WatchWPT is a way for WPT Enterprises to bring the World Poker Tour to poker fans at their convenience. Making it an app allows it to fit into the busiest of lifestyles, but its availability as a website (worldpokertour.tv) gives viewers even more options.

The new and improved #WatchWPT app is here — and IT'S FREE!

Dive into our extensive library of past livestreams, TV Final Tables, and more!

Check it out here – https://t.co/maW705XHTu
Also available in the App & Google Play Stores pic.twitter.com/lJgaCha9Zj

— World Poker Tour (@WPT) August 2, 2023

I’ll admit that I didn’t know the WPT had an app that needed to be improved. The “new and improved” WatchWPT has a new user interface and more content.

Reason for WatchWPT App Relaunch

According to the World Poker Tour, the relaunch of WatchWPT was to broaden its reach, taking it to the level of an app that poker fans can access from their mobile devices. At the same time, they launched the product for availability on Vizio and LG Smart TVs. Soon to follow will be Samsung and Philips TVs.

More than that, the relaunch is a part of the rebranding efforts that began last year for the World Poker Tour. With the Season XX changes, WatchWPT was slated for upgrades as well. It now has an improved interface and provides a more user-friendly experience.

What to Watch on WatchWPT

The vast library of World Poker Tour events is on the WatchWPT app and website. Check out everything from old Grand Prix de Paris and Legends of Poker final tables to Alpha8 and celebrity specials. There are also collections of the most memorable WPT final tables from the past as well final tables and livestreams from the 2022 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.

Currently, the categories by season includes everything from Season 8 of the World Poker Tour through Season 18. All three seasons of Alpha8 high rollers are available as well.

More episodes are being added, however, including that 20th season finale at Wynn last year and the livestreamed cash games from that event.

It appears that the team behind WatchWPT is still uploading additional episodes and footage. According to the WPT, this will continue through next year as the library becomes home to more classic content to complement new footage.

Free Registration

There is a registration feature, which simply requires a login name, password, and email. This allows viewers to use extras like the “continue watching” feature, so you can stop watching an episode or stream at any point and resume at that place when you return.

You can also “favorite” certain episodes to rewatch later. This is an especially helpful feature if you see poker hands that you want to watch again to improve your own poker game.

There was a downside to my experience with the app though, namely a lot of ads. Before watching a video, there are six ads, though some of them are very short.

The upside, however, is that the app and content is free. In a world where TV watchers now have to seemingly pay for every channel available, the World Poker Tour’s shows are free on apps like this. And its availability through an app makes it easier to watch on a mobile device and on the go.

But coming off of the PokerStars Players Championship at Poker Caribbean Adventure 2023, it is clear that live tournaments are back in full force. While players have shown their readiness to come back to the tables, it seems that there are new factors at play shining a spotlight on the biggest events across the poker industry.

Over the last year, the industry has done more than introduce high-value extravagant events like the PSPC and WPT World Championship. The widespread marketing for these tournaments has returned to former heights, broadcasting these tournaments in full to the poker masses. With the new attention to detail and access to watch from the beginning, it seems that the industry has rekindled the recreational player’s drive to chase the dream in tournaments.

A history of televised poker tournaments

For as long as poker broadcasting has been available, the WSOP Main Event has been the crown jewel. From 1973 through the 90s, the WSOP Main Event was one of the few tournaments receiving any national broadcasting attention. But it did not receive the full beginning-to-end broadcast treatment until 2003, once WSOP partnered with ESPN and one year after televised specials had introduced hole card cams.

As fate would have it, online qualifier Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 WSOP Main Event the first year this innovation was brought to the masses on ESPN. As a satellite-winning recreational player, Moneymaker’s win unleashed the all-time poker boom showing the casual audience what was possible. The charged public interest created lucrative sponsorships for the players and broadcasts alike, and WSOP became a television mainstay throughout the 2000s.

For many years, the Moneymaker boom would inspire a variety of televised poker content from online poker operators like PokerStars while organizations like the World Poker Tour showcased their events on mainstream TV stations like the Travel Channel. But public interest in poker waned following ‘Black Friday’ on April 15, 2011, when most poker clients were infamously frozen in the United States. This left many American casual players without a credible place to play online, leading to a decline in sponsorship money and a paucity in televised tournament play.

Later as poker became a niche interest and audiences consumed television in new ways, PokerGO led the way. After launching in 2017, PokerGO became the streaming home of fan favorite poker shows and tournament broadcasts from years past along with all-new live coverage. In addition to becoming the new home for full WSOP Main Event coverage, PokerGO became the place to watch Aria’s premium invite-only tournament event, the Super High Roller Bowl. Once a year, this $300k buy-in tournament attracts the wealthiest and well-studied players to compete for multimillion dollar payouts. And once again, fans were able to watch coverage from Level 1, following the action as players built their starting stacks toward the Final Table.

In 2019, Triton Poker followed in PokerGO’s footsteps, bringing a premium feel to an ultra high stakes tournament. The Triton Million: Helping Hand for Charity boasted a £1 million buy-in, with £50k “rake” toward charity. The event featured business men and women playing on one side of the field, each of whom were able to invite one professional player for the pro side of the field. The event broke a record for the largest payout for first at £30,670,000 (which was chopped between the top two finishers), broadcasting from beginning to end online. The event set a new standard for production value with the elaborate tournament room of tables and player interviews providing context for the action.

By the 2020s, broadcasts had become common through PokerGO and live streaming, but cameras were typically reserved for final tables. At that point, the full broadcast illustrating the hope and excitement right at the beginning of the industry’s most exciting events was reserved for the WSOP Main Event.

