PokerGO has announced a special edition of its popular series High Stakes Poker. Scheduled for April 27, this will not be the usual pre-taped, edited episode, but rather a livestream. The episode will air on both the PokerGO subscription service and PokerGO’s YouTube channel, which also requires a paid subscription for much of its content. Though Monday’s announcement did not say as much, the schedule on PokerGO’s website has the episode set for 5:30pm ET.
Lined up to play are several of the usual cast of characters that poker fans are used to seeing in high stakes cash game livestreams, including Doug Polk, Eric Persson, Matt Berkey, Nik “Airball” Arcot, Bill Klein, Rob Yong, and Jennifer Tilly.
Blinds will be $200/$400 with a $400 big blind ante and the minimum buy-in is $100,000.
“We could not be more excited to bring to life the first-ever livestream broadcast of High Stakes Poker,” said Mori Eskandani, president of PokerGO. “PokerGO is committed to increasing the worldwide visibility of the game we all love so much, and part of our strategy is new content offerings such as this live broadcast of High Stakes Poker that allows us to showcase poker and the community on the biggest platform.”
Though PokerGO is the dominant force in poker “television” nowadays and is typically the trendsetter, this is clearly an instance of PokerGO keeping up with the Joneses. Livestreamed cash games such as Live at the Bike and Hustler Casino Live are at the peak of their popularity right now, helped a lot by last year’s “Jack-Four” controversy on Hustler Casino Live.
“Cash-game poker livestreams have never been in higher demand, and it’s only fitting that PokerGO, the global leader in live poker streaming, brings poker’s most iconic cash game into a live format,” said PokerGO’s director of programming Brent Hanks. “This lineup at these stakes with the added dynamic of livestream engagement is the perfect recipe for a truly can’t-miss event.”
Knowing PokerGO’s penchant for putting on a good show and High Stakes Poker’s already established quality, this should be a fun episode. If there is any negative, it is just that this will be on a paid subscription service, while the main livestream poker competition is free to watch.
Assuming PokerGO does, in fact, require a subscription for this episode (there has been no indication to the contrary), hopefully there will be some features or increased production values that make this worth seeing over the other livestream poker games, especially since the players are the same ones we see on Live at the Bike and Hustler Casino Live. Then again, those who already subscribe to PokerGO get it at no extra charge and should enjoy the game.
Image credit: PokerGO.com