Late Night Poker is a British television show in which Poker players, mostly professionals or strong amateurs, compete in a short series of No-Limit Texas hold ‘em tournament games for a prize of approximately £50,000.
Six series of the show were created between 1999 and 2002. Produced in Cardiff, Wales, by TV company Presentable, they aired on Channel 4.
In 2005 an all-amateur tournament by the name of PartyPoker.com Late Night Poker Ace was broadcast, following a qualification round on the aforementioned website. A second tournament is planned for 2006.
A celebrity version of the show was produced on 12 October 2000, featuring (in finishing order from 1st to 7th place) Anthony Holden, Al Alvarez, Martin Amis, Victoria Coren, Patrick Marber, Stephen Fry and Ricky Gervais. This led into the creation of Celebrity Poker Club.
Crew
Jesse May – commentator; also appeared in a season 1 episode under the pseudonym “Mickey Dane.”
Nic Szeremeta – creator (uncredited), commentator (seasons 1-3)
A series of Late Night Poker consists of 9 programmes – 7 heats, one semi-final, and the final. Each heat has 7 players. The 7 winners of the heats progress straight to the final, and the runners-up go to the semi-final, where one additional player progresses, for a final table of 8 players.
(NB: The first series featured 5 heats, with the players finishing 1st and 2nd in each progressing to the final. The players who qualified by finishing first in their heat started the final with twice as many chips as the heat runner-ups.)
Although the precise sums of money involved have varied, the typical buy-in has been in the region of £1,500, with a first prize of between £40,000 and £60,000.
The shows lasted 60 minutes when broadcast, with the season finals lasting 90 minutes. When shown in America on FSN, the shows were cut to 30 minutes each.
Under-the-table cameras
Late Night Poker’s success is largely attributable to its “under-the-table” cameras which allow the viewers and commentators to see the players’ cards through the transparent table. It is doubtful Poker could succeed as a spectator sport otherwise, and American broadcasters have subsequently used a similar technique in programmes such as World Poker Tour.
Nevertheless, in contrast to most Poker shows, Late Night Poker tends to use these cameras in a rather minimalist way. For example, in a two-way pot, often only one player’s cards are shown, with the commentators trying to infer from the other player’s actions what cards he or she holds, and how the first player should act. Because of this, the commentary often mirrors the actual decision-making process of a Poker player. Only late in the hand, at the time of a critical decision, would the other player’s cards be shown, possibly revealing a startling bluff or an unexpectedly strong hand.
Celebrity Poker Showdown was a celebrity game show on the cable network Bravo. It was a limited-run series of five celebrities playing poker. The series ran eight tournaments in five seasons.
The first series was hosted by actor/comic Kevin Pollak, and each episode (except for the Championship Game) was an hour. The Championship telecast was two hours in length. Each succeeding series has been hosted by Dave Foley, and all episodes were two hours in length. Professional poker player Phil Gordon provides the color commentary throughout each series. The series is produced by Joshua Malina.
Steven Culp won the series’ seventh tournement final, aired on November 17, 2005.
In an interview with TV Guide, host Dave Foley said that a ninth tournament is not being produced, as Bravo did not order any new episodes.Some of the celebs on this series have parlayed this into visits onto the World Poker Tour and/or the World Series of Poker. In 2005, Brad Garrett, Shannon Elizabeth and James Woods all participated in the WSOP’s $10,000 Texas Hold-Em Main Event.
Tournament winnings
The first six tournaments were played for a total of $250,000 in prize money as follows:
The four players eliminated in each of the first 5 games: $5,000 each
Fifth Place in the Championship: $7,500
Fourth Place in the Championship: $10,000
Third Place in the Championship: $12,500
Second Place in the Championship: $20,000
First Place in the Championship: $100,000
Starting with the Seventh Tournament, the “prize pool” was increased to $1,000,000 and divided thusly:
The four players eliminated in each of the first 5 games: $5,000 each
Fifth Place in the Championship: $25,000
Fourth Place in the Championship: $75,000
Third Place in the Championship: $100,000
Second Place in the Championship: $200,000
First Place in the Championship: $500,000
Post-show poker
Some of the celebrities on this series have parlayed their game play into visits onto the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker. In 2005, Brad Garrett, Shannon Elizabeth, Nicholas Gonzalez, and James Woods all participated in the WSOP’s $10,000 Texas Hold-Em Main Event. In 2007, Shannon Elizabeth advanced to the semifinals of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
In 2005, prior to appearing on the show, Jennifer Tilly won a WSOP Gold Bracelet for coming in first in the Ladies’ No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em event, and won the third annual WPT Ladies Invitational Tournament.
Parodies
For the December 10, 2005 episode of Saturday Night Live, Foley and Gordon lent their voices (playing themselves) to a Robert Smigel animated TV Funhouse parody called “Celebrity Mugshot Poker,” where, as the title suggests, various celebrities (like Nick Nolte and James Brown) are represented by animated versions of their infamous mugshots.
Saturday Night Live also did a parody of this show on the season 29 episode hosted by Will and Grace star Megan Mullally, with Phil Gordon played by Chris Parnell and comedian Kevin Pollak played by Jimmy Fallon.
MADtv did a parody of this show as a ninth and tenth season recurring sketch called “Celebrity Quarters” (based on the drinking game “quarters”) with Ron Pederson as Dave Foley and, replacing Phil Gordon, was Nick Nolte (played by Ike Barinholtz).
For the November 3, 2005 episode of the Friends TV series spin-off, Joey, Foley and Gordon played themselves in a fictitious tournament in which the character of Joey (played by Matt LeBlanc) participates based on bad advice and incorrect rules from his neighbor, Alex, who is trying to sabotage his efforts. This includes a so-called Texas Earthquake that occurs when one card of each suit is present in the face-up community cards, during which Joey believes that players jump onto the table and attempt to steal chips from their opponents.
Celebrity Poker Club is a British television show featuring celebrities playing poker. The program debuted on Challenge TV in 2003 as a spin-off to the popular Late Night Poker series. “Gentleman” Liam Flood is the casino manager for the program, and Cayt Dear is the producer.
Other celebrities featured have included Dave Gorman, Rory McGrath, Dexter Fletcher, Dennis Taylor, Louise Wener, Nick Leeson, Howard Marks, Charles Ingram, Martin Amis, Al Alvarez, Phil Taylor, Raj Persaud, Hattie Hayridge, Johnny Vegas, Darren Campbell, Phil Daniels, Graham Linehan, Ally McCoist and Michael Praed.
Celebrity Poker Club is a British television show featuring celebrities playing poker. The program debuted on Challenge TV in 2003 as a spin-off to the popular Late Night Poker series. “Gentleman” Liam Flood is the casino manager for the program, and Cayt Dear is the producer.
Other celebrities featured have included Dave Gorman, Rory McGrath, Dexter Fletcher, Dennis Taylor, Louise Wener, Nick Leeson, Howard Marks, Charles Ingram, Martin Amis, Al Alvarez, Phil Taylor, Raj Persaud, Hattie Hayridge, Johnny Vegas, Darren Campbell, Phil Daniels, Graham Linehan, Ally McCoist and Michael Praed.
