The fourth season of poker after dark
Season 4 was taped in April 2008 at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas.
Dream II was the second tournament consisting of the winner of a Full Tilt Poker sponsored contest (Paul Featherstone) and the five professionals he chose to play against.
Heads Up Battle was a double elimination heads-up format featuring the first 4 winners of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship and required a $50,000 buy-in resulting in a winner-take-all $200,000 prize.
The two weeks of cash games were a $200/400 NL cash game instead of a winner take all tournament. During most of the second cash game, the players agreed to $100 antes and the occasional $800 straddle.
Mission Impossible Week was named in deference to Mike Matusow, who entered the game winless in three-plus seasons of the show, with each of his opponents at least a one-time winner. A considerable portion of the table chat between and during hands made reference to this.
The Heads Up Challenge used a double-elimination format. In the opening round, Chris Ferguson defeated Paul Wasicka and Phil Hellmuth defeated Ted Forrest. Hellmuth then defeated Ferguson to move on to the final, while Forrest’s win against Wasicka eliminated Wasicka. Facing off with one loss each, Ferguson defeated Forrest to set up a Hellmuth-Ferguson final, where Hellmuth only needed to win one out of two matches while Ferguson needed to sweep both matches. Ferguson won the opener before Hellmuth won the finale. In each of Hellmuth’s wins against Ferguson, he had pocket tens on the final hand.
Expect some big changes in the latest season of Poker After Dark. With multiple game structure variations being played, each episode should be epic.
In the first three seasons of PAD, each game was a six-player winner-takes-all freezeout. The latest season will include all of the following:
* Double elimination heads-up battle between the 4 NBC Heads-Up Championship winners. Chris Ferguson, Paul Wasicka, Ted Forrest and Phil Hellmuth will each put up $50,000; winner takes all.
* Two weeks of $200/$400 cash play. Week 1 players: Howard Lederer, Dee Tiller, Gabe Kaplan, Patrik Antonius, Doyle Brunson and Eli Elezra. Week 2 players: Guy Laliberté, Phil Hellmuth, Tom Dwan, Allen Cunningham, Mike Baxter and Antonio Esfandiari.
* Online qualifier Paul Featherstone will play against five of his favorite players, Mike Matusow, Jennifer Harman, Phil Hellmuth, Gavin Smith and Mike Sexton.
* Mike Matusow, with a PAD record of 0-8, will have two six-player freezeout matches to try and break his streak. His first try will be against David Williams, Phil Hellmuth, Gavin Smith, Clonie Gowen and Phil Laak, all former PAD winners.
* Mike’s second try will see him face David Williams, Andy Black, Lee Watkinson, Dewey Tomko and Allen Cunningham, all of whom have made the final table at WSOP Main Events since 2001 but have not captured the title.
* The “Brilliant Minds” match featuring Bill Chen, Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch, Brandon Adams, Jimmy Warren and David Sklansky, all of whom are viewed as some of the game’s best mathematicians.
* “The Mayfair Club” will bring together players who were regulars at the legendary underground New York club: Dan Harrington, Mickey Appleman, Jay Heimowitz and Steve Zolotow, along with Mike Shichtman, the manager of the club during its heyday.
* Finally there will be a “Nets vs. Vets” event. Three successful online players will team up against veteran pros and world champions. The online players are Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Brian “sbrugby” Townsend and Andrew “good2cu” Robl. They will compete against Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and Huck Seed.
Along with the new events and play, the “Speak Your Mind” segment will let you hear from poker authorities such as Phil Gordon, Gabe Kaplan, Cory Zeidman, Phil Hellmuth, Todd Brunson and David Grey.
To top it all off, PAD Season 4 introduces Leeann Tweeden as the new host. You might recognize her from her role as the host for the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
