High Stakes Poker Returns Sunday

High Stakes Poker season 5 starts Sunday night at 9 PM on GSN. There will be 13 episodes. The stakes are higher for this season, and they're showing all the hole cards. They're starting with day three, which included the biggest pot in TV poker history (see our taping updates).

The next World Poker Tour show is the Festa al Lago, from the Bellagio. The players are Nam Le, Nenad Medic, Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier, Adam "Roothlus" Levy, Osmin Dardon, and Will Mietz.

The final two episodes of the WSOP Europe are on Sunday night at 10 PM on ESPN 2.

Annie Duke is one of the contestants on the new season of Celebrity Apprentice, starting Sunday at 9 PM on NBC.

We've got a new poll up on our sidebar asking if you think the WPT will remain independent or survive at all.

This week's newsbites:

• NBC released the almost-final lineup for the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
• We added a third High Stakes Poker preview video, for those of you who just can't wait.
  
• AJ Benza talked to Poker News Daily about how he got the High Stakes Poker hosting job, how they do the commentary, and how quiet Ziigmund is (e.g.).
  
• I added brief updates to my reviews of Million Dollar Cash Game, WSOP Europe, and Best Damn Poker Show.
• Milwaukee’s Best Light re-upped as a WSOP sponsor.
  

Check our poker on TV schedule for the list of shows regularly running new episodes.

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2008 Poky Awards: The Best of Poker on TV

2008 was a scary year for poker on TV. TV poker ratings have been declining since early in the poker boom, and the World Poker Tour and High Stakes Poker looked like they might not come back. Both High Stakes Poker and the World Poker Tour eventually returned, but the the World Poker Tour's viability is still in question. On the other hand, the WSOP's experiment with a delayed final table did result in a ratings boost.

I care more about quality than quantity, however. Amid many disappointments (e.g.) there was one promising development: more cash games (or "real poker" as Doyle Brunson, Patrik Antonius, and I like to call it) on TV. I was particularly happy to see an existing show, Poker After Dark, add cash games to their lineup. Still, I found much less to reward in 2008 than in previous years, as you can see from the awards below.

Best Poker Show
Poker After Dark Cash Games
Runner Up
Poker After Dark Tournaments

Best Foreign Show
The Game

Best Commentary
None

I like Poker After Dark mostly for showing more of what I tune into poker shows for: poker. It shows most of the hands, with very little non-poker content. Now it also shows the cash games most of us play, where the first hand matters as much as the last and it never becomes a shortstacked all-in fest.

I had to come up with a new category for The Game, the excellent Swedish cash game. It might have won best show if it were aired in the US, but this site is about poker on US TV.

I was disappointed that none of my favorite poker commentators had regular gigs in 2008. A talented analysts, or no commentary at all (e.g. The Game, from the point of view of someone who doesn't understand Swedish), is better than the comedians and showmen that populate most shows. Even basic play-by-play (though it becomes unnecessary with good onscreen graphics) is often ignored (Barry Tompkins was a notable exception).

See also our 2007 and 2006 Poky Awards.

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High Stakes Poker Producer Mori Eskandani Talks

High Stakes Poker producer Mori Eskandani discussed the new season, starting March 1 at 9 PM on GSN, on the latest Mediocre Poker Radio podcast. It's an interesting conversation. Some of the highlights are:

• The show was conceived when Mori and GSN executives were discussing a failed pilot at the Bellagio, and Johnny Chan came by and said he'd just lost a six-figure pot. A GSN executive later asked Mori if broadcasting a cash game like that would work.
• Phil Galfond's brief appearance on a previous season was discussed (it was cut short because Galfond didn't make good TV). Mori recognizes that Phil is one of the best players in the world now and says he'll be back on High Stakes Poker some day.
• The hosts asked if Mori was familiar with online superstars the Dang brothers (better known by their screennames Urindanger and trex313), and encouraged him to have them on the show when he said he wasn't.
  
• There was more discussion of why High Stakes Poker disappeared for so long: GSN questioned if HSP's audience fit with the people who watch the network.
• This season will have higher stakes: $400 and $800 blinds with a $200 ante. The minimum buyin is $200,000 and the maximum is $500,000.