A return to peak poker

As players have become eager to return to live tournaments, the standard for tournament broadcasting has set new heights over the last year. The WSOP debuted to universal fanfare at its new home on the Las Vegas Strip, with an all-new, expanded broadcast setup. Later in the summer, the World Poker Tour announced their $15 million guarantee for a surefire December spectacle: the WPT World Championship. Then after four long years, PokerStars Players Championship returned to the Bahamas in its glory after an Olympics-length sabbatical.

Throughout 2022, the WPT and PokerStars innovated to bring the common player to these high stakes arenas and feel the thrill of playing in the largest prize pools in poker history. WPT Global unleashed loads of giveaway packages through a variety of Twitter challenges while PokerStars distributed loads of $30k Platinum Passes prize packages in innovative ways, including partnering with Poker.org to send players on a detective quest to find a disguised player in the wild.

READ MORE: Poker’s Plus One Platinum Pass PSPC Experience

But in addition to running incredible series that attracted poker regulars from around the world, WPT and PokerStars went above and beyond during their events. They broadcasted these spectacles throughout to all their fans online to recapture their imagination. Both the WPT World Championship and PokerStars wasted no time bringing in top media personalities to commentate, social media personalities to promote on the sideline, and podcasts to recap the day-to-day madness. Whether you prefer Jamie Kerstetter’s commentary, Joey Ingram’s comedy, or the OnlyFriends podcast’s banter, these events worked overtime to ensure they show you they were the center of the poker world.

And once they hooked you in, these events showed you the field right from the get-go. Seeing these rooms full of hundreds of entries, green players with starting stacks and a twinkle in their eyes, showed a fresh perspective to casual players across the world.

It has been a welcome sight, as only watching a Final Table can feel like having a bucket of cold water being dropped on you in comparison. Normally, final tables are full of stoic professionals. And believe me, I love intense ICM decisions and advanced play. And I am a fan of learning from so many of these players, as a serious recreational player myself. But I don’t think that is what the average player is looking for.

In fact, it may be the worst stage of the tournament to show off what’s great about the game. Only seeing this point of play suggests to audiences that reaching the Final Table requires them to be something they aren’t interested in. Showing players from the beginning gives us the opportunity to meet the common fan. Audiences are captivated by the dream that’s alive early in a tournament and the stories along the way. It’s great if they manage to hang on until late into tournament coverage, but it is rarely the later stages of coverage that will spark curiosity.

Building on tournament hype

After this recent stretch, the poker world now has two major events to look forward to aside from the WSOP, hopefully on an annual basis. Their early results have been so promising that one can’t help but imagine how the industry can continue building the hype and generating new interest.

While the WPT World Championship and PSPC set a high standard for showing what a major tournament can look like, we are still talking about $10k and $25k buy-ins. Even with all of the giveaways and satellites available to reach these heights, these are price points that are going to escape all but the most successful poker personalities in the community.

However, there is a “fab foursome” of mid-stakes tournaments ripe to capture the imagination of weekend warriors across the United States and the rest of the world. The Mid-States Poker Tour, WPT Prime, Run Good Poker Tour, and World Series of Poker Circuit have solidified themselves as the go-to options for tournament players chasing glory in tournaments with buy-ins of $200-2,000. And while they are well-known by those paying attention, finding a way to simplify broadcasts of their Main Events to the masses could be an excellent way to show all those curious about poker what is actually within their reach.

4th Global Poker Awards Nominees – Best Mid-Major Circuit/Tour
RUNGOOD Poker Series (@RGPokerSeries)
Mid-States Poker Tour (@msptpoker)
World Series of Poker Circuit (@WSOPC)
WPT Prime (@WPT)
https://t.co/PXQl0EXvBn pic.twitter.com/yQEcpqxyLz

— Global Poker Index (@gpi) February 14, 2023

Broadcasting a tournament from beginning to end with professional commentary and production value is no simple task, of course. Asking these organizations to do so from the ground up would be a tall order. However, if the details could be worked out, imagine if these organizations were able to schedule stops at locations with established streaming setups.

For example, the WSOPC Main Event in Los Angeles streamed its Final Table from Live at the Bike. But imagine if the series had been promoted and hyped with the promise of full coverage for months ahead. Pairing with destinations like Live at the Bike, Hustler Casino, The Lodge, and Texas Card House, which are equipped to handle the burden of this coverage, could be a win-win for the organizations and locations alike.

I can admit, this may be a pipedream for the time being. But only because these organizations haven’t been given a roadmap to follow to make the vision happen. With PokerGO already providing Final Table coverage of many WSOP events and full coverage of the Main Event, just imagine if they were able to pair the full coverage approach with one other small event.

In 2023, the WSOP is introducing its latest large field budget event: Gladiators of Poker. This $300 tournament is the cheapest numbered event on the schedule and boasts a $3 million guarantee, all within the first week of the WSOP schedule. What better event to showcase from beginning to end? At this price point, you are sure to find the passion, wild play, and drama from recreational players that creates TV gold.

Glen Craigen is living every poker player’s dream!

Craigen has turned a pure freeroll into over $35,000 pic.twitter.com/jNbRCDEo69

— Poker.org (@pokerorg) February 1, 2023

Think of the new names you actually remember from recent years. Aaron Zhang. Nicholas “Dirty Diaper” Rigby. Glen Craigen, in disbelief turning a freeroll into over $40k. These aren’t the pros we are familiar with. They are the most creative, passionate players in the fields that we couldn’t ignore. They remind us why we fell in love with the game in the first place. If the poker industry takes anything away from the last year of success, I hope that it’s realizing they are only scratching the surface of how they can bring these players’ stories to the masses.

