It’s poker in the air this September. Two poker pros of modern times, Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak will be starring in an exclusive TV show, Underground Poker on the Discovery Channel. It comes as a part of poker themed “All-In, All-Night” series which will feature 3 shows starting on 10th September. HUSTLING THE HOUSE premieres at 8pm ET/PT, CASINO SECRETS premieres at 9pm ET/PT and UNDERGROUND POKER premieres at 10pm ET/PT. though it won’t be shown on Indian televisions as of now but we can always hope for it to be telecast soon.
Underground Poker as a television show will switch to the reality program genre as most of the shows have focused on coverage of live poker tournaments for a decade. It will bring the thrill of playing cash poker games at confined places across the United States. The description from the Discovery Channel states, “Whether it is at a luxurious loft on Bourbon Street or in the back room of a seedy, swamp-side dive, high stakes and danger preside with every raise and every call…and that’s why it’s exactly where Antonio and Phil want to be!”
In the debut episode, the duo will journey to New Orleans for action in private and high-stakes underground poker games. Antonio ‘The Magician’ Esfandiari (holder of 3 World Series of Poker bracelets and Phil ‘The Unabomber’ Laak (1 WSOP bracelet, 1 WPT title and the record holder for the longest poker session) met Jennifer Killoran on the sets of the movie – Runner Runner where it all begun. Eyeing their humorous attitude, she suggested making a TV show starring the duo.
This is not their first foray into gaming based TV program. In 2007, they featured in the MOJO Network’s “I Bet You” wherein they travelled across the US and betted on anything that came across. It was a successful series and continuously ran for 2 years on MOJO Network. Only one episode of Underground Poker will be aired initially to monitor the reception by the audience. If everything goes well, the duo will shoot at other locations for more episodes.
Laak and Esfandiari plan to watch the 1st episode on TV timings and tweet to the fans in real time. So, don’t miss the episode and conversation with poker masters.
For the complete press release click here.