The Nightly Turbo: World Poker Tour on FSN, World Series of Poker Coverage Continues, and More
We know you're wondering what's on the news tap for today. Well, the World Poker Tour has announced its latest partnership with FSN for television broadcasting rights (and we know you're hoping for plenty of Royal Flush Girls coverage). On top of that, we've got a preview of the WSOP on ESPN this week, and more.
In Case You Missed It
It's Monday and that means we have results from all of the major Sunday tournaments. You'll need to check out the Sunday Briefing to find them.
The PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge was in Las Vegas filming its latest season. We stopped by the set and caught up with Sara Underwood in the green room for a little chat.
After a little over a week, the UBOC has finally come to an end. How did the both the UBOC and Mini-UBOC Main Events play out? Find out in the UBOC recap.
You may have missed The PokerStars.net Big Game last week, but we didn't. Dani Stern's time on the set was very profitable. How did the Loose Cannon do? You need to read The Big Game recap to find out.
WPT on FSN
The World Poker Tour has announced a broadcast and promotional agreement with FSN that will cover the next three years of the tour. Seasons 9, 10 and 11 will all be broadcast on FSN with prime time national air times of 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on Sundays, as well as additional airings throughout the week.
"As a leader in sports programming, FSN has been a great champion of the WPT and we are thrilled to make this long-term commitment as we celebrate a new day for the WPT," WPT President Adam Pliska said. "The better airtimes, improved promotion and the increased number of repeat episodes promise to be a boon for fans and the perfect showcase for the exciting changes coming to the WPT starting in Season 9."
The first episode of Season 9 will debut in January with some new additions for viewers.Kimberly Lansing is back this season and will take on an anchor role for the show. A new segment called "The Raw Deal" will be introduced and the Royal Flush Girls will be on hand as well.
"FSN is excited to remain the home for The World Poker Tour, which continues to deliver great ratings for our affiliates. WPT is one of the most respected brands in poker and will only grow stronger with the tremendous innovations they are bringing to the show in the new season," FSN Vice President of Programming David Sussin said. "Our network has long been a showcase for the best poker on television, and we are very happy WPT will continue that tradition.”
The WPT kicked off its inaugural WPT London event Monday at the Mayfair Hotel. Two Day 1s are scheduled for this £5,000 + £300 buy-in event. When registration closed on Day 1a, 72 players had ponied up the buy-in. Among the players that took their seats at the tables were Phil Ivey, Andrew Robl, James Akenhead, and Luke Schwartz.
You can follow all the live updates on the PartyPoker Blog and if you want to know where the WPT is headed next, head on over to WPT.com.
Day 2 Dreams
This is just your friendly little weekly reminder to watch the 2010 World Series of Poker coverage on ESPN. This week, ESPN is bringing you Day 2b action featuring Phil Ivey, Dan Harrington, and Jeff Shulman in the first hour. In the second hour, Josh Arieh joins Shulman and Harrington at the feature table.
Coverage begins at 9:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN.
Southern Raids
It seems like the police in the South are on a mission. On Thursday of last week, a high-stakes home game in North Carolina was raided, $23,700 was confiscated and eight people were arrested.
"After receiving multiple complaints from members of the public regarding the illegal games ALE agents promptly investigated," John Ledford, Director of Alcohol Law Enforcement said. "High stakes card games like this one are illegal in the state, and I commend our agents and officers with the Mt. Olive Police Department for taking action."
On Sunday, a little further south in Columbus, Georgia, 15 people, including owner of the salon and the man running the game, Tony Spratt, were arrested during a poker game that was being run out of a beauty salon. Spratt was in possession of crack cocaine when the game was raided. While we can endorse playing poker, we can't endorse playing under the influence.
Read about the North Carolina case on Casino Gambling Web and the Georgia case on the Ledger-Enquirer.
Walk This Way
Wondering if some of your favorite PokerStars Pros can hack it on the runway? We were too, so we put them to the test. Pieter de Korver, Arnaud Mattern and Gloria Balding but on their walking shoes and gave us a little strut for the camera.
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