The idea of hole cards being shown live was almost an unwritten rule of “don’ts” when it came to professional poker players and recreationals alike. Poker had trickled in slowly onto TV but made a huge splash with ESPN’s WSOP Main Event coverage at Binion’s Horseshoe that coincided with Chris Moneymaker’s dramatic rags to riches win in 2003. Moneymaker turned an $86 satellite (a qualifying tournament that gives you seat in a bigger buy-in tournament) into a $2.5 million payday. This in turn was coined as the Moneymaker Effect and thus a Poker Boom was born. His win marked a pivotal moment in poker history that changed the landscape of the industry forever. Synonymous with WSOP Main Event coverage are Norman Chad and Lon McEachern. These commentators brought the game to life with their quirky commentary and dynamic chemistry on screen and behind the mic.

Who doesn’t love listening to these guys talk poker on TV?

As the years passed, professional poker players became household names, giving them somewhat of a celebrity status. The 2000s brought newfound fame to players such as Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, Barry Greenstein and of course, Doyle Brunson, to name a few. Gone were the days of thinking about poker in some dodgy underground smoke filled rooms. Being a poker pro became looked upon in a new light and the stigma around it was further reduced by how cool it was to be one. These high-stakes players became idols to millions around the world, and signing autographs became a part of their day-to-day routine while playing at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas as fans wanting photos with their favorite poker pro had become the norm. Moreover, playing poker and other gambling games online at sites like blueprint casino also soared in popularity.

The aforementioned broadcast being replayed endless times on TV screens worldwide led to an influx of new events being created around the globe. For instance, the WSOPE (World Series Of Poker Europe) was brought to life in 2007, marking the first time that a bracelet was awarded outside of Las Vegas. It allowed players who were aged below 21, which is the legal age to enter casinos in Las Vegas, and indeed the inaugural WSOPE Main Event in London was won by the then-18-year-old Norwegian phenom Annette Obrestad who took down her first ever tournament for £1 million.

Beyond the WSOP

It wasn’t just the WSOP Main Events that reached stratospheric popularity. World Poker Tour (WPT) tournaments, commentated by Vince Van Patten and the late Mike Sexton, as well as huge cash games like Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker debuted to tremendous fanfare and have maintained their loyal fan bases. Recently, the latter two shows were purchased and brought back to life after a long hiatus by PokerGO, a first of its kind channel solely dedicated to poker. Events in Australia, Asia, the Bahamas and numerous stops in Europe were also added to the annual poker calendar. Poker pros habitually began to spend weeks away from their homes in search of glory and big paydays alike.

It wasn’t just pros on TV screens either! PokerStars ran The Big Game for two seasons, which featured the novel concept of giving an amateur player a stack of $100,000 to battle it out against 5 top pros. Any profit gained from their starting stack would be kept by the ‘Loose Cannon’ and subsequently given to the player as a prize for surviving with the poker sharks.

Upping the Ante and Production Level

With poker fans clamoring for ever increasing amounts of poker content to be broadcast, additional concepts and tournaments debuted, most notably the Big One for One Drop, which featured a $1 million dollar buy in – something that seemed inconceivable just a few years beforehand. The existence of that tournament allowed the best players in the world and wealthy amateurs alike to compete for the highest of stakes against one another. While the poker pros would typically sell action among themselves, while the businessmen would be able to afford a $1 million buy-in without much hesitation. It’s an unparalleled atmosphere, to be sure.

As the years progressed, so too did the technology at the tables. Whereas coverage from 2000-2012 usually consisted of just highlights of the biggest hands and all-in situations via edited shows, that changed when ESPN began to broadcast cards up coverage on a 30-minute delay. This allowed a ‘Live’ in-play analysis delivered by guest commentators such as Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak, and more recently Nick Schulman and Maria Ho, giving fans a first-time peek at how the top pros dissect hands as they are being played in the moment.

Unfortunately major live poker events have been paused momentarily due to the coronavirus, and with the online poker streets currently dominating the industry (people are already prepping for the 2021 WSOP Online Summer Series), there is a hunger and desire for the live game to be brought back to our TV screens, as soon as it is safe to do so.

If you’re a poker fan, unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve heard of PokerGO by now. The Netflix-like network has, over the past couple of years, become THE place to watch live poker. Whether it’s “in-house” premier events like the Poker Masters, U.S. Poker Open, Super High Roller Bowl, and Poker After Dark cash games – all of which now take place in the brand new PokerGO studio – or longstanding internationally prestigious events like WPT final tables and WSOP action, everyone knows that if you want to tune in for awesome live poker action, you’ve got to subscribe to PokerGO. Indeed, one of the network’s main marketing messages is that they offer 100+ days of live poker streaming per calendar year, which provides excellent value for the $99 annual subscription’s price tag.

Beyond the high-profile live streams, however, also similar to Netflix, PokerGO produces its own slate of original programming. Poker fans perhaps hear about these original series via press release and occasional promotional efforts on social media, but to the best of our knowledge we are unaware of any proper full-length reviews of the programming posted online. It’s with that in mind that here at Cardplayer Lifestyle we’ve decided to launch a special miniseries reviewing PokerGO’s original content.

What? Who?

