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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 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.

Schedule

Poker After Dark airs 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.^[7] The early Sunday show is a "director's cut" weekly summary of the previous week's shows. NBC affiliates that do not air the show include WNYT Albany, New York, KPRC-TV Houston, WDIV-TV Detroit, KSL-TV Salt Lake City, WMC-TV Memphis, WBBH-TV Fort Myers, WTAP-TV Parkersburg, West Virginia, KDLT-TV Sioux Falls, South Dakota and WNWO-TV Toledo, Ohio; also WMGM-TV Atlantic City, New Jersey.^{[citation needed]}

International

In Canada Poker After Dark airs afternoons and late nights on Rogers Sportsnet and, since fall 2009 on the french network V.

In Germany, Poker After Dark airs on DSF. German commentary is provided by Michael Körner.^[8]

In Ireland, Poker After Dark aired on Setanta Ireland and Setanta Sports 1^[9] on most weeknights with little change from the US version.

In The Netherlands Poker After Dark airs on Veronica, on weekdays around 2:00am with on Saturday the Director's Cut, also around 2:00am. The episodes contain the original commentary by Ali Nejad and Dutch subtitles are added.

In Brazil, Poker After Dark airs on BandSports on Mondays through Saturdays after midnight, with analysis provided by Full Tilt Poker pros Leandro Pimentel, Christian Kruel, and Raul Oliveira.

In Sweden "Poker After Dark" airs on afternoons and nights on TV4 Sport.

In Latin America, Poker After Dark airs on People+Arts on Mondays through Saturdays after midnight.

"Full Tilt Poker - After Dark, Director´s Cut" with Spanish dubbing has cancelled agreements with TV AZTECA 7 and Proyecto 40 of Mexico for all of 2010 & 2011. The last show on the TV stations operated by Grupo Salinas was aired on December 31, 2009.

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.^[10]

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]

Episode guide

Season 1 (2007)

Season 2 (2007)

Season 2 was taped in May 2007 at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas.^[11]

• 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 (Signature Week) was so named because the participants were those featured in the show's 2007 opening credits.

Season 3 (2008)

Season 3 was taped in October 2007 at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas.^[11]

• 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 3 pairs of players who were couples at the time of filming: Jennifer Harman & Marco Traniello, David Benyamine & Erica Schoenberg, and Jennifer Tilly & Phil Laak.

Season 4 (2008)

Season 4 was taped in April 2008 at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas.^[6] Season 4 episode titles and presumed seating order taken from NBC's Web site.^[13]

• Dream II was the second tournament consisting of the winner of a Full Tilt Poker sponsored contest (Paul Featherstone) and the five professionals he chose to play against.
• Heads Up Battle was a double elimination heads-up format featuring the first 4 winners of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship and required a $50,000 buy-in resulting in a winner-take-all $200,000 prize.^[6]
• The two weeks of cash games were a $200/400 NL cash game instead of a winner take all tournament. During most of the second cash game, the players agreed to $100 antes and the occasional $800 straddle.
• Mission Impossible Week was named in deference to Mike Matusow, who entered the game winless in three-plus seasons of the show, with each of his opponents at least a one-time winner. A considerable portion of the table chat between and during hands made reference to this.

Season 5 (2009)

Most of Season 5 was taped December 19–21, 2008 at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas. The season's first three weeks include episodes originally announced as Season 4 episodes and were taped at South Point.^[14][15]

• Close but no Cigar Week consisted of players who at the time of taping had played at a WSOP Main Event final table but did not win.
• Dream Table III was the first time the contest winner did not use Seat 6.
• Mike Matusow is the only pro to participate in all three Dream Table games.
• The two weeks of Hellmuth Bash games were the first time the same six players appeared over 10 consecutive episodes of play.
• Celebrities and Mentors week was completed in four episodes. The director's cut was aired as the fifth episode, and a "Best Of" look back at Seasons 1-5 was aired at the usual time for the director's cut.
• Eli Elezra has only played in cash games or during weeks when the final prize was larger than the normal $120,000. Until this season, he always occupied Seat 6 when appearing.
• During "Railbird Heaven Cash Game #2," David Peat substitutes for Gus Hansen.
• Magnificent Six featured five of the six players shown in this season's opening credits.
• Gus Hansen's participation in the Railbird Heaven Cash Game was his first appearance since Season 3.

Season 6 (2010)

Season 6 was taped in October 2009 at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas and is scheduled to have 13 weeks of episodes.^[16]

• New graphics debuted with Season 6, including a notation of which player has the button. Previous seasons sometimes used a non-standard "first to act" graphic. Percentages to win the hand are shown more frequently than in past seasons, especially pre-flop, and a trailing player's outs are shown during all-in situations.

