Rush Street Productions, creator of the television show “Poker Night in America,” has announced a new poker show to debut in the late spring. “The Final Table,” which has been filming poker footage throughout the U.S. for the past six months, will begin airing new episodes on national television.
In addition to new features like time-bank chips and a shot-clock element where players have only 60 seconds to make a decisions before possibly forfeiting their hand, “The Final Table” will spotlight innovative comedic featurettes along with a fresh new look at highlighting the most compelling moments on the green felt. The show promises to offer cutting-edge poker programming that will star some of the biggest personalities in the world of poker.
Headlining the list of talented commentators is poker legend, Phil Hellmuth. He holds the record for most World Series of Poker championships, currently holding fourteen WSOP gold bracelets. Sometimes called “The Poker Brat,” Hellmuth won the 1989 Main Event Championship at the age of 24, making him the youngest world poker champion at the time. Since then, Hellmuth has continued to rack up tournament wins and has been a mainstay on television for the past 25 years.
Joining Hellmuth in the studio will be Jason Somerville, an accomplished poker player as well as an online media personality — via Twitch. For the past several years Somerville has honed his broadcasting skills through thousands of hours content on social platforms such as YouTube and Twitch live streams. Currently, Somerville is the most-watched poker content provider on Twitch.tv where he regularly streams live poker content and has since launched his own poker brand, called “Run It Up.”
Also joining the show will be play-by-play announcers Maria Ho and David Tuchman. Ho is one of the most accomplished female poker players in the world and has made several TV appearances including a deep run on “The Amazing Race” in 2010. David Tuchman has been a poker player for years and spent several seasons as an NFL announcer for Sky Sports in Europe. Tuchman has also spent the last several years live commentating for both WSOP and “Poker Night in America.”
“We’re very excited to be bringing this new programming to national television,” said Executive Producer Dustin Iannotti. “We plan to take some risks to try and appeal to a broader mainstream audience.The show will be unique and focus on entertainment, built around a poker game. It will be unlike anything that’s ever been produced before in poker.”
The production team started filming last August with a tournament final table at Turning Stone Resort Casino in upstate New York. Since that time additional tournament tables have been filmed at Canterbury Park in Minnesota, Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh, and Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The team recently filmed an event at Thunder Valley Casino Resort near Sacramento and will be filming more televised tournament events in the coming months.
“We expect to produce twenty-six one hour shows in 2016,” said Rush Street Productions President, Todd Anderson. “There will be plenty of chances for people to play and make their way to a Final Table, including a $1M guarantee main event at Choctaw Casino at the end of April.”
“The Final Table” schedule for March and April:
February 25–March 7: Canterbury Park – Racetrack & Card Casino – Shakopee, MN
March 1–14: Maryland Live! Casino – Baltimore, MD
April 1–4: Rivers Casino – Pittsburgh, PA
April 8–11: SugarHouse Casino – Philadelphia, PA
April 7–27: Choctaw Casino Resort – Durant, OK