Over a period of 10 successive days, we will have released new reviews of all the PokerGO original series. Included in our miniseries are reviews of:

• Pokerography
• Major Wager
• Dead Money
• Chasing Hearts
• Inside Poker
• Super High Roller Club
• Stories from the Felt
• Deep Issues
• Poker Nights

Compiled by myself and some of our contributing writers, our reviews give you the full rundown of what you can expect from PokerGO’s original series. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank said writers – Brad Chalupski, James Guill, William Shillibier, and Kim Yuhl – for doing a stellar job. I’m confident that you’ll enjoy their thorough, well-written reviews.

Indeed, 100+ days of live streams, fantastic as that is, leaves plenty of time over the course of the year to check out other programming options on PokerGO. Of course, many subscribers pine for old televised poker broadcasts, so they visiting “The Vault” to rewatch episodes of past years’ WSOP Main Event broadcasts, Poker After Dark, and other favorites like Face the Ace and the Doubles Poker Championship.

Once you’ve exhausted of waxing nostalgic for the past, however, it’s time to turn to the present and devote some time to PokerGO’s newly produced series. While some are undoubtedly better and more “must-watch” than others, a poker fan simply can’t go wrong by grabbing some popcorn and giving the original programming some love.

In Conclusion

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t issue a heartfelt thank-you to the good folks over at ProfessionalRakeback.com for sponsoring our miniseries of reviews. It takes a lot of time and effort to produce proper, exhaustive written reviews and of course our contributing writers need to be compensated for their work. When sponsors step up to fund our production efforts, it means that we can continue providing you all with the content and poker entertainment you crave. As such, I’d like to encourage you all to visit ProfessionalRakeback.com and check out their offers.

Whether via television, the internet, or live stream, the media via which we can all now consume poker broadcasts has evolved into top-tier productions. Action from tournaments all around the world is beamed into millions of homes on an near-daily basis. In a sense, it seems we’ve reached a peak in terms of the quality of poker shows we can watch.

And then the good folks over at Poker Central decided to take things to a whole new level. Last week, their all-new PokerGO Studio opened to the public. Today, I had the chance to visit for the first time, and plainly put I was blown away.

According to poker’s top TV producer Mori Eskandani, the PokerGO studio was first conceived 20 months ago, back in October 2016. After over a year of talks, negotiations, and planning, ground broke on-site at the Aria Hotel and Casino in January of this year. In just five-and-a-half months, the entire studio was built and completed. Within the poker community, there’s been plenty of hype, as players have witnessed construction taking place over the first half of the year, with everyone eagerly anticipating opening day. That took place a mere week ago.

Mori Eskandani, at the entrance to the PokerGO Studio.

Upon walking into the studio, you’re greeted by 11,000 square feet of floor space, including the main room and multiple side rooms. A classy bar (and bartender; thanks for the drink, Kenneth!) greets you as you enter. There’s also a sweet players lounge that’s just perfect for chilling. Not to be overlooked are the bathrooms, tastefully designed and absolutely spotless. Further in, and off-limits to the public, are the production areas. where the behind-the scenes magic takes place that helps bring the broadcast to your viewing screens. In yet another dedicated area, teams sit and provide play-by-play commentary of the proceedings. One other fantastic feature of the studio is the SportsCenter-style break desk, housed in its own sound-proofed room, which is where a separate team will come to you with opinions and analysis of game play during breaks in cash game and tournament action.

PokerGO studio bar

PokerGO studio break desk

PokerGO studio player lounge

The studio hosted its first televised cash game a couple days after opening, and today it played host to tournament action for the first time, namely the final table of the inaugural WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic.

While all of the ante-room areas mentioned above are each special in their own right, the crown jewel of the new PokerGO studio is unquestionable the main playing area. A shiny new state-of-the-art production facility, one can’t help but stand in awe of the cathedral-like environs.

There’s room for eight tables, each of which have been custom-made for the studio. Three of those tables have card-readers installed and can thus have their action highlighted on broadcasts. Resting atop the center stage, much like a bauble on a mantelpiece, is the main feature table. Eight robotically-controlled cameras surround the stage, ready to capture all the feature-table action from every conceivable angle.

Darren Elias vs. Kitty Kuo heads up at the inaugural WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic

PokerGO Studio’s robotic cameras

As much as poker is a players pastime, it’s also a spectator sport, and as such the PokerGO Studio has room to accommodate 80+ poker fans. Entry to the studio is free; you literally just have to walk in, and you can take a seat to watch your favorite players and legends square off at the felt. Speaking of those seats, they are RIDICULOUSLY comfortable; once you get settled in, you won’t want to leave!

Simply put, it’s incredible. I’ve tried to capture it in the description and pictures above, but it just doesn’t fully do the place justice.

Finally, poker has a permanent home. You MUST come and see the PokerGO Studio in person.

The all-new PokerVision Network is slated to be available on multiple platforms starting later this year. Based in Canada, the network hopes to tie together the worlds of poker, eSports, and gaming in a way that both entertains and engages poker fans.

Canada-Focused, but with Global Reach

Back in December, ePlay Digital Inc announced their plans to launch the PokerVision Network and was actively acquiring studio space in various cities in Canada. The network plans to provide coverage of poker tournaments throughout Canada and around the world.

One of their acquisitions is the Canadian Poker Tour. While the tour is presently inactive, reviving it as part of the network would give the network an instant well of content while giving poker players another live series to grind.

While the network will place significant focus on Canadian poker, there will be plenty of “global” poker content as well. For example, the network is presently presenting Streamboat from the British Virgin Islands, where Bill Perkins, Jaime Staples, Jeff Gross, and Matt Staples are enjoying some R&R and playing some online poker aboard Perkins’ yacht..

