Poker After Dark’s Super High Stakes

Another week of Poker After Dark episodes will kick off tomorrow, but the newest theme is so big that it’s going to span two full weeks of games. What’s the big deal? Each of the week’s six players will be coughing up an unprecedented $150,000 buy-in. While that isn’t quite on par with the Aussie Millions’ new $250,000 buy-in super high roller event, it’s easily the largest buy-in for PAD’s action. Not only that, but it will make the upcoming Poker After Dark week the largest televised cash game to date.

Who’s up for the challenge? In Seat 1 will be David “Viffer” Peat. Peat regularly plays the nosebleed $400/$800 stakes NL Hold’em tables, so this week’s $300/$600 game probably won’t intimidate him. Peat’s somewhat of an unknown to poker fans, primarily because he prefers ring games to the more press-saturated tournaments.

In Seat 2 will be Poker After Dark regular Howard “The Professor” Lederer. Lederer boasts of more than $6 million dollars in lifetime tournament earnings and holds several titles including two WPT wins and two WSOP bracelets. In Seat 3 will be Phil “The Unabomber” Laak. Laak is a certified grinder, holding the Guinness World Record for longest continuous ring game poker play.

In Seat 4 will be Greg “FBT” Mueller. This will be Mueller’s first Poker After Dark appearance. As a former hockey player and model, Mueller’s known as something of a pretty boy among the older, grittier pros, but he’s held his own in his relatively short poker career with two WSOP bracelets and nearly $2 million in live tournament earnings. In Seat 5 will be another PAD newcomer, Olivier Busquet. Busquet may be new to PAD, but the game format is right up his alley; he’s had significant success in both the live tournament and online SNG venues. Online poker followers may know him better as “livb112.”

Finally, filling out the table in Seat 6 is ever-present high stakes pro Eli Elezra. Elezra seems to pop up every time the stakes get high, whether that’s here on Poker After Dark, on competing show High Stakes Poker, or in live high roller events around the world. Since Las Vegas is Elezra’s home base, it’s no surprise that he’ll be appearing often on this season of PAD which is slated to film strictly in Sin City.

American poker fans can catch episodes of Poker After Dark Monday through Friday at 2:05am. If you’ve missed an episode or don’t have access to NBC, then you can watch recaps on the Poker After Dark website and on NBC Sports.

Related Entries