A few accents among the players will be evident during this week's edition of Poker After Dark as six top pros that were all born outside of the U.S. each put up $20,000 to contend for the $120,000 winner-take-all prize.
Competing are Gus Hansen (Denmark), David Benyamine (France), Patrik Antonius (Finland), Daniel Negreanu (Canada), Marco Traniello (Italy), and "Yukon" Brad Booth (Canada).
This is an entertaining match that features some fast aggressive play, good-sized pots right out of the box, big pocket pairs, a stunning early elimination, a good suckout or two, and a lengthy heads-up match between the last two standing that lasted nearly 3 hours for the title. Fans will unquestionably enjoy the high level of competition and repartee that takes place between these outstanding players.
And here's an interesting fact ... with the 2007 World Series of Poker taking place at the time of this airing, even though this group of players has collectively amassed more than $17 million in tournament winnings, only Negreanu has ever won a World Series bracelet. And surprisingly, the player with the most World Series of Poker cashes next to Negreanu's 25 is Traniello with 13, though he has only been competing in World Series events since 2005. Hansen usually skips the World Series, Antonius has cashed 8 times, and Benyamine and Booth have each cashed only once.
But performance at the World Series is not the sole criterion of achievement for many pros. High-stakes cash game play is the specialty of many of these players, and chances are some have earned more money playing in these games than they have in tournament play. With the exception of Negreanu and Hansen, the other four players were not that well-known even a couple of years ago. But their accomplishments since have made them all virtually household names.
The match will begin airing late night Monday at 2:05 AM, June 18, and will continue for five consecutive nights in the same time slot. A special program called the "Director's Cut" will air late night Saturday, June 23, at 1:00 AM, right after Saturday Night Live. This show will feature a behind-the-scenes look at the week with highlights and insightful player interviews, and conclude with the winner sitting down with Shana Hiatt to discuss and analyze the match.