#STREAMBOAT started off nice…..stay tuned to https://t.co/fi7oror36r for updates fun and chaos and sometimes #poker pic.twitter.com/qTmB8twYuv

— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) March 23, 2017

Poker Reality TV Anyone?

On their site, PokerVision promises monthly original Reality TV content with titles including Poker Bucket List, Scalpers, Pimp My Poker Game, and The Sunday Grind.

Without even seeing a synopsis of any of the listed programs, my interest is piqued by Pimp My Poker Game and Poker Bucket List because these two programs have a lot of potential material to work with.

READ: 5 Items on Every Recreational Poker Player’s Bucket List

In terms of Pimp My Poker Game, it would be great to see up-and-coming players, or even rank amateurs, get coaching from some of the game’s biggest names. It could even provide a platform for some lesser-known pros to gain some popularity while helping recreational players improve their game.

The Poker Bucket List could literally go anywhere in the world or include anyone in the poker world. Producers could go the easy route and pick players wanting to play in events like the WSOP Main Event, but I hope they instead go with more interesting stories that illustrate the diversity of the game and how it’s more than just “winning the big one” or “netting the huge score.”

More Than Just Poker

According to press releases and their website, PokerVision Network will be more than poker. The channel claims that “eSports and gaming will be front and center in the PVN broadcast schedule.”

As of yet, they haven’t elaborated as to what this means, but with the explosion of eSports globally, it will be the perfect fit for the network. The network will be able to easily tie in both worlds as there are many poker players that are either former gamers or dabble in certain eSports games.

Pick a Platform That’s Best for You

The network plans to give viewers easy access to their product by proving multiple ways to access content. In addition to their TV network, content will be available through social media, online streaming and mobile apps.

This access will give the audience what PokerVision calls “previously unseen levels of interactivity.” Jim Nelles, Head of Broadcasting for PVN, stated in the December presser that “The days of single-screen viewing are gone. Audiences expect great content on a TV screen complemented by interactivity on tablet and mobile. PVN is stepping up to deliver exactly that. We will drive larger and engaged audiences in the face of massive competition for viewership.”

Think about it. How many of you still watch live broadcast or cable TV on a regular basis? Looking back at my personal viewing habits, I usually only watch regular TV once a week. Otherwise, I stream most of my programming.

Networks have to have multiple platforms in order to maximize their reach, and that’s increasingly the case when trying to reach poker fans, too. With the popularity of mediums like Twitch, many poker fans prefer to stream their content rather than wait for an edited version. It’s faster and much more interactive.

What Types of Partnerships Will the New Network Form?

Due to the breadth of content offered on the network, PokerVision could create some interesting partnerships. Poker is the easiest in this regard, and they have already signed a big name in Adam Schwartz.

Many of you know him as the host of the TwoPlusTwo Poker Podcast while others know him for his color commentary on Canadian Poker Tour broadcasts.

It will be interesting to see what other professionals are brought into the fold from the poker industry in the upcoming months. Will there be ambassadors to the brand a la Poker Central or will they focus on individuals with skill sets highly relevant to broadcasting?

If they revive the CPT, we might see some partnerships with new Canadian casinos online as well with the host casinos. Who knows what deals will arise in connection with the reality shows?

What if someone wants to play in Bobby’s Room as part of the Poker Bucket List? Will we see the channel partner, even briefly, with Bellagio? There are many potential deals out there to be made.

…and we haven’t even speculated about eSports and gaming. Alex Dreyfus and the GPL are paving the trail in that arena, so it’ll be interesting to see how PVN proceeds.

Want PVN on Your TV Provider? Tell Them!

PVN has yet to launch their broadcast network and is presently trying to secure deals with providers. If PokerVision Network is something that interests you, tell them!

On their website, there’s a form you can fill out to let your cable or satellite provider know that you want PVN. A copy is sent to both PVN and your provider.

New TV networks aren’t automatically picked up by providers, so you have to let them know you’re interested. The more that inquire on the network, the more likely that the provider will be interested in signing a deal.

After three seasons of fun and exciting poker play that brought us a slew of memorable moments, the Poker Night crew is ready to bring us poker fans another full rack of great poker content. Set in a private home in Las Vegas, the common bond amongst most of the game’s lineup is that they’re all “Twitch Poker celebrities.” The world’s top poker streamers, including Jaime Staples, Jason Somerville, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Randy Lew, and Dan O’ Brien, as well as “Mr. Twitch Poker” Scott Ball, a.k.a. “RuMCaKeS,” are joined by everyone’s favorite “poker couple,” Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak, as well as the man himself, 14-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.

Commentary on the entertaining cash game poker play is in the experienced hands of longtime host Chris Hanson as well as his new co-host Joe Stapleton, and the pair certainly bring an added level of enjoyment to the edited broadcast. Having gotten a sneak preview of the newest episode, I can tell you that as fun as the table talk is to listen to, Stapleton and Hanson seem to come in with just the right words at just the right time, so be prepared to smile.

As in seasons past, the stakes are $25/$50, the game is still no-limit Hold’em, and the minimum buy-in at the table is $5,000. That said, the game also features some additional tweaks designed to pump up the action; after all, what’s $5K to the ballers in this lineup?! For starters, there’s an optional $100 straddle. On top of that, there’s also a $200 ante to be paid each hand by the big blind. As if that weren’t enough, the infamous “deuce-seven game” is in play, with $200 to be paid by every player to someone who managed to win a hand with the worst starting cards in Hold’em.

