Late Night Poker

PartyPoker Late Night Poker makes its annual return to screens on Channel 4 in the UK with a one-off celebrity tournament being broadcast on Monday 7 January at 11.50pm. Coverage of the main tournament starts on Tuesday 15 January at midnight and runs for 10 weeks.

The celebrity special features actor John Thomson, comedian Dave Gorman, Green Wing’s Stephen Mangan, tv personality Cleo Rocos, ‘Mr Nice’ Howard Marks and presenter Hardeep Singh Kohli.

After a number of different formats over recent years the tournament goes back to the format of 1999-2002, with an emphasis on player personalities that have made the tournament so compelling over the years.

Joining familiar Late Night Poker personalities and champions such as Dave “The Devilfish” Ulliott, the Hendon Mob, Padraig Parkinson and Simon Trumper is a specially selected group of some of the most familiar and up and coming players on the scene. Andy Black, Roland de Wolfe, Praz Bansi, Dave Colclough, Maria Demetriou, Jen Mason, Marcel Luske, Roy Brindley, Paul Jackson, Liam Flood, Marc Goodwin, Jon Kalmar, Ian Frazer, Michael Keiner, Eddy Scharf, Annette Obrestad, Robert Williamson III, Surinder Sunar, Julian Thew, Bo Sehlstedt, Anders Henriksson, Korosh, Jac Arama, Pascal Perrault, Kevin O’Connell, Martin Wendt and Rene Mouritsen are just some of the players to look out for.

Rob Thomas, producer of Late Night Poker for production company Presentable said: “The convention for every poker show these days is to show all the player’s cards as soon as they enter a pot. When Late Night Poker started, the style was very different. Player’s cards were revealed at appropriate moments during the hand to create more drama as the hand progressed. Twice in each show we will see the hand from one player’s perspective. We’ll only see their particular hole cards which gives the viewer a different perspective as the hand develops."

"TV poker is about creating drama and tension and, in these instances, the commentators will have great fun guessing what the opponent might be holding, and then there’s the excitement of the “reveal” moment at the end of the hand. We believe this will enhance the viewer’s enjoyment.”

Late Night Poker revolutionised people’s perception of poker when the tournament was first broadcast on Channel 4 in 1999 and was the first to use under the table cameras. The total prize pool for 2007 is $335,000 ($90,000 added by PartyPoker) with $125,000 going to the eventual winner. There were 49 specially invited players paying a $5000 buy-in with seven heats featuring seven players, followed by a semi final and a final. The field also features ten online qualifiers who won their seats in exclusive online tournaments on PartyPoker.