Poker After Dark is an hour-long poker television program that originally aired on NBC,NBC launches poker show from United Press International premiering on January 1, 2007. NBC Announces New Poker After Dark series, from the NBC Universal Media Village website The series was canceled on December 3, 2011, following the "Black Friday" criminal case, which involved major sponsor Full Tilt Poker as one of the defendants. The show rebooted on August 14, 2017, with appearances from Tom Dwan, Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari. Poker After Dark episodes are now filmed exclusively at the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort and Casino, and distributed on video streaming service PokerGO.
For its first two seasons, both of which originally aired in 2007, the show was presented by Shana Hiatt.Poker After Dark kicks off season with Dream Match The host for season 3 was Marianela Pereyra, and Leeann Tweeden took over starting with season 4.Cardplayer article on Season 4 When the series returned on PokerGO in 2017, Drea Renee took over as lead presenter. Veronica Brill was introduced as the sideline reporter during season 12.
All seasons have contained voice-over commentary by Oliver "Ali" Nejad.
Summary The Poker After Dark format featured an "intimate look at one table as it develops over the week." Blinds start at $100/$200 and slowly escalate. Commentator Ali Nejad's commentary is limited, allowing viewers to hear much of the table talk among the players, all of whom are mic'ed. (The table talk occasionally reveals that the "week-long" series is taped in one long session.)
The series was originally structured as a series of week-long No Limit Texas hold 'em mini-tournaments for six top poker professionals. Each week the players vied for a $120,000 winner-takes-all prize pool, with each paying a $20,000 buy-in.Although the standard buy-in on Poker After Dark is $20,000, the buy-in for the Mega Match (which first aired the week of October 8, 2007) was $50,000. By the end of the fifth show, a winner is determined. The sixth show was a "director's cut" that includes excerpts from the action from the previous five days, interspersed with talking heads commentary from the participants. Beginning with Season 4, the producers began to experiment with different formats, including no-limit cash games, and a double-elimination Heads Up battle between the first 4 winners of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.Season 4 preview from Poker News Also, Seasons 3, 4 and 5 had a "Dream Table," pitting an amateur against five pros.
Broadcast Poker After Dark aired six times a week, at 2:05 a.m. ET (1:05 CT) Tuesday through Saturday, and then at 1:00 a.m. ET (12:00 CT) on Sundays, though times vary according to the preferences of the affiliates. The early Sunday show is a "director's cut" weekly summary of the previous week's shows.
Several NBC affiliates, most notably those owned by Post-Newsweek Stations, Barrington Broadcasting, some Raycom Media stations, WBBH-TV in Fort Myers, Florida (now owned by Hearst Television), and the LDS Church-owned KSL-TV in Salt Lake City refused to air the show due to management or locality objections against programs featuring gambling (the Post-Newsweek stations also refused to carry Face the Ace in August 2009), while other stations did not carry it due to existing syndication contracts precluding it from airing the series or to retain control of their overnight schedules. It was not aired entirely in the state of Texas due to the state's strict gambling laws.
NBC abruptly stopped airing Poker After Dark on September 23, 2011, a few days after Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, issued a statement alleging production underwriter Full Tilt Poker had perpetrated a Ponzi scheme on its customers. Replacing the show was a rebroadcast of the Hoda Kotb/Kathie Lee Gifford-hosted fourth hour of Today, and on the weekends, a second episode of In Wine Country from San Francisco Bay Area NBC station KNTV. NBC Sports has since removed their poker section entirely from their webpage, and previous episodes have been removed from Hulu. Although NBC did not issue a definitive statement regarding the schedule change or the future of the show, NBC Sports Senior Director of Communications Adam Freifeld has stated that NBC will "continue to evaluate our poker programming."
Since 2017, Poker After Dark has aired live each month exclusively on PokerGO. Full replays and highlight recaps are also available on demand for each episode.
International
In Canada Poker After Dark aired afternoons and late nights on Rogers Sportsnet and, since fall 2009 on the French network V.