The fireworks start right off the bat, so be sure to grab the popcorn and lock in your seat at 10:30 pm Eastern as you tune in to the CBS Sports Network – you won’t want to miss it!

Still Can’t Get Enough TV Poker?

If you’re a hard core poker fan like me, I be you can’t watch just one episode of televised poker at a time without wanting to see more. The executives at the CBS Sports Network obviously realized this, which is why you won’t just be getting episode 1 tonight. There’s a whole two-hour-long TV poker marathon in store for you along with another Poker Night in America marathon set to air on Friday.

I don’t know about you, but I’d love to know what both Jason Someville and Phil Hellmuth were thinking right at this instant.

The episodes featured at the start of season 4 were actually played way back in July of last year, so for those of you who prefer to have more control over your TV poker watching schedule and want to see ALL the action that took place, you can stream hours and hours of additional footage on the PokerNight Twitch channel. Just be advised that you won’t get to enjoy the witty commentary provided by Hanson and Stapleton.

Finally, if binge-watching is your thing and you’ve missed out on any of the great shows from seasons 1-3, be advised that you can find them on the Poker Night in America website and/or YouTube channel.

Stapleton has made his mark on poker over the years with a tremendous body… of work, that is, on legendary poker shows including the European Poker Tour and The Big Game. He’s also been a longtime fan favorite poker podcaster on shows like Huff and Stapes, EPT Not Live, and others.

“We can’t wait to get Joe up and running,” said Rush Street Productions President Todd Anderson. “I’ve been a fan of his for many years and think he will be a very entertaining addition to the program.”

While the official announcement was made via Rush Street Productions press release today, some Stapleton fans might have guessed that this was coming by checking out his Twitter feed:

I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m going to Fargo today and I’m excited about it.

— Joe Stapleton (@Stapes) February 28, 2016

(Ed. note: Fargo is Anderson’s hometown. OK, in all fairness, if you were able to guess this development from that Tweet, you’re probably following Stapes a bit TOO closely.)

“We are constantly looking at ways to evolve as a television show and ratchet up the production,” continued Anderson.  “Since day one we’ve been trying to produce a unique poker TV experience and adding Joe is another step in that direction.”

What Does Stapes Bring to Poker Night in America?

Look for Stapleton to add flashes of his trademark humor to the great, entertaining poker action on display at the tables. I, for one, can’t wait to hear what he has to say about some of the greatest poker characters in the biz squaring off against one another. Expect the laughs to hit even harder if “poker celebs” like Jennifer Tilly and James Woods take to the Poker Night in America table again.

After plying his trade abroad in the UK for a few years, this marks Stapleton’s return to U.S. shores. Needless to say, Stapes is excited to be back on home soil.

“I’m thrilled to be back doing poker on TV in the States, and especially on a show like Poker Night in America,” said Stapleton.  “The team there really seems to understand how important it is to focus on the fun, social aspects of the game. Everyone always seemed to be having a blast the first three seasons, and I’m pretty excited to get in on that.”

On a personal note, after being a fan of his work for many years, it was a pleasure to meet Joe Stapleton in person at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January. Having had the chance to chat with him for a couple minutes, it immediately became clear to me that that nice guy facade you see on TV and hear on all those podcasts… is exactly the same nice guy you see and meet in the flesh. I have no doubt that he’ll make Poker Night in America even more enjoyable to watch than it already is.

So thrilled to meet @Stapes & @J_Hartigan for the first time at the #PCA2016. Two awesome, supremely talented guys! pic.twitter.com/RdgEEyMPOC

— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) January 10, 2016

Season 4 episodes begin taping during the first week of April. Be sure to visit Pokernight.com for more information.

I had media credentials to the latter two of these events thanks to Cardplayer Lifestyle poker blog founder Robbie Strazynski and Sandra Yacura of Poker Central. It was very cool getting to stand on set while legendary poker pros like Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Scott Seiver, Antonio Esfandiari, and others competed for millions of dollars in the Super High Roller Bowl.

After the field narrowed down to just two players, Brian Rast beat out Scott Seiver in an exciting heads-up battle and took home a cool $7.5 million for his efforts. Also at the final table was the legendary Erik Seidel. It seems like he cashes in darn near every high roller event he plays in. It was a pleasure to watch him play in person.

All of the events that comprised the Super High Roller series are being produced by Mori Eskandani of Poker PROductions. You’ve probably seen tons of his work over the years (e.g., High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark, etc.). I got to meet Mori while covering the events and he was gracious enough to answer some questions about the production of the Aria Super High Roller Bowl and the future of poker on television. I hope you enjoy!

Summarized Transcript

Mori, thanks for joining us, how are you?

My pleasure, thank you.

Let’s start with the Super High Roller Cash Game. You previously produced High Stakes Poker, which was a very popular cash game show on Game Show Network a few years back. How will this one compare to High Stakes Poker?

I’ve been asked that question before. All cash games are inherently the same. It’s people who play every day. We try to go “into their office” and catch them while they’re playing. Poker After Dark and many European cash games were produced for television. High Stakes Poker was the first one, which is why it sticks in everybody’s minds.

The Super High Roller Cash Game featured today’s cash game players. The stakes are a little bit higher than they were on High Stakes Poker.

Comparison-wise, I would say it’s “just another cash game”.

How did you go about selecting the players for each day?

