash game with Annie and a few others. I’ve also been in a few higher stakes home games with pros.
PND: You mentioned that Duke has a great story that’s worth sharing. What about her life will be interesting to listeners?
Kevin Pollak: I don’t really like to editorialize who is interesting and why. It’s easy for me to say who is interesting, but it’s all objective. To say how they’re interesting would not do justice. Her relationship to her brother as a pro and how she came to decide to play professionally will be good to hear. Also, we’d want to discuss what it’s like to be considered the top female player in the game. I can’t wait to hear her take on other pros and their play and how the game has evolved and changed through television.
PND: Does having Duke on help broaden the demographic of your show?
Kevin Pollak: As long as we continue to diversify, which is another reason I’m excited about Annie, I think our so-called demographic will continue to reach further and further and no longer be secular or even specific. I would love for our demographic to be all over the place.
PND: You’ve been hosting the show for nearly one year now. Talk about some of the memorable moments and guests so far.
Kevin Pollak: We’ve tried to hone down interviews to 90 minutes each. Eddie Izzard holds the record at two hours and 31 minutes. I started to realize that we were getting the most in-depth interviews anywhere simply because of the time allotted, so we had two hours with Seth MacFarlane and two hours with Kevin Smith. We’ve had six Academy Award winners on and comedians like Jim Gaffigan, Doug Benson, Paul F. Tompkins, and Dana Carvey. I’m looking forward to more.
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02 23rd, 2010
The six-handed final table of the ’s () Celebrity Invitational was determined on Sunday and Sean Urban leads the pack. The tournament won’t play down to a winner until March 3rd.
As you’d expect in an invitational tournament, the final table is rather eclectic. Headlining the group is Thor Hansen, who holds two () bracelets and is considered to be one of the top Norwegian players in the game. Hansen finished eighth in the $50,000 HORSE Championship during the 2007 WSOP for $188,000. His first bracelet win came in 1998, when Hansen took down a $5,000 Limit Seven Card Stud event for $158,000. Four years later, he was up to his winning ways yet again, this time coming out on top in a $1,500 No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball tournament for $62,000.
Also seated at the final table is personality Trishelle Cannatella, who was a former cast member of the “Real World: Las Vegas.” Cannatella sent Michael Heslov packing in tenth place from the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, the site of the WPT Celebrity Invitational, when Heslov ran Q-J into A-J. The board came out 9-9-2-4-2 and that was all she wrote for Heslov, who walked away empty-handed. Cannatella amassed a stack of 1.5 million chips, which will be good for fourth place when play resumes next month.
Also at the final table is LeRon Washington, who won his way into the invite-only tournament after taking down a satellite through ClubWPT, the WPT’s subscription-based online poker site. Washington tripled up on Sunday to stamp his ticket to the final table. He held A-K of clubs against A-Q and pocket fours and the board ran out 7-5-3-K-8 with three clubs, giving him the nut flush and the win in the hand. His chip stack grew to 250,000 as a result and he finished with 1.8 million, the third largest total overall.
“Dexter” Actor David Zayas was the tournament’s bubble boy, hitting the rails in seventh place to set up the final table. Urban and Hansen checked the action down to the river against Zayas, who flipped up Q-8 for a pair of eights on a J-8-7-5-K board. Hansen turned over 6-4 for a straight and scooped the pot, sending Zayas to the rails. Zayas also appeared in the show “Oz.”
Here are the chip stacks entering the final table in the WPT Celebrity Invitational:
1. Sean Urban - 2,090,000
2. Neev Baram - 1,900,000
3. LeRon Washington - 1,790,000
4. Trishelle Cannatella - 1,540,000
5. Steven Elliott - 1,520,000
6. Thor Hansen - 1,480,000
Actor and comedian Marlon Wayans was knocked out on Sunday when he pushed all-in on the river only to see his opponent table A-K for trip kings. Meanwhile, Cannatella sent talk show host Ricki Lake packing when Cannatella drew out on A-Q with A-J. The flop gave Cannatella two pair and the Absolute Poker pro never looked back. Cannatella was also the executioner of William Fay, the Executive Producer of the blockbuster hit “The Hangover.” Fay was all-in with pocket fives up against Cannatella’s pocket sevens and the flop of Q-5-4 gave him a set. However, his elation was short-lived, as a seven on the turn gave Cannatella a set of her own. The river blanked out and Fay was eliminated to begin work on his next Bradley Cooper film.
Also ousted during the play down day were L.A. Lakers owner Jerry Buss, poker pro , and “The Notebook” director Nick Cassavetes. Next up for the WPT is the $10,000 L.A. Poker Classic, which kicks off on Friday from the Commerce Casino.
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02 11th, 2010
Season 1 has come and gone for the crew of the UB.com sponsored poker news program “Poker2Nite,” which aired at 11:00pm ET on Wednesdays on Fox Sports Net. There has been no official announcement as to whether “Poker2Nite” will return for Season 2.
