# Poker After Dark (starting 2 Jan)



## Amnesia (Jan 30, 2005)

NBC's new 6-nights-a-week poker program, _Poker After Dark_ has finally shown up in my TiVo schedule.

You can read a press release from _The Futon Critic_, or go to the show's NBC home page.

_Poker After Dark_ is hosted by poker babe Shana Hiatt and it airs late night each weekday (actually early morning the following day) and then on Saturday night (Sunday morning) there is a special highlight show with the week's winner.


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## BriGuy20 (Aug 4, 2005)

I thought NBC had late-night all planned out. Does this go after Carson Daly?


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## stujac (Jan 26, 2002)

I'd sp that also but it's not on here.


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## smak (Feb 11, 2000)

BriGuy20 said:


> I thought NBC had late-night all planned out. Does this go after Carson Daly?


I believe it's 2:05 am, after Carson.

-smak-


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## Amnesia (Jan 30, 2005)

Bump. This starts tonight (tomorrow morning).


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## Lee L (Oct 1, 2003)

So, is Shana doing the hand by hand commentary or just runnning around like on WPT? What kind of players are they going to have on?


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## Amnesia (Jan 30, 2005)

There isn't any hand-by-hand commentary. Well, there's a touch of commentary, but it's far from every hand. Much, much less commentary than any other poker show I've seen.

Shana just introduced everyone at the beginning. My understanding is that she'll play a bigger role on Saturday night's show, where she spends time talking with the week's winner and going over various hands.

As for players, here's a listing of the first ten weeks' players...


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Argh, this show's an hour a night... That's a lot! (I'm a poker-on-tv addict, though I have a couple of the MansionPoker.net shows recorded that I haven't watched, and almost all of that not-quite-world-poker-tour-but-made-by-the-same-people one.)

BTW, what happened to Michael Konik on the mansionpoker.net show?


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## convergent (Jan 4, 2007)

What happened to Poker After Dark... I can't find it in the Guide info...


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

I've only seen one episode, but it's pretty neat, unlike any of the other poker shows. For one thing, it appears that they show _every single hand_. They don't edit it down to just the interesting hands like the other shows do. Also, the commentator chatter is kept to a minimum. It's a pretty neat concept, and one that probably could only work on late late nights.

Also cool, almost every commercial was for FullTiltPoker.net, which is cool only because they usually do very amusing commercials. Besides those ads, they had extended-length promos for upcoming NBC shows. There was what appeared to be 90 or 120 second promos for The Apprentice and that Grease show.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

convergent said:


> What happened to Poker After Dark... I can't find it in the Guide info...


I can see it.


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## convergent (Jan 4, 2007)

So, no more, "He's going all in Vince... on a stone cold bluff!!!!"??? How will we survive. Oh hey... Shana is there... 

Seriously, I wonder what happened to the show that they'd only show one episode and then stop???


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

convergent said:


> So, no more, "He's going all in Vince... on a stone cold bluff!!!!"??? How will we survive. Oh hey... Shana is there...


Yeah, none of that nonsense. Sombody muzzle Norman Chad, PLEASE!!!! 



> Seriously, I wonder what happened to the show that they'd only show one episode and then stop???


No dude, it's still there. I don't know what's up with your guide data. What does your guide say is playing tonight at 2am (2:05 actually)?


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## TTitan (Sep 10, 2004)

If you miss an episode, they are all available on the NBC website for free.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

busyba said:


> I've only seen one episode, but it's pretty neat, unlike any of the other poker shows. For one thing, it appears that they show _every single hand_.


In one of the shows last week (probably 1st or 2nd), Phil definitely mentioned 80%. He said something like he was told that they'd show 80% of the hands.

The funny thing is, just listening to them converse is so entertaining, sometimes I don't really pay attention to the poker!

(I'm a poker TV show addict. I even watch the MansionPoker.net shows, even though they're semi-boring.. But lately I've been watching them on my non-tivo at 1.5x-with-sound.)

Poker After Dark is probably #2 behind World Poker Tour in overall greatness... err, maybe #3 behind the WSOP episodes.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Is it just me or is the commentary really funky?

The guy will say "Player A has [this hand]". And nothing else. And many times I'm wondering why it is the guy felt it was necessary to point that out.

Well, duh, I can see that Player A flopped the top pair, I didn't need you to point that out to me.

Other times he will say "Player B has [card X]" because his play is kinda out there if he has card X. But anybody who watches poker enough to not need commentary will know that, too.

The graphic on screen tells you what the blinds are, so what's the point of the commentator saying it too?

So far all the commentator has done is take my focus off the play at the table and make me miss the banter. I'd rather have just the percentages and stuff on screen and no off-screen commentator at all.

Jan


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

mattack said:


> Poker After Dark is probably #2 behind World Poker Tour in overall greatness... err, maybe #3 behind the WSOP episodes.


I'm digging "High Stakes Poker" on the Game Show network.

Watching them throw $50,000 bricks of bundled $100 bills into the pot is just wild. The hand where Negranu flopped trip 5's and Hansen flopped trip 4's then turned quad 4's and the pot went up to something like $600,000 was the sickest thing I've ever seen.


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## Amnesia (Jan 30, 2005)

How do the players get paid for _PaD_ and _HSP_?

For _PaD_, they supposedly put up the money for the pot. But NBC is getting 6 hours of broadcast and the players aren't getting any more than if they were just playing a cash game away from the cameras. What's in it for them? Just money from sponsors for wearing site addresses on their clothing?

And the same for _HSP_---why would a top player appear on that show instead of just playing in an untelevised cash game?


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

Being a pro poker player these days is about a lot more than just playing poker. It's a form of celebrity and being a known name is a gateway to money through endorsement deals.

So going on these shows raises the players visibility and Q rating, and in turn their earning potential.

I'm sure that they also get some money from the sponsors they wear.

I'm not suprised at all that poker players would try to tap into that money pool; it's the ultimate freeroll. 

All other things being equal, assuming that they would be putting that same amount of cash at risk through poker playing anyway, _why not_ do it on TV where you can get additional money too?


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## TTitan (Sep 10, 2004)

HSP pays them an appearance fee, but it's an insignificant amount. I think it's equivalent to one big blind, or something like that. Not sure about PAD, but they probably also give them something.

The thing I find weird about PAD is I haven't once heard them give the name of the casino they're playing at. All the other shows mention it about every 15 minutes.


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## BriGuy20 (Aug 4, 2005)

Saw it a couple of nights ago.

As a rule, I WILL NOT WATCH POKER WITHOUT ODDS!!!  

BAD PAD! NO BIG BLIND!


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## Amnesia (Jan 30, 2005)

BriGuy20 said:


> As a rule, I WILL NOT WATCH POKER WITHOUT ODDS!!!


What are you talking about? They show the odds...


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

Amnesia said:


> What are you talking about? They show the odds...


Maybe he's confusing poker with craps?


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## BriGuy20 (Aug 4, 2005)

Amnesia said:


> What are you talking about? They show the odds...


I didn't see odds on it when I was watching.


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## red_ferrari_308 (Nov 6, 2003)

Interesting that Gabe Caplan on 'High Stakes Poker' talks too much so ''Late Night Poker' compensates with NO sound at all. 

Best sound would have the players mics turned up and commentators only coming in during quiet periods. Mike and Vince are the ultimate hosts.

Tournament Poker with artificial chip token money is nothing compared with 'High Stakes Poker' real money buy ins of $100K minimum of their own cash.


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