For cash games, it’s almost as though the players select themselves. You go into big games and see who is playing. They’re not all pros, it’s also recreational player businessmen who like to put their money in big cash games; it’s a thrill for them. We try to catch some of those guys.

Of course we also try to catch some of the best known cash games players, like Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Patrik Antonius – guys who are mainly cash game players. We try to bring a mix of guys who have been playing for a long time as well as guys who are new on the high stakes cash game scene.

Before Black Friday, poker on TV was very popular. But outside of the WSOP and niche shows like Poker Night in America, poker is pretty much gone from mainstream television nowadays. Do you envision the Super High Roller Series helping to bring poker back into the limelight?

It’s always nice to have the network get behind the programming. In this case, it’s Poker Central getting behind the Super High Roller series; whatever events we are producing for them. Once you have the network behind you and their salespeople finding sponsors for the show, air dates, and other things like that, it’s a big plus.

For the WSOP, ESPN is a huge part of it. The same was true of High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark. With this one, obviously we have Poker Central, the 24/7 poker network. So, I’m looking forward to many years of Super High Roller events for them.

When poker became popular on TV a dozen years ago, the personalities were great. Hellmuth, Negreanu, Matusow, and others always put on a show. Do you feel that the new school players have the same sort of charisma to make the show entertaining?

The younger kids, most of them have been brought up on the Internet, where there’s so little interaction. Maybe they have to get used to live games a little more. In the old days when we taped, part of our work as professionals was to entertain the recreational players. If they got into the game, we made sure they had fun.

You come to the game or to a poker room and you see a table that is full of laughter and having fun, and you would want to get into that game. Being entertaining was part of the game of old school poker.

Kids we’re filming now may be plenty entertaining, but maybe not to the same degree as we’ve seen from the older players.

I got to see the $500,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl up close and I can’t wait to see how you put the tournament together for TV. Can you give me a hint of some features I didn’t get to see in person, but will when it airs on NBC Sports Network in the fall?

Most of it is going to be the poker hands and the poker tournament. The features will be geared towards introducing the new players. There will obviously be a ton of new faces. Our poker role is to let people know who they are. The issue is that you’ve got a lot of superior players who, one way or another, have not made final tables of big tournaments, so you don’t get to know them.

So, again, we’ll be focusing on interviewing new players.

A dozen or so players, guys like Tom Dwan and Phil Hellmuth, who originally committed to the Super High Roller Bowl didn’t play. Were you at all disappointed with the turnout?

I was not. Look, it’s a $500K buy in. If 40 players play it’s a huge win. The fact that it went over, it’s a testament that poker at the highest levels is still alive and kicking. It was nice to see that many players. A $21.5 million prize pool, I wasn’t disappointed one bit.

I know Tom Dwan wasn’t even in the country. Next year, poker players will know that this event is here to stay and they’ll plan better for it.

When producing a poker series for TV, do you try to influence the players to keep the banter at the table interesting or do you just let them do their thing?

I encourage them to talk a little because filling the silence is tough. You can only do so much commentary, unless of course it’s a huge hand, which doesn’t necessitate saying much. So, I encourage players to be themselves, which usually leads to a lot of table talk.

Any chance of bringing back the National Heads-Up Championships, High Stakes Poker, or Poker After Dark in the near future?

I’ve always said that there will be more poker shows in the future than in the past. That means a whole slew of new shows will come. The bottom line is what our government lets us do with Internet poker. If they allow people to play online and create more interest, we’ll obviously be able to do more of these shows in the future. I know the shows you mentioned were VERY popular. Those shows will be first in line to come back, someday.

About those big companies that sponsored that poker TV, like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker… I don’t know how closely you follow the U.S. government regulation stuff, but do you have any optimism for those sites reentering the U.S. market and maybe that helping bring back poker on TV?

I don’t want to focus on the sites. I want to focus on the game. It’s not something that can be taken away from the fabric of our lives. It’s part of our culture. It’s here to stay. It’s not a fad. Millions of people will keep on playing. I’m sure our politicians and organizers will find a way to make this work.

When that comes to life, it’s not just going to be the online sites to take sponsorships in poker. We see it already right now – many sponsors aren’t connected to poker. So, I think it’s going to take a long time, but eventually it will come.

Can it hit its peak popularity again like from 2003-2006?

Of course! If lawmakers make online poker happen again, of course the game will boom once more. I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t, especially if the big casino companies use their clout to get behind it. These guys know what to do with poker and how to market it and get us going.

In closing, can you tell our listeners and readers who the commentators are going to be for the Super High Roller events?

Kara Scott and Jesse Sylvia are going to be doing the Celebrity Shootout and the Super High Roller Bowl. The cash games commentators are yet to be announced.

Alright, we’ll wait for that news. Thank you Mori for joining us today; I appreciate it.

Thank you so much; you too!

Poker just wasn’t ‘cool’ prior to Moneymaker’s big win in 2003. If you played poker for a living back in the 1990s, your family probably disowned you. If you played poker for a living in 2005, your friends and family probably wanted to live vicariously through your lifestyle. That’s because they saw poker on television non-stop and got to see how exciting and potentially profitable this game could truly be.

What really drew people into the game of poker back then was the personalities. All poker fans know the guys I’m talking about: Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Laak, Gus Hansen, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harman, Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson, etc. These superstars not only knew how to play poker. They also knew how to entertain. When the cameras were rolling, they put on a show, whether it was Matusow feuding with Shahram Sheikhan at the 2005 WSOP or Phil Hellmuth’s many epic blow ups, poker was more than just a game – it was a spectacle.

