Back to the Future
Sunday, March 1, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Not so long ago you couldn’t turn on the TV without quickly coming across a poker show. Some of these were good (the World Poker Tour, ESPN’s World Series coverage), some were bad (Poker Royale: Battle of the Sexes, which is to my mind the Worst Show in the History of Mankind). The thing is just about EVERYONE had a poker show. I think at one point even the Food Network had a poker pilot in production.
And then, almost as quickly, poker seemed to vanish from the tube. The market was probably oversaturated for a time and the game’s popularity leveled after years of explosive growth. But new shows continued to debut–The Best Damn Poker Show, of course, and the canonical High Stakes Poker–and if you do some channel surfing tonight you might think we’ve flashed back to the halcyon days of 2004.
That’s because there’s a metric ton of pokery goodness on TV tonight, including two big debuts–Annie Duke begins weeks of ruthless boardroom battling on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice, and High Stakes Poker makes it’s long-awaited return for it’s fifth season. ESPN is showing the final table of the World Series of Poker-Europe, and both GSN and FSN will be showing World Poker Tour events. If you’re confused about which shows will be airing when (and where), here are the listings, with the new episodes bolded:
6 pm
ESPN2 – WSOP Europe
GSN – High Stakes Poker7 pm
ESPN2 – WSOP Europe
GSN – High Stakes Poker8 pm
ESPN2 – WSOP Europe
GSN – High Stakes Poker9pm
NBC – Celebrity Apprentice
ESPN2 – WSOP Europe
GSN – High Stakes Poker10 pm
NBC – Celebrity Apprentice
ESPN2 – WSOP Europe
GSN – World Poker Tour11 pm
ESPN2 – WSOP Europe
GSN – World Poker Tour
FSN – World Poker Tour12 midnight
GSN – High Stakes Poker1 am
GSN – World Poker Tour2 am
GSN – World Poker Tour
I’m almost giddy with excitement as High Stakes Poker is one of my favorite shows of all time, one that saw Gabe Kaplan retake his rightful place in American pop culture. I’m not much of a fanboy, I don’t get all giggly around the high and mighty, but in 2007 my buddy Craig was covering the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event and Kaplan was trying (and failing) to get a cocktail server’s attention. Craig asked Kaplan what he wanted and headed out of the Amazon Room to secure the desired bottle of Gatorade. Gabe tried to give Craig a tip but as a working journalist he declined. After he told the story I breathlessly asked “Did you grab the bottle when he finished??? Did you get it autographed??”
“You’re pathetic,” Craig said, disgusted.
And perhaps Craig is right. Perhaps. But I for one will not feel pathetic as I pop the corn and snuggle into my comfyiest chair to indulge in a night of non-stop poker programming.
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Tags: annie duke celebrity apprentice, annie duke on the apprentice, Celebrity Apprentice, gabe kaplan, high stakes poker, poker royale worst show in history, the apprentice, World Poker Tour, world series of poker europe, world series of poker europe final table, WPT
