New Poker After Dark Features $50,000 Buy-in Cash Game

The new episode of NBC’s Poker After Dark will feature a $50,000 buy-in cash game with some of the biggest and most entertaining names in poker in the mix. The six players that will be featured are Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Chris Ferguson, Antonio Esfandiari, Brandon Adams, and Todd Brunson. Blinds will begin at $100-$200 with a $25 ante.

The episode should feature an intriguing mix with the ultra-talkative Matusow and Hellmuth paired alongside players who prefer to let their cards do the talking like Adams and Ferguson. Brunson and Esfandiari arguably bring the most cash-game experience to the episode. Who will walk away with the most cash when the last pot is claimed? You’ll have to watch to find out.

The show will begin airing on NBC late night at 2:05 a.m. on Monday, Mar. 15 and will continue for five consecutive nights in the same time slot. There will be a special “Director’s Cut” episode that will air on Saturday, Mar. 20 at 1 a.m. after the conclusion of Saturday Night Live. The special will feature a behind-the-scenes look at the week with hostess Leeann Tweeden.

The show will then continue the next week, Monday-Friday, in the same timeslots. David Peat and Dennis Phillips will appear in the cash game during the later episodes of the show. Check your local listings for exact times in your area.

Find more Poker On TV listings under the Tools section on the Card Player homepage.

Here is a look at some background facts for the well-known poker professionals that will be featured on the episode, courtesy of PAD:

Ferguson, Chris: (Seat 1)

• Nicknamed “Jesus” and one of poker’s most recognizable players
• World Series of Poker Champion in 2000 and owner of five WSOP bracelets
• Career live tournament winnings in excess of $8.03 million, and ranks 18th on the all-time money list
• Runner-up in both the 2005 and 2006 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, and the winner of the event in 2008
• Earned a Ph.D. in computer science from UCLA in 1999, and is a former ballroom and swing dance instructor

Hellmuth, Phil: (Seat 2)

• Known as the “Poker Brat,” a name he now embraces, and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in July 2007
• 1989 World Champion, and won his 11th World Series bracelet in 2007, making him the first and only person in history to do so
• Career live tournament winnings in excess of $11.05 million, and ranks 5th on the all-time money list, despite never having a cash for more than $755,000
• With 6 cashes in the 2009 WSOP, now has more World Series cashes (75) and has made more WSOP final tables (41) than any other player in history
• His fame has given him the opportunity to be involved in many businesses on the side, and he is highly acknowledged as the game’s best self-promoter

Esfandiari, Antonio: (Seat 3)

• Nicknamed “The Magician” for having been a professional magician before becoming a poker player
• Winner of one WSOP bracelet and one WPT event
• Career live tournament winnings in excess of $3.56 million
• Went deep in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, finishing 24th, collecting his biggest WSOP payday ever of nearly $353,000
• Hired Mindset Coach Sam Chauhan for a six-month period beginning in 2009 to help him regain his poker focus and his hunger and desire to win

Adams, Brandon: (Seat 4)

• Born in New Orleans in 1978, and now resides in Miami, FL
• Semi-professional cash game player, playing NLHE as high as $200/$400, and appeared on the 4th season of GSN’s High Stakes Poker
• Career live tournament winnings in excess of $510,000
• A college graduate at the age of 19, holds Master’s degrees in Finance and Real Estate, and now teaches two classes each spring at Harvard on The U.S. and the World Economy
• Has written 3 books, one entitled Broke: A Poker Novel, and just finished one dealing with the state of the world’s economics

Brunson, Todd: (Seat 5)

• Nicknamed “Darkhorse” and a highly feared high-stakes cash game player
• Owns one WSOP bracelet, that in a $2500 Omaha Hi/Lo event in 2005
• Career live tournament winnings in excess of $3.33 million
• Wrote the 7-card stud hi/lo section in his father’s book Super System II
• Has had his famous ponytail for nearly two decades, though he says he might cut it off if someone offered him the right price

Matusow, Mike: (Seat 6)

• Known as “The Mouth” for trash talking at the tables, and one of poker’s most recognizable players
• Winner of three WSOP bracelets, his latest in the prestigious 2008 $5000 no-limit 2-7 draw event w/rebuys
• Lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $7.29 million, and ranks 23rd on the all-time money list
• Won a $100,000 prop bet with Ted Forrest at the beginning of the 2008 WSOP by losing more than 50 pounds since the 2007 WSOP, weighing in at a svelte 179
• Released his autobiography entitled Check-Raising the Devil in May 2009, a candid and revealing look at his life and the battles he’s faced with demons over the years

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