Players Announced for Weekly Poker After Dark Episodes

NBC’s Poker After Dark has become synonymous with high-stakes cash games and six-man tournaments featuring World Poker Tour winners, World Series of Poker bracelet holders, and industry staples. The show airs in the late-night hours in some markets and is currently entering its fifth season. Recently, the network announced the line-up for the newest installment marquee poker series.

The 2009 broadcast schedule will feature new shows interspersed with “encore” broadcasts of popular episodes from previous seasons. Three of the “encore” broadcasts will make up much of the January schedule. This upcoming week (January 5th) will include the only new material, called “Speak Your Mind” in an apparent reference to the players’ verbosity or previous commentary experience. The episode will feature professionals Phil Hellmuth, Phil Gordon, and “High Stakes Poker” announcer Gabe Kaplan heading to battle on the felt.

The rest of January will be replete with “encore” shows, featuring amateur player Paul Featherstone’s “Dream Table” (Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Sexton, Jennifer Harman, and Gavin Smith) during the week of January 19th and a gathering of the veterans of the legendary Mayfair Club featuring Howard Lederer, Dan Harrington, and Steve Zolotow on January 26th.

February kicks off with another “encore” broadcast, but it is the new material which should draw the attention of many poker aficionados. The week of February 9th is “Brilliant Minds Week” and features such mathematical geniuses as Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, William Chen, and David Sklansky flexing their mental muscles on the table. The next week brings about a battle of the “Nets vs. Vets.” The show features internet gurus (CardRunners pros Taylor “Green Plastic” Caby and David “Raptor” Benefield) against the veterans of poker (Doyle Brunson and Eli Elezra).

February wraps up the week of the 23rd with what should prove to be a very contentious sit and go. Multiple World Poker Tour event winners Daniel Negreanu, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, Erick Lindgren, and Gus Hansen should have plenty of fireworks to entertain viewers.

Highlights of the month of March include what could be called Poker After Dark’s version of “The Big Game.” The buy-in for this round, to be broadcast the week of March 9th, has been upped to $50,000. The lineup is one poker fans won’t want to miss, with David Benyamine, Barry Greenstein, Phil Ivey, and Allen Cunningham making appearances. Benyamine will return later in the month, during the week of March 30th, for the “International Game” against 2008 Player of the Year John Phan and WSOP runner up Ivan Demidov.

Last, but certainly not least, this year’s PAD schedule includes a special cash game and roast of Phil Hellmuth, who has certainly provided his own highlight reel of exploits on the show. Called the “Hellmuth Bash Cash Game” and airing over a two week period beginning May 4th, “The Poker Brat” will entertain fans and opponents. The episodes feature Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, noted cash game player Kenny Tran, and online veteran Tom “durrrr” Dwan. There will certainly be several jabs at the 11-time WSOP bracelet winner during this show, especially about Dwan’s outdraw against Hellmuth in the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which also aired on NBC.

As always, check your local listings for broadcast time (or if it airs, as all areas do not carry the show), but certainly be sure to check out the 2009 season of Poker After Dark on NBC. Although a bit heavy on Full Tilt Poker pros (one of the sponsors of the program), the poker should be entertaining and the chance to hear the pros banter back and forth without much commentary from the announcers is worth the price of admission.