World Poker Tour Season XVII Episodes Begin Airing Today
One of the longest running televised poker series in history returns to TV screens and smart devices on Sunday, March 31st, with the airing of the first episode of the World Poker Tour’s XVII (seventeenth) season. Getting underway on FOX Sports regional networks, at either 8:00 or 11:00 pm based on live-sports programming commitments, is the debut broadcast of the WPT® Season XVII, the final table of the Rockstar Energy High Roller, which was held at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles as part of the LA Poker Classic.
It’s the first of 24 new weeks of WPT programming that comprise the first part of the WPT’s Season VII slate. Each new episode will debut in the available Sunday night slot across the FOX Sports regional networks, with each new episode then rebroadcast throughout the following week. The latter portion of the WPT’s Season VII will be released later.
According to a WPT presser, the first part of the WPT’s televised Season XVII will feature 24 episodes of poker television programming across seven unique events. Broadcast offerings include the first-ever WPT cash game and the debut of the ClubWPT “Challenge the Champs” show. After the Commerce Casino season debut, broadcast coverage jumps to Uruguay and Enjoy Punta del Este for the first-ever televised WPT event held in South America.
After that, it’s a televised return to Commerce for the WPT Rockstar Energy Cash Game, that first-ever WPT cash-game broadcast. Actress Jennifer Tilly headlines a lineup of celebrities and Champions Club members.
The same broadcast crew that finished last year’s Season XVI returns this year — Vince Van Patten, Lynn Gilmartin, and Tony Dunst. Van Patten and Dunst share live commentary duties while Gilmartin handles interviews, presentation and other anchoring duties. Phil Hellmuth will host occasional WPT Raw Deal segments, the role handled by Dunst before he moved into the commentary booth to replace the departed Mike Sexton last season.
“The WPT is proud to present a new season of world-class poker and production,” Adam Pliska, CEO of the World Poker Tour said. “In our 17th season on the air, the World Poker Tour is one of the longest-running shows ever produced and is, once again, the number-one regularly scheduled program on FOX Sports Regional Networks. Season XVII sends the World Poker Tour to stunning global destinations and further establishes HyperX Esports Arena as the new televised global home of the WPT television show.”
“Fans of the World Poker Tour television show can expect production value like never before in Season XVII,” said Johnny McMahon, VP of WPT Studios. “From our first show ever filmed in South America, to the premiere of the WPT Cash Games at Commerce Casino and HyperX Esports Arena, the WPT remains on the cutting edge of global entertainment.”
Other broadcast offerings already announced are the Bellagio High Roller finale, which began at the “O” and filmed its finale at the HyperX Esports Arena at Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. It’s the first of several WPT Season XVII final tables and special events to be filmed at the HyperX Esports Arena, the built-for-broadcast arena studio located within Las Vegas’s Luxor Casino. Also coming up: The ClubWPT “Challenge the Champs” episode, featuring two ClubWPT qualifiers battling six WPT Champions Club members, including Mike Sexton, four-time WPT winner Darren Elias, and Scotty Nguyen.
COMMENTS