Fast Forward to 2015

At some point over the last decade, poker became “just a game” again. By 2011, poker was no longer mainstream. High Stakes Poker folded, as did Poker After Dark. ESPN limited its WSOP coverage to the Main Event. Much of that can be attributed to ‘Black Friday’, but I think the writing was already on the wall. The game of poker, save for ESPN’s WSOP coverage, is no longer must-see TV because there are no big TV events to see.

That’s all about to change thanks to Poker Central and the Aria Super High Roller Bowl. I spent the last three days sitting in on set for the Aria Super High Roller Cash Game that will be televised on Poker Central this fall. Additionally, I’ll be there for the $500,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl that begins today, which will air on NBC Sports Network starting August 25th.

Day 1: Old School Charm

If you watched the live stream on Twitch of the three days of cash game play, you probably noticed something:  today’s top poker pros have very little in common with the players many of us grew up watching on TV. They differ tremendously in terms of personality and style of play. Day 1 of the Super High Roller Cash Game ($250,000 minimum buy-in) featured an old-school table. Phil Ivey, Antonio Esfandiari, Jennifer Tilly, Doyle Brunson, and Jean-Robert Bellande headlined the action.

Ed. note: Missed the live stream? You can catch replays on Poker Central’s Twitch channel anytime.

Image credit: Poker Central Twitter feed

It was a pleasure to watch this group in person and I’m sure that once the producers at Poker Central edit the tape, we’ll get to see a show that closely resembles High Stakes Poker. Most of the players played as expected. Ivey was, surprisingly, tight. Jennifer Tilly was, surprisingly, aggressive and reckless. Esfandiari played his usual wild but controlled style of play, and Jean-Robert was up and down all day, like he always seems to be on TV. Except for Ivey, the players kept the game lively. It was evident these poker stars have experience working the camera.

Day 2: New School – A Complete Contrast

Day 2 was different in many ways. The game featured mostly new-school poker studs such as Scott Seiver, Andrew Robl, Doug Polk, Dan Colman, and Sam Trickett. These are the players whose playing styles many around the poker community attempt to emulate now. The old-school players don’t get much respect from today’s younger players. The Day 2 table is considered “superior”. These guys play the hyper-aggressive style that became popular a few years ago. They attack pre-flop, flat call light in position on the flop, and almost always continuation bet.

Image credit: Poker Central Twitter feed

The Day 2 table was lively, but it was obvious they don’t have the same charisma as the Day 1 competitors. I don’t mean to offend, of course, but it’s just to be expected considering that the Day 1 table was filled with poker players who had extensive experience playing in front of TV cameras and playing to the viewing audience. With that said, I thought Scott Seiver did a good job of keeping the table talk interesting. Beyond being one of the best players in the world, Seiver’s personality is quite simply made for TV. Without him at the table, I’m not sure Day 2 would have been entertaining to watch. I know some poker players don’t care for his talkative personality, but I like it.

Day 3: A Lively Mix of Players and Personalities

Day 3 featured an eclectic mix of players. Bobby Baldwin and a few other old-timers hit the felt, along with a couple of ‘youngsters’ such as Jean-Robert Bellande and Antonio Esfandiari. I was pleasantly surprised with this table. They were very entertaining. Specifically, Bill Klein and John Morgan were a couple of “old rich dudes” that constantly made me laugh.

Image credit: Poker Central Twitter feed

Rick Salomon also made his way to the table on Day 3. If you’re unfamiliar with Mr. Salomon, he’s a bearded weirdo who became famous for his leaked sex tape with Paris Hilton and marrying crazy famous women such as Shannon Doherty and Pamela Anderson. He’s an entertaining player because he’s hyper-aggressive and is prepared to call anyone down with junk. The best hand of the day involved Salomon and Bellande. Salomon made a donk call in position on a queen-high flop with J-10 suited (no draw, no pair). He hit a runner-runner flush and won a massive pot against Bellande. You can imagine that Bellande’s reaction wasn’t pleasant.

Salomon isn’t a new-school player in terms of age (he’s 47), but he does play a similar style to the new-school breed. He is ultra-aggressive in position. It’s rare to see him fold to a bet on the flop even if he completely misses. He bluffs… a lot. He is aggressive pre- and post-flop and plays a lot of hands. The old-school poker mentality is quite a bit different. That’s not to say the old-schoolers only played the nuts, but they were more selective pre-flop and didn’t call down light as much.

Intentional or Not, Poker Central’s Casting Was Perfect

I thought it was really cool to see the contrasting styles of play and personalities each day. I don’t know if Poker Central casted the tables intentionally or not, but it’s going to make for some epic television on their network this fall.

I caught snippets of the live stream on Twitch when I wasn’t watching live on the TV set at Aria. The commentary was solid, but viewers were unable to see hole cards. I know that this sort of ruined the enjoyment for many viewers. With that said, the beauty of episodic, professionally produced poker TV shows is that we’ll get to see the hole cards and play right along with the pros.

Mori Eskandani is producing the show and, based on his past history (Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker), I know he’s going to get this right. I got to meet Mori on the set and he was very friendly and helpful. He even offered to help find me a good place to sit so that I could take pictures of the action, some of which I included here in my write-up.

Everyone at Poker Central and Aria have been super accommodating. It was exceptionally cool, as a poker fan, getting to watch these poker celebrities playing for millions of dollars right up close. I can’t wait to see it on television this fall, and I’m equally excited to watch the Aria Super High Roller Bowl… which has just started right as we’re publishing. I’ll check in with you guys again soon!