Poker After Dark

From left: dealer John Waltermeyer, Gus Hansen, Phil Hellmuth, Shawn Sheikhan.

Format Poker game show
Presented by Shana Hiatt (S1-2), Marianela Pereyra (S3), Leeann Tweeden (S4-6)
Narrated by Ali Nejad
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 6
No. of episodes 354 (= 48 tournaments, 11 cash games)
Production
Producer(s) Poker Productions (Eric Drache and Mori Eskandani)[1]
Location(s) Las Vegas
Running time 1 hour (with commercials; about 42 minutes without)
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Picture format 480i (SDTV) 2007-2009, (HDTV) 2010-Present
Original run January 1, 2007 – present
External links Official website

Poker After Dark is an hour-long poker television program on NBC.[2] The show made its debut on January 1, 2007.[1] For its first two seasons, both of which first aired in 2007, the show was presented by Shana Hiatt.[3] The host for season 3 was Marianela Pereyra, and Leeann Tweeden took over starting with season 4.[4] All seasons have contained voice-over commentary by Oliver "Ali" Nejad. On January 4, 2010, the show was broadcast in high definition for the first time.

Summary

The Poker After Dark format features an "intimate look at one table as it develops over the week."[1] 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 miked.[1] (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.[5] By the end of the fifth show, a winner is determined. The sixth show is 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.[6] Also, Seasons 3, 4 and 5 had a "Dream Table," pitting an amateur against five pros.

Reception

In the U.S., the show had some early ratings success: during season one's second week, it attracted on average a larger audience among adults 18-34 than The Late Late Show did the same week, even though the latter is broadcast 90 minutes earlier.[7]

Sponsorship

Full Tilt Poker regularly advertises during Poker After Dark broadcasts and in some countries, Full Tilt Poker is included in the show's title, which for a time prompted players associated with a rival site (Poker Stars) to stop appearing on the show. Full Tilt Poker holds promotional tournaments that offer a seat on the show as the grand prize. The first of these winners, Ken Light, appeared on the first week of Season 3, and was said to have picked his own opponents, though Light later said on the show itself that he was only asked to provide a list of his favorite players and that he did not know that players from the list would join him on the show.[3]

References and footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d NBC Announces New Poker After Dark series, from the NBC Universal Media Village website
  2. ^ NBC launches poker show from United Press International
  3. ^ a b c Poker After Dark kicks off season with Dream Match
  4. ^ Cardplayer article on Season 4
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ a b c Season 4 preview from Poker News
  7. ^ Poker After Dark Draws Ratings, a January 2007 Bodog Online poker blog entry

Links