Poker Superstars
Phil Hellmuth
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2008 Poker TV Programming |
December 29, 2007
Heading on into the new year of poker we're already promised another great year of poker on TV, including new seasons from the NBC Heads Up Championship and Poker After Dark, both of whom this week announced some of what's in store for us on the tube.
First off, the first group of invitations for NBC's 2008 Heads Up Poker Championship went out, including most of the obvious selections such as Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Chris Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, Jamie Gold and Jerry Yang, as well as Former National Heads-Up champs Ted Forrest (2006) and Paul Wasicka (2007). Other no-brainers including Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harman, Barry Greenstein, Mike Matusow, Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, and Antonio Esfandiari also got the nod. Last year's questionable pick Shannon Elizabeth, who proved herself worthy by making the semifinals, also got re-invited.
Speculations reamin rampant as to who among those not yet called will make the second round of invites, but no matter what you can pretty much guaranatee a quality batch of poker to be watched, as NBC's format for the Heads Up Championship is one of the better produced of the battalion of poker shows now on the air.
Secondly, NBC's Poker After Dark announced its renewal for the 2008 season, which is good news for fans of poker on TV, as this show does a pretty decent job of changing up their roster every week and keeping play interesting. This season should be particularly cool as they will be including a whole new roster of players who haven't had much of a share of TV time as yet, including: John-Robert Bellande, Hoyt Corkins, Roland de Wolfe, Chau Giang, Mark Gregorich, Sam Grizzle, Berry Johnston, J.J. Liu, Scotty Nguyen, David Oppenheim, Erica Schoenberg, Beth Shak, Gavin Smith, and Robert Williamson III.
Here's a roster of the first few events already promised:
Match 21: Dream Table (Week of December 31)
Seat 1: Daniel Negreanu
Seat 2: Phil Hellmuth
Seat 3: Jennifer Harman
Seat 4: Mike Matusow
Seat 5: Scotty Nguyen
Seat 6: Ken Light
Match 22: 19th Hole (Week of January 7)
Seat 1: Gavin Smith
Seat 2: David Oppenheim
Seat 3: Erick Lindgren
Seat 4: Phil Ivey
Seat 5: Doyle Brunson
Seat 6: Daniel Negreanu
Match 23: Hecklers (Week of January 14)
Seat 1: Gavin Smith
Seat 2: Sam Grizzle
Seat 3: John-Robert Bellande
Seat 4: Mike Matusow
Seat 5: Sean Sheikhan
Seat 6: Phil Hellmuth
Match 24: World Champions (Week of February 11)
Seat 1: Chris Ferguson (2000)
Seat 2: Johnny Chan (1987, 1988)
Seat 3: Berry Johnston (1986)
Seat 4: Jamie Gold (2006)
Seat 5: Phil Hellmuth (1989)
Seat 6: Huck Seed (1996)
Match 25: Cowboys (Week of February 18)
Seat 1: Doyle Brunson
Seat 2: Chris Ferguson
Seat 3: Chau Giang
Seat 4: Andy Bloch
Seat 5: Hoyt Corkins
Seat 6: Gabe Kaplan
Match 26: International (Week of February 25)
Seat 1: Patrik Antonius (Finland)
Seat 2: Johnny Chan (China)
Seat 3: Roland de Wolfe (England)
Seat 4: Daniel Negreanu (Canada)
Seat 5: Gus Hansen (Denmark)
Seat 6: John Juanda (Indonesia)
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