Poker After Dark is kicking off season six late tonight at 2:05 a.m. on NBC, and this week, six poker commentators are going to get to prove their skills on the felt.
The players putting up the $20,000 buy-in for the $120,000 winner-take-all tournament are Howard Lederer, Gabe Kaplan, Joe Sebok, Mark Gregorich, Kara Scott, and Oliver Nejad, who will take the week off as Poker After Dark’s commentator to compete. Half of the players at this table are previous PAD champions. Lederer has won three out of six of his matches, and he is one of only four players to have won three. He won the first-ever Commentators match, as well as the World Poker Tour champions and the USA vs. Italy matches. Should he win this week, he’ll tie Johnny Chan, who is the only player to have won four matches. Gregorich’s record is 1-1, having won the second Commentators week, and Kaplan has won two out three, including wins in the Battle of the Sexes and Cowboys matches.
The third commentators week will begin airing on NBC late tonight/tomorrow morning at 2:05 a.m. and will continue for four more consecutive nights in the same timeslot. A special “Director’s Cut” episode will air late night Saturday at 1 a.m., right after Saturday Night Live.
Find more Poker On TV listings under the Poker Tools section on the Card Player homepage.
The following are interesting facts about the players, courtesy of PAD:
Howard Lederer: (Seat 1)
- Nicknamed “The Professor,” and one of the most respected of all players among his peers
- Has won two World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour titles, and just missed winning his third bracelet when he finished second in the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe pot-limit Omaha event
- Lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $5.58 million, and ranks 40th on the all-time money list
- Made two final tables at the 2009 WSOPE, good for $223,000, and won the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E event at the 2009 Festa al Lago, good for another $92,000
- Highly regarded as a television poker commentator and analyst
Gabe Kaplan: (Seat 2)
- Longtime actor and comedian, best remembered for his role in the 1970s hit television sitcom Welcome Back Kotter
- Proficient in many games, and has played poker for more than 30 years
- Career live tournament winnings in excess of $1.58 million
- In 1980, challenged 1978 World Champion Bobby Baldwin and 1979 World Champion Hal Fowler to $200,000 heads-up freezeouts and defeated them both
- Oft-seen analyst on several poker television programs and highly regarded for his knowledge of the game and the humor he infuses into his commentary
Joe Sebok: (Seat 3)
- Nicknamed “The Cub,” he is a professional poker player from San Francisco, California
- Stepfather is Barry Greenstein, who he refers to as “The Bear”
- Lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $1.87 million, and went deep in the 2009 WSOP main event, finishing 56th for $108,000
- Along with Greenstein, is the co-founder of PokerRoad.com, a poker multimedia outlet, which he co-hosts along with Ali Nejad
- Constantly involved in prop bets with good friend Gavin Smith, who sports a tattoo bearing a four leaf clover and Sebok’s initials after losing a prop bet to him
Oliver Nejad: (Seat 4)
- Nickname is “Ali” and was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area
- Worked as the host of his own television show when he was still a high-school student
- Studied at Cal-Berkeley to expand his career in broadcasting
- Began playing poker in 1996, and has been a low-limit player, prop player, dealer, online player, and high-limit player
- Has served as commentator on several televised poker shows, including Poker After Dark, Poker Superstars II, and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, as well as The World Series of Golf
Mark Gregorich: (Seat 5)
- Is a former high school teacher from Washington State, and has been a professional poker player since 1995
- Served as a commentator on the original Poker Superstars I, and became an instructor at the World Series of Poker Academy in 2009
- Lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $1.25 million
- Contributed to Doyle Brunson’s book Super System II
- Has made a _WSOP _ final table in five different games
Kara Scott: (Seat 6)
- Born in northern Alberta, Canada, she moved to the United Kingdom in 1999, where she is now a TV personality, journalist, and poker player
- Only woman to cash in both the 2008 and 2009 WSOP main events, finishing 104th in 2008 and 238th in 2009, and only the second woman in history to cash in back-to-back years
- Lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $557,000
- Served as the TV host for the European Poker Tour in 2007 and 2008, and is working as a co-host on High Stakes Poker season six
- Lost a prop bet in 2007 to Chris Tessaro, host of The Hardcore Poker Radio Show, resulting in her having to handle her responsibilities at the EPT San Remo dressed in a bunny suit
