Late Night Poker

Late Night Poker
Late Night Poker logo
Created by	Presentable
Starring	Jesse May Nic Szeremeta Barny Boatman Lucy Rokach Victoria Coren Gary Jones Richard Orford
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	10
Production
Running time	60-90 minutes
Release
Original network	Channel 4
Original release	17 July 1999 – 6 December 2011
External links
Website

Late Night Poker is a British television series that helped popularize poker in the 2000s. It used "under the table" cameras that enabled the viewer to see each player's cards. The show became a cult hit on Channel 4 in the UK when it first aired in 1999.

The show originally ran for six series between 1999 and 2002. After a couple of spin-off series, Late Night Poker Ace and Late Night Poker Masters, it returned in 2008.

The series returned to Channel 4 for its 10th series in 2011. Sponsored by Gala Coral Group, 32 players competed for the $150,000 first prize. Commentary on the series was provided by two of the UK's top poker professionals, Victoria Coren and James Akenhead.

Some of the top players in action were Luke Schwartz, Roberto Romanello, Vanessa Selbst, Jake Cody, James Bord and Liv Boeree. The field contained five former Late Night Poker champions, Dave Ulliott (also known as Devilfish), Simon Trumper, Padraig Parkinson, Peter Costa and John Duthie.

The series was broadcast on Tuesday nights after midnight from 3 October – 6 December 2011.

Back in 1999, the Cardiff-based television production company Presentable approached Channel 4 with the idea of producing a series in the form of a poker tournament. At the time, poker had never been shown on UK TV. Channel 4 commissioned the series and Late Night Poker was born.

The first series aired in July 1999 and very quickly built a cult audience. Viewers were captivated by the dark, smoky, intimate studio atmosphere and the quirky characters of the professional poker players sat around the table. The variation of poker they were playing was No Limit Texas Hold'Em, a variation relatively unknown in the UK at the time.