Poker Night in America (PNA) will take a completely different approach to broadcasting poker on American television by filming and focusing on interesting storylines and players in the tournaments.  This focus is a break from the normal focus on the play and only cursory attention paid to the actual humans and stories surrounding the game, which there are plenty of.  The reason they are trying this approach is because Mr. Anderson thinks that viewers will be more willing to watch if you aren’t just telling the same boring stories every week.  He also hopes that people will develop a relationship of sorts with the characters that are covered, and this should bring viewers back on a weekly basis, but also hopefully reignite some of the magic that was seen when Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 Main Event setting off the first poker boom.

This will be a return for non-WSOP poker shows on American television, and could represent a new beginning with a completely different dimension being focused on that viewers have expressed interest in.  Some of the most popular parts of High Stakes Poker and WSOP coverage have been the human interest stories or table-banter amongst players.  If PNA really does focus on this it has potential to be something very different and very promising for poker TV in America.  Also, by including Nolan Dalla as a consultant Mr. Anderson shows good decision making in whom to include on the show to get the best ratings and make the best product.

Todd Anderson is no beginner himself in the poker world.  As co-founder of the Heartland Poker Tour he took the upstart tour and turned it into a well-respected brand that really connected with the common player.  Stopping in smaller areas with more attainable buy-ins players really took to the idea and with the chance to play with some of the world’s biggest names only enhanced this experience.  Before the HPT was bought at auction, following the Epic Poker scandal, it had a strong following and really showed that smaller events can drive interest.

This show appears to be going along with this same thought process as the first event they are going to be really focusing on Empire State Championships at Turning Stone Casino in New York.  This is a $1,650 buy-in and now that people know there will be a chance to be on TV it should be a huge field and should include a few of the really interesting characters that they are really looking to focus on.  The small buy-in though ensures that you will get some better stories, and maybe not the best poker, which seems to be a want and desire for them.

Rush Street productions will film four more events the rest of the year, but those stops have not been announced yet.  With the teaming of Dalla though WSOPC stops open up, because they offer the lower buy-ins at more remote locations that the show appears to really be targeting.  After that, anything else would be pure speculation, but considering the falling out that happened with the HPT, I wouldn’t expect one of the stops to be filmed to be a HPT event.

With Eli Elezra hinting at a High Stakes Poker return sometime next year, it’s really good of PNA to get the word out early and secure the TV deal so that they can get back into the poker TV market first and maybe take some fans, or create completely new fans.  Either way, this venture is sure to be interesting, and with potential upside of changing the way Americans watch poker, this story is sure to change and develop as we see the actual product on TV.