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Poker Central Announces New Shows

Over the past couple of days, Poker Central has announced a pair of new shows. The first is Friday Night Poker, a show they call a fan-driven live poker show that will stream on Facebook Watch. The other is a new PokerGO exclusive entitled Real Talk, a short-form series of candid interview with some of the game’s biggest stars.

Real Talk Now Available on PokerGO

The first of two new shows is now available on PokerGO. Real Talk is a short-form interview series hosted by poker media personality and Poker Central Senior Editor Remko Rinkema. The show is a collection of in-depth interviews lasting from 10 to 15 minutes.

The first five episodes were released on Wednesday with new episodes to be released over a two week period. The first few episodes are now online and feature the following guests:

Blair Hinkle and Matt Berkey discuss Black Friday and the impact that it had on poker, both economically and on players as a whole.
Liv Boeree and Melanie Weisner talk relationships and how people with varying background can find love and success in poker.
Kane Kalas discussing his father and about playing in the largest televised pot in poker history.
Christian Harder and Matt Savage talk about tournament poker and the poker economy.
Scott Brumstein talks about winning the 2017 WSOP Main Event.

Five more episodes of this show will come out on October 1st and will feature interviews with Maria Ho, Jason Koon, Greg Merson, Justin Bonomo, Mike Sexton, and more.

Friday Night Poker to Launch on Facebook Watch Starting September 21

On Tuesday, Poker Central and Stadium announced the release of the “first-of-its-kind” live poker show entitled Friday Night Poker. The weekly event will feature poker personalities competing in live cash games over a 13-week period.

The program will appear exclusively on Facebook Watch and viewers will be encouraged to interact with the program and will have the opportunity to interact with both the players and the commentators. There was even a hint at a contest where viewers can win a seat into the cash game.

The show will be hosting by Jeff Platt along with poker player Brent Hanks and poker personality Amanda Leatherman. Each session will be preceded by a short-form preview show at 7 pm ET on Thursday evenings to discuss the next day’s game, along with the lineup in the next day’s show, as well as strategy discussions with guests.

Each show will run from 7 pm to 11 pm ET on Fridays via a 30 minute delay. All games will play out at the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. According to VP of content for Poker Central Sam Simmons, “As Poker Central continues to expand its reach across audiences, growing in highly engaged social channels was a clear evolution. Developing Friday Night Poker as a customized viewing experience on the Facebook Watch platform represents a significant milestone in that growth.”

Stadium CEO Jason Coyle also spoke on the upcoming shows, stating, “We’ve taken great pride in evolving the traditional live television experience by creating unique social and interactive elements while still keeping production values high. Being able to take those elements and bring fans an interactive poker experience on Facebook is something we’re incredibly excited about.”

Staduim has already launched their Facebook Watch page and fans can follow to stay notified about upcoming events along wtih announcements from Stadium about the show. According to an email from Poker Central, the show will feature a $1,500 minimum buy-in with $5/$10 blinds with a $10 big blind ante and uncapped pots.

Friday Night Poker has the ingredients to be a popular program provided they bring in a steady stream of compelling players. The free format will be a welcome change to some over having to shell out $10 a month for PokerGO.

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