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Poker Royale
Poker Royale is a television series that focuses on No Limit Texas hold 'em Poker that airs on GSN. The first series began on December 7, 2004. The seventh (and currently, most recent) series, Poker Royale: Battle of the Ages began airing on November 4, 2005. The current host of the show is Mighty Ducks of Anaheim announcer John Ahlers, with commentary by poker player Robert Williamson III, and sideline reporting by Lisa Dergan.
The Series
Poker Royale: The WPPA Championship
The first series was based off the championship of the World Poker Players Association. The show was hosted by former Saturday Night Live star Kevin Nealon, with commentary by Williamson III.
As opposed to later series, this series was done in a tournament-style format where players who had zero chips were eliminated. Also different from other series were that three tables were active during the early episodes, and was later lowered to the top ten players at the main table in center stage.
This was the only series where there was a contest for viewers. During intervals of the program, various poker buzzwords would appear up on screen. Viewers would log into GSN's website and input this word for a chance to win up to $10,000,000 in a poker hand with the winner of the WPPA championship. In order to win the grand prize, the poker tournament winner had to get a full house or better. James Van Alstyne won the tournament and shared an additional $15,000 with a member of GSN's website, who in addition to the cash received, won a year's supply of pizza from Pizza Hut.
Poker Royale: Battle of the Sexes
Poker Royale: Battle of the Sexes was the second series, hosted by radio personality Tom Leykis and former MTV VJ Kennedy. Additional commentary was by Williamson III once again, and for a period of time, Matt Vasgersian from GSN's other series, The World Series of Blackjack.
As opposed to the previous series, this one relied on males vs. females, which also incorporated the current scoring format, where players would be awarded points for their teams, depending on how they finished in that particular episode (one point for finishing sixth place to six points for finishing first). The six players (three each of men and women) who had the highest points played in a grand final with the same rules as above, and the highest team score won the tournament.
The men consisted of Chris Moneymaker, Paul Wolfe, Greg Raymer, Amir Vahedi, Layne Flack and Antonio Esfandiari. The women consist of Kathy Liebert, Jennifer Harman, Evelyn Ng, Karina Jett, Kristy Gazes and Clonie Gowen.
Poker Royale: Celebrities vs. Poker Pros
Poker Royale: Celebrities vs. Poker Pros featured famous poker players playing against celebrities. Like before, the scoring system was used, but was altered (10 points for finishing first down to 0 points for finishing last). Like before, the six highest point-scorers would play in the grand final for the championship. The celebrities that participated in this tournament were Lance Bass, Jennifer Tilly, Mimi Rogers, Morris Chestnut, Patrick Warburton and Traci Bingham. They faced against poker players Scott Fischman, Kathy Liebert, Cyndy Violette, Roxanne Rhodes, Paul Darden and "Cowboy" Kenna James. It was this series when John Ahlers became the permanent host of the program.
Poker Royale: Young Bloods
Poker Royale: Young Bloods was a two hour special that premiered on May 20, 2005. All the players were under the age of 30. As opposed to a point system, players were awarded cash prizes judging by they finished. Winner received $20,000, Second place $10,000, and third-sixth received $5,000. The players consisted of Michael Mizrachi, David Williams, Michael Sandberg, Erin Ness, Erica Schoenberg, and Scott Fischman.
Poker Royale: Comedians vs. Poker Pros
Poker Royale: Comedians vs. Poker Pros is similar to Celebrities vs. Poker Pros, but with stand-up comedians in lieu of celebrities. This series had more preliminary games than in previous series (ten instead of the previous six). The comedians were Paul Rodriguez, Robert Wuhl, Mark Curry, Tammy Pescatelli, Carol Leifer and Sue Murphy. They faced off against poker players Phil Laak, Robert Williamson III, Linda Johnson, David Williams, Connie Kimm and Kathy Kolberg. Since this featured Williamson III as a competitor rather than a commentator, "Cowboy" Kenna James took the spot of commentary for this series.
Poker Royale: The James Woods Gang vs the Unabombers
Poker Royale: The James Woods Gang vs. the Unabombers featured two teams featuring celebrities and poker pros. Once again, the point system was used, but this time points were combined into a total score for the whole team as opposed to scores for individual players. The James Woods Gang was led by celebrity and poker player James Woods (natch), and had celebrities Nicole Sullivan and Bob Goen, plus poker players Kathy Liebert, Ted Forrest, and Susie Issacs. The Unabombers was led by Phil Laak, who's known for dressing similar to the real Unabomber. His team had celebrities Jennifer Tilly (Laak's girlfriend,) Danny Masterson and Gail O'Grady, plus poker players Hasan Habib and Cyndy Violette.
Poker Royale: Battle of the Ages
Poker Royale: Battle of the Ages was the most recent series of Poker Royale. This one featured six older poker players playing against six younger poker players. The older poker players consists of T.J. Cloutier, "Action" Dan Harrington, "Miami" John Cernuto, Barbara Enright, Maureen Feduniak and Wendy Eolis. The younger poker players consisted of Michael "The Kid" Gracz, Dutch Boyd, Erin Ness, Evelyn Ng, Jennifer Leigh and Kasey Thompson.
Poker Royale: Young Bloods II
Poker Royale: Young Bloods II was another special featuring poker players under 30, and aired on December 9, 2005. This special featured the same players and format as the first Young Bloods.
For an unexplained reason, once again Kenna James does commentary instead of Williamson III for this special.
Airings
Currently GSN airs new episodes of Poker Royale every Friday evening from 10-11PM EST, part of their Casino Night block. Episodes of the current seasons tend to rerun occasionally on GSN in primetime. Previous series are rarely rerun, save for occasional repeats.
GSN currently does not intend to do any more Poker Royale shows once they finish Young Bloods II. A more high-stakes poker with real money, titled High-Stakes Poker, premieres on January 19, 2006. This series is unrelated to Poker Royale.
