On Wednesday, the UB.com sponsored poker news show “Poker2Nite” kicked off Season 2 on its new home, Versus. The series airs at 11:00pm ET and this week welcomed Absolute Poker pro and former “Real World: Las Vegas” star Trishelle Cannatella.
Season 2 featured “Poker2Nite” moving to Versus, complete with plenty of on-screen graphics during each segment. The show began with hosts Scott Huff and Joe Sebok recapping the World Poker Tour (WPT) Celebrity Invitational. As luck would have it, the two were seated directly next to each other in the field. Then, attention turned to the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Main Event and High-Roller Bounty Shootout. Sebok played in the latter event, but did not make the final table.
Playing out this weekend in Las Vegas is the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will air on NBC. Sebok claimed that notable omissions from the field of 64 included J.C. Tran and top female poker pro Kathy Liebert, both World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winners. Huff and Sebok questioned the invitations extended to Kara Scott, Phil Gordon, and past WSOP Main Event champions. The National Heads-Up Poker Championship draw party takes place tonight at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
For Season 2 of “Poker2Nite,” the “Weekly Misdeal” is no more. Instead, Dana Workman hosted a segment dubbed “Girls of Poker” and welcomed Lauren Kling into the Los Angeles studios. On being one of the last women standing in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic, Kling told Workman, “I don’t really care about being the last woman standing. As long as I’m the last person standing, that’s all that matters. I play to win.” Kling is dating fellow poker pro Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers and told “Poker2Nite” viewers that she does Pilates several times per week.
Sebok and Huff then interviewed Cannatella, who finished third in the WPT Celebrity Invitational. Cannatella broke down her strategy in the unique invite-only tournament: “The first day, I wanted to play pretty tight. The first day is fun anyway. Day 2 was straight playing.” 2010 marked Cannatella’s fourth appearance in the Celebrity Invitational; she had never made it past Day 1.
Cannatella became a household name after a rambunctious appearance on MTV’s “Real World: Las Vegas.” Then in her early 20s, Cannatella put herself on the map through the reality franchise and told “Poker2Nite” viewers, “I have a special place for Las Vegas because of that. I had never been west of Texas. We had a good time. There are definitely things I could have done differently, but do I regret it? No.” Huff pointed out that Cannatella has one more WPT final table than Sebok.
A new segment called “On the Clock” debuted during the Season 2 kickoff episode. In-studio guests are asked a series of rapid-fire questions and whoever answers the most number right at the end of 60 seconds during the course of the season will receive a championship trophy. Cannatella’s arsenal of questions included her favorite poker player, whether she was single or taken, her favorite city to go out in, the capital of Norway, and what eight times seven was. Cannatella answered eight questions correctly.
Finally, Workman returned for the “Online Roundup.” Show producers scoured social media outlets like Twitter as well as poker blogs and forums to bring viewers the top quotes of the week. Topics included the Celebrity Invitational and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
Sebok sported a beard after being clean-shaven for the “Poker2Nite” Season 1 finale on Fox Sports Net. He’ll now ink tattoos of fellow pros Gavin Smith and Jeff Madsen after losing a last longer bet at the L.A. Poker Classic.
“Poker2Nite” airs on Wednesdays at 11:00pm ET on Versus. Check your local listings for station information.