Results and notes

The following tables do not include results of unaired episodes, even if such information is available online.

Season 1 (2007)

• In the third episode of Week 1, the players continued to talk and make noise while Phil Hellmuth was trying to decide whether to go all-in against Annie Duke. Hellmuth held A♥ 10♦, while Duke had K♠ K♥. The lack of decorum caused Hellmuth to lash out at Shawn Sheikhan, call over the show's executive producer, and leave the table. Hellmuth also threatened not to participate in future Poker After Dark tournaments unless the show implemented a rule that encouraged people to stop talking when a player is making an important decision. Immediately after the incident, producers put in place a rule which states that if a player wishes to have silence at the table when faced with a tough decision, the player need only inform the dealer, who will then notify the other players of the request. Failure to comply will result in a "time-out" period of one lap of the button for the offending player(s), with blinds forfeited during this time.^[17]

Season 2 (2007)

• In "International" week, Gus Hansen was knocked out after 6 hands, and heads-up play started after 53 hands, both record lows for the show.^[18]

Season 3 (2008)

• "Dream Table" week featured a Poker After Dark first: Phil Hellmuth won by calling an all-in bet from both Ken Light and Jen Harman on the last hand, resulting in the first match to end with no heads-up play.
• "Hecklers Week" featured a controversial situation which necessitated the producer having to come to the table. Phil Hellmuth attempted to bluff the river with pair of aces on the board in a hand against Jean-Robert Bellande, and Bellande called. Hellmuth then said "you got it" and held onto his cards, waiting for Bellande to show the winner. Bellande felt he did not have to show his hand, while Hellmuth thought "olden day etiquette" indicated that he should. The tournament was stopped for 5 minutes while all players voiced their opinions and eventually the producer came over and then Hellmuth showed his hand, necessitating that Bellande show his to claim the pot.^[19]
• "Jam Up" week featured a rule that allowed any player knocked out over the first six hands (once around the table) to rebuy. On the first hand, Eli Elezra was knocked out when his AK didn't crack Howard Lederer's AA when they both got all their chips in pre-flop. Eli was allowed to rebuy for another $20,000, which brought the total chips in play to $140,000, and the first place prize to $140,000.^[18]
• The "Best Of" episode that closed Season 5 featured Elezra's knockout on the first hand of Jam Up week, but did not make clear that he was able to rebuy after busting out on the first hand per that week's rules, and insinuated he was eliminated.

Season 4 (2008)

• The Heads Up Challenge used a double-elimination format. In the opening round, Chris Ferguson defeated Paul Wasicka and Phil Hellmuth defeated Ted Forrest. Hellmuth then defeated Ferguson to move on to the final, while Forrest's win against Wasicka eliminated Wasicka. Facing off with one loss each, Ferguson defeated Forrest to set up a Hellmuth-Ferguson final, where Hellmuth only needed to win one out of two matches while Ferguson needed to sweep both matches. Ferguson won the opener before Hellmuth won the finale. In each of Hellmuth's wins against Ferguson, he had pocket tens on the final hand.

Season 5 (2009)

• Season 5 started with three veteran Poker After Dark players securing their first PAD wins (Matusow, Gordon and Bloch).
• In Celebrities and Mentors, the mentor-celebrity relationships were Greenstein-Alexander, Smith-Hershiser and Gordon-Cheadle.
• Chris Ferguson had lost six times, including the Season 4 Heads-Up Challenge, before his Magnificent Six win became his first win since Season 1.
• Howard Lederer became the first player to place sixth one week, and win the next week.

Season 6 (2010)

• Gabe Kaplan's win in Commentators III week marked the greatest comeback in Poker After Dark history.^[20]
• Phil Laak's win in Nicknames week marked the first time a single player has won two Poker After Dark titles against the same opponent heads-up (he won both of his titles against Antonio Esfandiari, the first being in Phil Phil week from Season 1).

Stats

These statistics are meant to help readers judge the players' relative performances in the main type of event featured on "Poker After Dark": The six-player winner-take-all tournament. So, with the exception of the "Total appearances" column, the statistics omit all "Cash Games" (which do not even have declared winners) and the one "Heads Up" event played so far (Season 4, Week 3, won by Phil Hellmuth). The notations (x2) and (x3) mean the player achieved that placement two or three times, respectively.

Stats updated to reflect results through Season 6, Week 2.

References and footnotes

External links

• Poker After Dark Official Homepage
• Poker home page from NBC Sports, which includes Poker After Dark
• Poker After Dark at the Internet Movie Database
• Poker After Dark at TV.com