Poker Week - the Final Showdown.

[tikay]

Sadly (for me) Poker Week completes it's 37 week run next week.

We had a Contract until the end of 2007 with Sky Bet, & it's function was primarily to give some content & substance to the early days of Sky Poker (Channel 846) on their Channel, & on Sky Sports.

The Contract was completed successfully, & as far as I am aware, Sky Bet were reasonably happy. But it's done it's job, & the situation has changed now. Sky Poker have grown up - it's, by any standards - a very successful Cardroom now, & few Cardrooms have experienced the Year One growth that they have.

Sky Poker have also now recruited "in-house" Staff to make shows, "The Club" has been added to the roster, "The Open" goes from strength to strength, (unbelievably, 1,000 runner TV Tourneys will arrive one night week in January), & other "In-House" Shows are scheduled for the Channel, too.

So that's that really.

The Production Company that makes Poker Week is Photo-Finish Productions, headed by Clive Lawrence, & he was also responsible for Poker Week's forerunner, Poker 425, which was the same team really. In day to day terms, Steve Meehan (wormster) pretty much did everything except supply the equipment & negotiate the Contracts. Steve & I did the Venue scheduling, & what did or did not appear in the non-Sky part of the Show was a Team Effort between Steve, Compo & myself.

We are currently talking to several potential sponsors, & although Contracts & stuff take some time to put together, we are optimistic that the Team will be back together again quite soon.  If I had to guess, I'd say March, but who knows? It's quite complicated, finding a Sponsor, agreeing Terms, negotiating for a scheduled "slot" - we are hoping to go terrestial TV this time - etc etc. One of the would-be Sponsors is keen to get started earlier, so we shall just have to see.

We recorded the Final two Shows yesterday, in a Studio/Edit Suite, as they are "Reviews of the Year", mainly clips from the Shows, with a bit of natter from Compo & myself in-between. The clips include snippets of interviews with the 4 WSOP Main Event Winners from 2003 to 2006, and indeed many other interviews.

The Team that travelled the Poker World was Billy Foley (Cameraman), Tim (Camera/Sound), Steve Meehan, (Producer & resident small person), Rhowena (interviews, editing, Hotel & Travel facilitator), the fish Compo, & myself.

We went to Vegas, Paris, Barcelona, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and just about every poker venue in England. All at Poker Week's expense, so not a bad gig for me.

I'd like to thank the Team, every one of them, & I've become particularly close to Compo & Steve thanks to having the privelege & pleasure of working with them. My oh my, we had a few tears but a shed-load of fun. To them all, my thanks go for putting up with me, my bad moods, my grumpyness in the mornings, my arriving late, my falling asleep, & my patently visible lack of TV talent. Somehow, they carried me, & I'll forever be in their debt. I just can't tell you how much fun it has given me to be part of that Show, & that Team.

I do hope some of you enjoyed the Show, & it showed that, really, we were just a bunch of poker geeks living the dream, making our "own" Poker Magazine TV Show. My Dad would have been as proud as punch of me, I sure am, no matter how good or bad the Show was deemed to be.
 
It really has been emotional.

[celtic]

What they gonna do without your charm and wit?

Even my girlfriend watches it and thinks ur funny.

Sad day mate.

[wormster]

Just to echo Tikay's thoughts. It really has been a fun 8 months, travelling all over the place with a great crew. Poker Week is/was filmed, edited & broadcast in a very short space of time & I'm very proud of the product we put together. And, to add to that, there has barely been a bad word spoken between any of us (which is almost unheard of in TV!), despite the pressure to get the job done. We've really had some great laughs along the way & I wish we had the time to put all the out-takes on You Tube!

 One of the great pleasures this year has been seeing the friendship between Tikay & Compo blossom. They really are like an old couple now lol. If we get a new series, I may get them to record their links in a bed, a la Morecambe & Wise! I've loved working with you both this year, it's been emotional!

 Also a big thanks to Rhowena, who not only brightend up our screens with her stunning beauty but also looked after us by booking our flights, trains, hotels & shoot locations (sometimes, she even got the bookings correct! lol).

 Plus thanks to Michelle Orpe & Jonny Gould (sorry I didn't get to use you more, but Compo wouldn't take any time off!) and Billy Foley on cameras & Tim Evans on camera, sound & edits, my job was made fairly easy by having a great bunch of people around me!

I hope you enjoyed watching our little show & hopefully we will back in the new year.

See you at the tables,

Steve

ps This week's show is on tonight, after the Poker Million Semi-Final on Sky Sports 2, then our final show is on next Thursday 28th.
 
 

 

[ripple11]

Great show, every week....well played.

Has to come back in one form or another.

[77dave]

GG NH WP

[DUNK619]

nice show good luck in future projects

[RED-DOG]

It will be a travesty if this show doesn't find a sponsor, there is nothing else out there like it.


Thank you, and good luck.

[ericstoner]

Well done all,it was a polished show,which,will be missed.The hope is STeve and the t eam will be back, with a big sponcer,and a big budget show.
It WaS fun spending time with you guys over in Ireland......and being interviewed,last summer.

Remember, my car drivng services,are always avilable.

Thx Rhow for your concrern in Brum, last month, i'm touched.

[tikay]

Well done all,it was a polished show,which,will be missed.The hope is STeve and the t eam will be back, with a big sponcer,and a big budget show.
It WaS fun spending time with you guys over in Ireland......and being interviewed,last summer.

Remember, my car drivng services,are always avilable.

Thx Rhow for your concrern in Brum, last month, i'm touched.

I am having a cold sweat just thinking about that Brendan.....I'd rather be driven by Rhowena, & that's saying something.

[HOLDorFOLD]

Great show, every week....well played.

Has to come back in one form or another.

 

[77dave]

its on SS2 now  enjoy

[Bainn]

Harmony and I will miss the show immensely and like everyone else, hope you find a sponsor.

Thanks for some great moments.

Bainn & Harmony.

[steeveg]

i intended to watch many a show for a few minutes and stopped till the end, the standard of poker has gone up so much over the last year on sky,all down to the advice given by you all,i dont know why sky want to change a winning formula anyway, gl,

[neeko]

I have loved the show over the many weeks from around Europe.

But can you explain how DN "donked" off his chips in the 5 diamond classic when he ran KK into AA and then shoved with top pair + flush draw, on the flop and lost, as this appears as a little unlucky rather than bad play.

[tikay]

I have loved the show over the many weeks from around Europe.

But can you explain how DN "donked" off his chips in the 5 diamond classic when he ran KK into AA and then shoved with top pair + flush draw, on the flop and lost, as this appears as a little unlucky rather than bad play.

I accept that criticism, assuming your facts are correct. I never reserarched Danny's exit properly, and had been told he'd "donked off" a huge stack, & repeated it.

My bad.