On Monday, December 29th, the fifth season of NBC’s “Poker After Dark” will kick off. The very first episode is called “Close But No Cigar” and will play host to those who have reached past World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final tables, but have yet to take down a title. The show will hit the television airwaves at 2:05am Eastern Time late Monday night and continue for five straight nights at the same time each evening.
The episode’s format will be a “winner takes all” tournament. Each of the six contestants will pony up $20,000 of their own money, meaning that the six-handed show’s ultimate champion will win $120,000. The players taking part in the very first episode of Poker After Dark Season V include Irishman Andy Black, who took fifth in the 2005 WSOP Main Event, which was won by Joe Hachem. One of Black’s opponents will be Lee Watkinson, who finished eighth in the 2007 Main Event. In that tournament, he was sent packing from the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas by its champion, Jerry Yang. He held A-7, but ran into Yang’s A-9 and the board was no help to Watkinson.
Dewey Tomko will also appear on the season’s premier episode. So far, Tomko has mastered the art of finishing second in WSOP Main Events, having accomplished the feat twice. He was the runner up in 1982 to Jack Strauss and found himself with another silver medal 19 years later, falling to Carlos Mortensen in 2001. During the final table of the 2008 WSOP Main Event, Tomko was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame along with hole card camera inventor and “High Stakes Poker” Producer Henry Orenstein. Tomko is the owner of three bracelets as well as career earnings of $2.6 million from WSOP felts.
During the 2004 Main Event, Bodog poker pro David Williams battled heads-up against former lawyer and current Team PokerStars Pro Greg Raymer. In the end, the amateur prevailed, but Williams pocketed $3.5 million for his efforts. He’ll return to the limelight on Monday night for Poker After Dark Season V. Williams took home a WSOP bracelet in 2006 in a $1,500 buy-in Seven Card Stud tournament. A press release distributed by Poker Productions stated that Williams owns more than 300 pairs of Nike Air Force One shoes. He’s flanked on Team Bodog by Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, Evelyn Ng, and “Survivor: China” contestant Jean-Robert Bellande.
In Seat 5 on Poker After Dark will be Allen Cunningham. He owns five WSOP bracelets and is one of the most accomplished poker pros ever. His fourth place in the 2006 Main Event was worth a colossal $3.6 million; its eventual champion, Jamie Gold, pocketed $12 million. He has lifetime earnings in excess of $10 million, including $6.7 million from WSOP play alone. In April, he took down a WSOP Circuit Event at Caesars Palace in Sin City for nearly $500,000.
Rounding out the field for the first installment of Poker After Dark Season V is Mike Matusow. The Full Tilt Poker-sponsored pro finished ninth in the 2005 Main Event for $1 million after taking sixth in poker’s most prestigious tournament four years earlier. He finished 30th in the 2008 WSOP Main Event for $193,000 and won the most recent of his three bracelets in a $5,000 buy-in No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball with Rebuys tournament for $537,000 in June. Matusow outlasted a talented final table in that tournament, which also included Jeffrey Lisandro, Barry Greenstein, Erick Lindgren, Tony G, David Benyamine, and Tom “durrrr” Dwan. Dubbed as “The Mouth,” Matusow’s demeanor has been noticeably quelled in recent televised tournaments.
On Saturday night, January 3rd, NBC will air a program called “Director’s Cut” at 1:00am ET following the popular sketch comedy show “Saturday Night Live.” On the Director’s Cut, Poker After Dark host Leeann Tweeden will provide highlights of the week’s event.