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High Stakes Poker Season 5 Previews

Season 5 of High Stakes Poker begins Sunday night at 9 PM on GSN.

See our taping update for the full lineup of players.

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Million Dollar Cash Game on Fox Sports Net

Million Dollar Cash Game season 3 just started airing on Fox Sports Net (they had been running season 2, which I wasn't a fan of). The first episode has already aired, but you can catch it in rerun. Its regular time slot seems to be Saturday nights at 11 PM, but, as always with Fox Sports Net, check a programming guide for times in your area.

This week's Poker After Dark ends with a roundtable discussion with Leeann Tweeden and all of the players. After that there won't be any new shows till till March 23.

There's no new WSOP Europe this week: the final table airs March 1.

EPT Live coverage of Copenhagen is on today and Saturday.

It's not poker, but Saturday Gus Hansen is boxing Theo Jorgensen on Hansen's new web site, Gus TV.

This week's newsbites:

• Daniel is ok with PokerStars pulling their sponsored player from Poker After Dark;
• we know the size of the largest TV poker pot ever, on High Stakes Poker season 5, but not yet who played it;
  
• there are some extra clips of Hellmuth walking off the set on Best Damn Poker Show; and
  
• a finance message-board poster doesn't think WPT CEO Steve Lipscomb has earned his compensation.
  

Check our poker on TV schedule for the list of shows regularly running new episodes.

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World Poker Tour: Season 8, Company Sale?

WPT Enterprises announced that Fox Sports Net will broadcast season 8 of the World Poker Tour. FSN Executive Vice President George Greenberg said season 7 has been "one of the most popular programs on FSN." They plan 26 one-hour espisodes, the same as season 7.

WPT Enterprises also released their fourth quarter and 2008 results and held an earnings call. Generally, things aren't going well: they continue to burn through their cash. Some highlights:

• They're looking into strategic alternatives and providing confidential information to certain parties, code words for discussing a sale of the company. Further hints come from the company's recent 8-K, which reveals CEO Steve Limscomb's compensation in the event of a sale: 5% of any excess over the fair market value of the company's financial assets plus six months' severance.
  
• They don't plan to continue to produce Club WPT shows, as the $1.2 million they spent for 13 episodes wasn't cost-effective marketing. They'll shift to online marketing efforts, such as affiliates.
  
• WPT China hasn't produced much revenue and they're looking for a partner, as "The cash needs to support the growth in this business are greater than the Company is willing to expend."

Separately, it looks like there will be a WPT Venice during season 8. Their only overseas tournament of season 7, Barcelona, was not televised.

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Cash Game On Poker After Dark

Poker After Dark season 5 kicks off next week with an eagerly anticipated cash game: "Nets vs. Vets," featuring Taylor "Green Plastic" Caby, Cole "CTS" South, Gabe Kaplan, David "Raptor" Benefield, Doyle Brunson, and Eli Elezra.

This weekend's World Poker Tour show is the North American Poker Championship, from Niagara Falls, Canada. The players are Gavin Smith, Kathy Liebert, Marc Karam, Jim Trenholm, Ryan Fisler, and Glen Witmer.

Episodes 5 and 6 of the WSOP Europe air this weekend.

Want to see inside the mind of a poker genius? durrrr got good reviews for his commentary on PartyPoker.com Premier League Poker III, Episode 3 (link is to the Poker Bay).

Check our poker on TV schedule for the list of shows regularly running new episodes.

Did you know that video training sites like Stoxpoker are one of the best ways to improve your poker game? Try it out today.

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Poker After Dark New Next Week

Poker After Dark is new next week with a tournament they're calling Brilliant Minds, featuring Brandon Adams, Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch, Bill Chen, Jimmy Warren, and David Sklansky.

Correction from last week: ESPN won't air any of the WSOP Europe PLO tournament, only the Main Event.

Check our poker on TV schedule for the list of shows regularly running new episodes.

Play Carbon Poker because they have the worst players of the six significant US-friendly poker sites.

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