First up on last night’s show were outtakes featuring blunders from co-hosts Joe Sebok and Scott Huff. The highlights of the never-before-seen footage included Sebok referring to the month of “Feptember” and acting like a robot. For Huff, a bevy of tongue-twisting outtakes aired, including a reference to “le Weekly Misdeal.” The now-infamous “Who or What is ” segment from the show’s very first episode aired, with answers that included “a weird word for a drug,” “Wiener Schnitzel,” and “a German word for donkey.”
Some of the more memorable interviews aired, as “Poker2Nite” welcomed 12 guests to the Los Angeles set during Season 1. The montage opened with , a two-time Montana State Arm Wrestling Champion and six-time bracelet winner, besting Huff in an arm wrestling match under five seconds. Then, () on ESPN announcer Lon McEachern played “Know Your Opponent” and was quizzed on his fellow poker commentators. One of the more interesting questions was, “What poker commentator played against Shannon Elizabeth [on the show ‘Cuts’] for the deed to her hair salon?” McEachern said ’ Chad Brown, while the actual answer is () co-host Vince Van Patten. “Cuts” began airing in 2005.
Poker pro played “Black or Jack,” a play on his former affiliation with the MIT Blackjack Team. The game covered the Black Sox scandal, Jack in the Box, and Jack Black in a broad spectrum of clues. Meanwhile, an extended version of “Mikey’s Meltdowns” featured bluff with 7-2 on an episode of “High Stakes Poker” to claim a $500 reward from each player. Moreover, his $40,000 pot-sized river bet caused Matusow to fold pocket kings, an overpair to the board, face up. Matusow assessed, “He has 2-7 or queens full. It’s 50-50.” A longer clip from “High Stakes Poker” aired, featuring witnesses to the hand that included Victory Poker pro and Todd Brunson.
Even the “Weekly Misdeal” received some love on the Season 1 finale of “Poker2Nite.” Segment host Dana Workman provides a satirical look at the week’s poker headlines in each installment, with the Best of Season 1 version recapping PokerStars’ potential mobile software client, Washington State Senator Margarita Prentice supporting a video keno bill after lambasting online poker, ESPN’s “The Nuts” ranking as the top player in the world, hating on poker television shows, and 2009 WSOP Main Event Champion playing in the same celebrity basketball game as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen.
This author’s favorite part of Wednesday’s installment of “Poker2Nite” was a recap of “Phil’s Best Blowups.” Hellmuth replayed his buzz-worthy hand against Cristian Dragomir during the 2008 WSOP Main Event. Both were seated at the ESPN feature table. Dragomir called a raise of 175,000 with 10-4 of diamonds and promptly hit top pair on the flop. Hellmuth, holding overcards, belted such memorable lines as “You’re an idiot,” “He’s the worst player in history and they’re cheering him,” and “To you, it’s poker. To me, this is my life.” The latter line was directed at 2008 WSOP November Nine member David “Chino” Rheem.
The final clip of the Season 1 recap again brought viewers to “Poker2Nite’s” interview with McEachern. Huff kicked off the discussion by calling McEachern “Norm,” referencing fellow ESPN commentator Norman Chad. Despite the rocky start, much of the feedback to “Poker2Nite” Season 1 was overwhelmingly positive. Now, the industry will wait and see if the series is picked up for Season 2.
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02 5th, 2010
The sixth season of the popular show will premier on the Network Sunday Feb. 14, featuring a familiar line-up of renowned poker champions, cash game specialists and promising up-and-comers.
Producers are also promising a brand-new look and feel for the show that puts viewers in the thick of the poker action.
Poker player and former European Poker Tour presenter Kara Scott will join Gabe Kaplan as co-host this season, but not before GSN airs an eight-hour “I LOVE POKER” marathon featuring highlights from past seasons of the show prior to the premier Sunday.
In addition to the usual cash-game action, Scott will report from the High Stakes Poker suite this season, interviewing players about strategy, table dynamics and giving viewers first-hand feedback after significant hands.
Featuring $200,000 minimum buy-in, the new season is promising the toughest line-up ever, including pros Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Andreas Hoivold, Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Dennis Phillips and Lex Veldhuis.
The premier episode will air Feb. 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET and subsequent episodes will air Sundays at 8 p.m. ET with encore airings at 11 p.m. ET and 2 a.m. ET on GSN.
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02 5th, 2010
The promotion focuses on rewarding casual poker players in addition to the usual hardcore grinders.
As part of the emphasis on recreational players, Pacific Poker will be giving seats to players who are most active on social media sites YouTube.com, Twitter and Facebook.
The WSOP qualifying schedule on Pacific Poker also includes a special female-only tournament and a bounty tournament with several celebrity players including 2009 WSOP last woman standing Leo Margets and former international cricketer Shane Warne.
One WSOP seat will also be awarded to the player who refers the most friends to Pacific Poker.
Finally the site will reward its more serious players with races related to number of tournaments played, amount of rake generated, status points generated and casino points generated.
The promotion will run Feb. 8 to May 8 and in an effort further entice casual players, Pacific Poker is currently offering $8 free to the first 50,000 that register for the promotion.
Pacific Poker awards $15,000 WSOP prize packages that include a seat in the Main Event, travel, accommodations and expenses.
To learn more about the promotion visit the Pacific Poker .