In France Poker After Dark airs at night on RTL9. In Germany, it airs on SPORT1, with commentary provided by Michael Körner.Poker Exklusiv on the DSF website In Ireland, Poker After Dark airs on Setanta Ireland and Setanta Sports 1 on most weeknights with little change from the US version. In The Netherlands, it airs on Veronica; episodes feature the original English commentary with Dutch subtitles. In Sweden, Poker After Dark airs on afternoons and nights on TV4 Sport and on TV 10 weekday nights at 01:30. In Denmark, it airs at night on TV3+. In Italy, Poker After Dark airs at night on POKERItalia24. In Poland, Poker After Dark airs during evenings on Sportklub and Sport Klub+; commentary is provided by Paweł Majewski and Marcin Grzywacz.. In Russia, the show airs on 7TV at 11:30 pm every day until the Febral, and now shows on REN-TV at 3:00 pm.
Episodes
Season 1 (2007) Season 1 was taped at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Week Episodes Original airdates Title Seat 1 Seat 2 Seat 3 Seat 4 Seat 5 Seat 6 1 1-6 Jan 1-6 Poker Brat Attack Gus Hansen Phil Hellmuth Shawn Sheikhan Annie Duke Steve Zolotow Huck Seed 2 7-12 Jan 8-13 Play Anything Mike Matusow Gabe Kaplan David Grey Doyle Brunson Jerry Buss Daniel Negreanu 3 13-18 Jan 15-20 WSOP Champions Chris Moneymaker Jamie Gold Johnny Chan Chris Ferguson Doyle Brunson Carlos Mortensen 4 19-24 Jan 22-27 Earphones Please Sam Farha Tony G Mike Matusow Phil Hellmuth Phil Ivey Andy Bloch 5 25-30 Jan 29-Feb 3 Phil Phil Phil Hellmuth Jennifer Harman Phil Laak Erik Seidel Antonio Esfandiari Doyle Brunson 6 31-36 Feb 12-17 Talking Heads Michael Konik Phil Gordon Howard Lederer Chad Brown Gabe Kaplan Mike Sexton 7 37-42 Feb 19-24 Against All Odds Chris Ferguson Clonie Gowen Sam Farha Gus Hansen Ted Forrest Tony G 8 43-48 Mar 12-17 Killer Table Phil Ivey Erick Lindgren Jennifer Tilly Patrik Antonius Jennifer Harman Phil Gordon 9 49-54 Apr 16-21 Loose Lips Mike Matusow Allen Cunningham David Benyamine Barry Greenstein Shawn Sheikhan John Juanda 10 55-60 May 14–19 Ladies' Week Clonie Gowen Evelyn Ng Dee Luong Vanessa Rousso Jennifer Harman Cyndy Violette
Jennifer Harman was the only player to reach the final two players more than once. Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, and Jennifer Harman appeared in the most weeks for the season with three appearances each.
