As we broke on PocketFives.com last year, the World Poker Tour is heading to GSN, the Network for Games, after its run on The Travel Channel. The WPT revolutionized the way people watch poker. On Monday, March 24th, the sixth season of the WPT will kick off on GSN. The two hour episode will mark a major milestone for the network, which already broadcasts High Stakes Poker along with a bevy of other gaming entertainment. PocketFives.com sat down with Kevin Belinkoff, Vice President of Programming for GSN, to discuss the WPT’s debut. To say that Belinkoff is looking forward to March 24th would be the understatement of the century: “We’re thrilled to be in business with the World Poker Tour. We’ve looked at them for quite some time and, when the show became available, we jumped on it. We’ve actually been working with them for a year now while they’ve planned and filmed this season. I’ve been able to attend a majority of the live events and have been pleased with what I’ve seen. They’re on the cutting edge of poker.”
What makes the WPT unique, according to Belinkoff, is the wide variety of ways that the company is able to get the viewer at home involved in the product: “One of the reasons the WPT has been successful is that they have many ways to cover and analyze a poker tournament. Their editing is different and features split screens and quality graphics which allow viewers to get into players’ heads. You can watch the game unfold in a completely different way.” A press release distributed by GSN sums up how the WPT’s unique broadcasting style has led to its success: “The WPT created a global phenomenon by making poker a televised spectator sport. To date, the WPT has aired over 100 episodes, awarded over $300 million in cash prizes and crowned over 80 WPT Poker-Made Millionaires.”
An interesting component of GSN is its similarity, ironically, to the Travel Channel. Belinkoff explains that the viewing audience of both shows is made up mostly of women. You read that right: women. Belinkoff explains, “We’re a network for games. As we expand, poker has had a lot of success for us. Women comprise most of our audience and the same is true on the Travel Channel. There’s a loyal female audience to poker.”
WPT Season Six will debut on Monday, March 24th at 9:00pm ET. Each episode will last for two hours and the season will consist of 23 episodes total. The planned broadcast schedule is given below:
March 24
Mirage Poker Showdown
The Mirage, Las Vegas
March 31
Bellagio Cup III part 1
Bellagio, Las Vegas
April 7
Bellagio Cup III part 2
Bellagio, Las Vegas
April 14
Legends of Poker
The Bicycle Casino, Los Angeles
April 21
North American Poker Classic
Fallsview Casino Resort, Niagara Falls, Canada
April 28
Mandalay Bay Poker Championship
Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
May 5
Borgata Poker Open
Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City
May 12
WPT Ladies Night V
The Bicycle Casino, Los Angeles
May 19
Turks and Caicos Poker Classic
The Players Club, Turks and Caicos, British West Indies
May 26
Gulf Coast Poker Championship
Beau Rivage, Biloxi, MS
June 2
WPT Spanish Championship
Casino Barcelona, Spain
June 9
Foxwoods World Poker Finals
Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, CT
June 16
Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Poker Classic
Bellagio, Las Vegas
June 23
World Poker Open Part 1
Gold Strike, Tunica, MS
June 30
World Poker Open Part 2
Gold Strike, Tunica, MS
July 7
Borgata Poker Classic
Borgata, Atlantic City, NJ
July 14
L.A. Poker Classic
Commerce Casino, Los Angeles
July 21
WPT Celebrity Invitational
Commerce Casino, Los Angeles
July 28
Bay 101 Shooting Star
Bay 101, San Jose, CA
August 4
World Poker Challenge
Grand Sierra Resort, Reno
August 11
Foxwoods Poker Classic
Foxwoods, Mashantucket, CT
August 18
WPT Ladies Championship
Bellagio, Las Vegas
August 25
WPT World Championship
Bellagio, Las Vegas
PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Court Harrington was on the scene for many of the events of Season Six covering online poker players in the WPT’s tournaments. He commented on what we can expect to see on GSN: “Season Six kicked off with a great tournament for PocketFives. At the Mirage in May, Jonathan ‘FieryJustice’ Little defeated Corey ‘UGOTPZD’ Carroll heads up at a loaded final table that also featured Darrell ‘Gigabet’ Dicken, Phil Ivey, and Amnon Filippi. Little and Carroll have both become regulars on the live tournament circuit and developed a strong following based on both their poker skills and personalities.”
At the Bellagio, another PocketFiver made waves. Harrington describes the action: “Kevin ‘BeL0WaB0Ve’ Saul won a WPT title while most of the poker world was focused on the WSOP over at the Rio. Serious players that busted out early in the WSOP Main Event headed over to the Bellagio for the Bellagio Cup. Saul went wire to wire, holding the chip lead at the end of every day of play until finally claiming the title after a rollercoaster final table.”
In one of the newest WPT events at the Fallsview Casino, PocketFivers were a dominant force: “The WPT event in Niagara Falls always brings out some new faces due to the lower age restrictions for entering the event. For many players, the tournament is their first major live tournament, but this season it was a player with an already long and impressive live resume taking the title. Scott ‘BigRiskky’ Clements was able to defeat Jonathan ‘FieryJustice’ Little to win the tournament. Both Little and Clements had to outlast an interesting final table with Barry Greenstein, Jeff ‘ActionJeff’ Garza, and Kofi ‘redsoxsox’ Farkye.”
There’s a ton of poker to look forward to on GSN, so stay tuned for Monday, March 24th. You can catch all the action of the sixth season of the WPT on GSN. For more information, check out the WPT’s website at www.worldpokertour.com or GSN’s website at www.gsn.com.
A special thanks to Dennis Johnson at GSN for his assistance in coordinating this interview.
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