The air dates for the seventh season of the World Poker Tour and the fifth season of popular cash game show High Stakes Poker have been announced. Fans of either show won't have to wait a very long time to see the new installments of the two wildly popular programs. In fact, the new season of the World Poker Tour will debut on Sunday, January 4th, which is in just a few short days. The fifth season of High Stakes Poker, which just wrapped up filming at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, will hit the airwaves on Sunday, March 1st.
Both shows will eventually air on Sunday nights, making for an evening that many poker fans will look forward to each week. George Greenberg, the Executive Director of Programming for GSN, commented in a press release sent out by WPT officials, “FSN is pleased to be the new home of the WPT, the foremost brand in televised poker. This season promises the biggest names, the highest stakes, and the most drama and we are very excited to watch all the action unfold.”
The seventh season of the WPT has featured several notable final table appearances by PocketFivers. Many of the tournaments have been covered by PocketFivesLive.com, your home for WPT coverage of online poker players. The Bellagio Cup IV was held in Las Vegas in July and was the first U.S.-based tournament of Season VII. It was won by none other than Mike SirWatts Watson, who took home $1.6 million for his victory in the $15,000 buy-in event. Watson defeated David Benyamine heads-up and fellow PocketFiver Luke IWEARGOGGLES Staudenmaier finished third.
The Legends of Poker tournament held during Season VII featured Amit amak316 Makhija and Zachary CrazyZachary Clark finishing second and third, respectively. The tournament was ultimately won by John Phan, who is affectionately known as “The Razor” in the poker world. Following the Legends of Poker event at the Bicycle Casino was the Borgata Poker Open, which was held several thousand miles due east in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Vivek Psyduck Rajkumar owned the Borgata Poker Open, defeating Sang Kim heads-up to the tune of $1.4 million. World Series of Poker bracelet winners Dan Heimiller and Mark Seif also appeared at that final table of the Borgata tournament.
The North American Poker Championship is held annually at the Fallsview Casino, one of only several WPT events to occur outside of the United States. Ryan Gotskillz Fisler took fourth in the tournament for $232,000 USD. Glen Witmer ultimately won the event in a final table that also featured Kathy Liebert, Gavin Smith, and Marc Myst Karam, who made his second final table of the NAPC in three years. WPT officials then packed up shop and headed back to the Bellagio for the Festa al Lago, which occurred in late October. Ultimate Bet Star Players Team member Adam Roothlus Levy took fifth in Las Vegas for $266,000. The winner was Bertrand Elky Grospellier, a member of Team PokerStars Pro who regularly plays in the biggest buy-in tournaments around the world.
Jonathan FieryJustice Little earned $1.1 million for winning the Foxwoods World Poker Finals in November. He defeated Jonathan Jaffe and the rest of the 412 player field in the process. Little bested a six-handed televised final table that included David Pham and Mike Matusow. In the most recent WPT tournament, the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, WSOP November Nine member David “Chino” Rheem captured the win.
There are 26 episodes, each one hour long, that comprise the seventh season of the WPT. The program will air on Fox Sports Net along with a series of ClubWPT tournaments that features players from the subscription-based online poker room of the same name. Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten will once again provide commentary, with Amanda Leatherman serving as the sideline reporter. Seasons I through V of the WPT aired on The Travel Channel. Season VI aired on GSN.
Two months after the WPT debuts on Fox Sports Net, High Stakes Poker will air on GSN. The show will kick off on Sunday, March 4th, potentially providing some immediate competition for the World Poker Tour. The buy-in for Season V of High Stakes Poker was increased to $200,000 minimum. The show's Executive Producer, Mori Eskandani, told PocketFives.com, “Over this season, people will see why the top cash game players dominate. People are also going to be impressed with the young guns.” Players on the fifth installment of High Stakes Poker included Tom durrrr Dwan and 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Peter Eastgate. Other established poker pros, including PocketFiver Barry barryg1 Greenstein and Doyle Brunson, also took to the felts at the Golden Nugget.
Be sure to check out the seventh season of the World Poker Tour beginning January 4th on Fox Sports Net. The fifth season of High Stakes Poker debuts on March 1st on GSN.
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