Super Bowl Sunday Means Poker

In a sign of the continuing popularity of televised Poker, NBC has announced plans to air "The Travel Channel World Poker Tour Battle of Champions" on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 1, 2004.

"With the World Poker Tour becoming one of the fastest growing and most talked about new properties on television, we are looking to create a showcase event," said Jon Miller, senior vice-president of programming for NBC Sports, in a press release. "Super Bowl Sunday is the perfect day to present the World Poker Tour to a network audience for the first time. There are enormous numbers of people at home and at parties looking for something entertaining to watch before the Super Bowl."

The champions from the 13 tournaments on the World Poker Tour's first season have been invited to square off at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. One will be crowned the ultimate Poker champion, walking away with a six-figure cash prize and a $25,000 seat in the next World Poker Tour Championship, a tournament with a prize pool worth millions.

The World Poker Tour uses a blend of sports-style production shot from 13 different camera angles, expert commentary, cliffhanging "reality TV" drama and the WPT's signature WPT Cams, which reveal the players' hidden cards.

For "The Travel Channel World Poker Tour Battle of Champions" on NBC, the WPT has promised to unveil "a new technology never seen before in televised Poker," although details have not been announced.

The show will feature the WPT's commentators Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten, along with host Shana Hiatt.

Among the players invited to line up at the table are two-time WPT tournament winners Gus Hansen and chessmaster Howard Lederer, WPT 2003 Champion Alan Goehring, and other favorites: David "Devilfish" Ulliott, Cinderella-story Juha Helppi, Hip-Hop promoter Paul Darden, "bad boy" Layne Flack, leading pros Chris Karaguylleyan and businessman Ron Rose, as well as top international players Christer Johansson and Jose Rosenkrantz.