Poker After Dark

Poker After Dark
Logo of Poker After Dark
Presented by	Shana Hiatt (S1-2) Marianela Pereyra (S3) Leeann Tweeden (S4-7)
Narrated by	Ali Nejad
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	354 (consisting of 48 tournaments and 11 cash games)
Production
Producer(s)	Poker Productions (Eric Drache and Mori Eskandani)
Location(s)	Las Vegas
Running time	1 hour (with commercials; about 42 minutes without)
Release
Original network	NBC (2007-2011), NBCSN (2012- )
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 2007-2009 (HDTV) 2010-2011
Original release	January 1, 2007 – September 23, 2011 (NBC)

Poker After Dark is an hour-long poker television program on NBC. The show made its debut on January 1, 2007, and was cancelled on September 23, 2011 following the "Black Friday" criminal case, which involved major sponsor Full Tilt Poker as one of the defendants. For its first two seasons, both of which originally aired in 2007, the show was presented by Shana Hiatt. The host for season 3 was Marianela Pereyra, and Leeann Tweeden took over starting with season 4. All seasons have contained voice-over commentary by Oliver "Ali" Nejad.

The program returned to American television over the NBCSN on March 5, 2012 with previously aired repeats, with unaired episodes from season 7 airing for the first time beginning June 4, 2012. NBCSN schedules the show on weeknights at midnight, although the start time varies due to overruns by sporting events.

The Poker After Dark format featured an "intimate look at one table as it develops over the week." Blinds start at $100/$200 and slowly escalate. Commentator Ali Nejad's commentary is limited, allowing viewers to hear much of the table talk among the players, all of whom are miked. (The table talk occasionally reveals that the "week-long" series is taped in one long session.)

The series was originally structured as a series of week-long No Limit Texas hold 'em mini-tournaments for six top poker professionals. Each week the players vied for a $120,000 winner-takes-all prize pool, with each paying a $20,000 buy-in. By the end of the fifth show, a winner is determined. The sixth show was a "director's cut" that includes excerpts from the action from the previous five days, interspersed with talking heads commentary from the participants. Beginning with Season 4, the producers began to experiment with different formats, including no-limit cash games, and a double-elimination Heads Up battle between the first 4 winners of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Also, Seasons 3, 4 and 5 had a "Dream Table," pitting an amateur against five pros.