Season 2 (2007) Season 2 was taped in May 2007 at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas. from the NBC Sports website Week Episodes Original airdatespokerafterdark.com past matches from the NBC Sports website Title Seat 1 Seat 2 Seat 3 Seat 4 Seat 5 Seat 6 1 1-6 Jun 11-16 Golden Men Jamie Gold Joe Hachem Greg Raymer Huck Seed Doyle Brunson Johnny Chan 2 7-12 Jun 18-23 International Gus Hansen David Benyamine Patrik Antonius Daniel Negreanu Marco Traniello Brad Booth 3 13-18 Jun 25-30 Queens and Kings Gabe Kaplan Howard Lederer Ali Nejad Vanessa Rousso Annie Duke Kristy Gazes 4 19-24 Sep 10-15 World Series Legends Doyle Brunson Layne Flack Phil Hellmuth Chris Ferguson Erik Seidel T. J. Cloutier 5 25-30 Sep 17-22 WPT All-Stars Erick Lindgren Howard Lederer Daniel Negreanu Michael Mizrachi Gus Hansen Tuan Le 6 31-36 Sep 24-29 Live To Hurt Antonio Esfandiari Shawn Sheikhan Mike Matusow Phil Hellmuth Phil Laak Daniel Negreanu 7 37-42 Oct 1-6 Poker Prowess Phil Laak David Williams Annie Duke Andy Bloch John Juanda Clonie Gowen 8 43-48 Oct 8-13 Mega Match David Benyamine Allen Cunningham Jennifer Harman Phil Ivey Barry Greenstein Eli Elezra 9 49-54 Nov 5-10 Of Mouth and Men Alan Boston Antonio Esfandiari Mike Sexton Mike Matusow Jamie Gold Paul Wasicka 10 55-60 Nov 12-17 Show Open Howard Lederer Phil Ivey Chris Ferguson Phil Hellmuth Jennifer Harman Gus Hansen
Week 8 (Mega Match) required a $50,000 buy-in rather than the usual $20,000, resulting in a $300,000 first prize. Week 10 (Show Open) was so named because the participants were those featured in the show's 2007 opening credits. Howard Lederer was the only player to reach the final two players more than once. Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Gus Hansen, and Howard Lederer appeared in the most weeks for the season with three appearances each.
Season 3 (2008) Season 3 was taped in October 2007 at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas. Week Episodes Original airdates Title2008 Poker After Dark schedule from the NBC Sports website Seat 1 Seat 2 Seat 3 Seat 4 Seat 5 Seat 6 1 1-6 Dec 31-Jan 5 Dream Table Daniel Negreanu Phil Hellmuth Jennifer Harman Mike Matusow Scotty Nguyen Ken Light 2 7-12 Jan 7-12 19th Hole Gavin Smith David Oppenheim Erick Lindgren Phil Ivey Doyle Brunson Daniel Negreanu 3 13-18 Jan 14-19 Hecklers Gavin Smith Sam Grizzle Jean-Robert Bellande Mike Matusow Shawn Sheikhan Phil Hellmuth 4 19-24 Feb 11-16 World Champions Chris Ferguson Johnny Chan Berry Johnston Jamie Gold Phil Hellmuth Huck Seed 5 25-30 Feb 18-23 Cowboys Doyle Brunson Chris Ferguson Chau Giang Andy Bloch Hoyt Corkins Gabe Kaplan 6 31-36 Feb 25-Mar 1 International Patrik Antonius Johnny Chan Roland De Wolfe Daniel Negreanu Gus Hansen John Juanda 7 37-42 Mar 24-29 Jam Up David Williams Howard Lederer Mike Matusow Barry Greenstein Antonio Esfandiari Eli Elezra 8 43-48 Mar 31-Apr 5 Gus and the Ladies Gus Hansen Vanessa Rousso J. J. Liu Clonie Gowen Beth Shak Erica Schoenberg 9 49-54 May 12–17 Love at First Raise Jennifer Harman David Benyamine Jennifer Tilly Marco Traniello Erica Schoenberg Phil Laak 10 55-60 May 19–24 Commentators Mark Gregorich Chad Brown Ali Nejad Robert Williamson III Phil Gordon Howard Lederer
Week 1 (Dream Table) featured the winner of a Full Tilt Poker sponsored contest (Ken Light) and was billed as the five professionals Light chose to play against, though Light said in an interview during one of the week's episodes that he was only asked to list his favorite players, and did not know that the list would be used to form the table. Week 9 (Love at First Raise) featured three pairs of players who were couples at the time of filming: Jennifer Harman & Marco Traniello, David Benyamine & Erica Schoenberg, and Jennifer Tilly & Phil Laak. Phil Hellmuth reached the final two players three times, and Johnny Chan reached the final two players two times. Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan each won two sit-n-goes. Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Mike Matusow appeared in the most weeks for the season with three appearances each.
Season 4 (2008) Season 4 was taped in April 2008 at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas. Season 4 episode titles and presumed seating order taken from NBC's Web site.