Exclusive: Ten turns to poker for next reality show
Network Ten is set to air a reality TV series featuring a houseful of poker players being tutored by Australian world champion Joe Hachem, Mumbrella understands.
The show, with the working name of The Poker Star, is planned to have eight one-hour episodes.
Melbourne-based Hachem picked up the world’s biggest poker prize of $7.5m when he won the World Series of Poker in 2005.
The series will be set in a house in Melbourne, where the contestants will be filmed 24 hours a day. Hachem will make occasional appearances while hands-on training will come from a poker pro known as The Lieutenant. The contestants will face a new challenge in each episode as well as a weekly game with a larger cash prize as every programme passes. The eventual winner will have entry funded into a major global tournament.
A number of brands are understood to be in conversation with the makers of the programme, which is being produced by Radical Media. The show is not Ten’s first fliration with poker. The celebrity show Joker Poker – which saw some episodes funded by Pernod Ricard’s Wild Turkey Bourbon – rated well in a late night slot in 2005 and 2006.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Yes good luck to Ten on this one I’m not picturing it being “must see TV”, well except for train-wreck value!
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oh god! why must they kill poker like this? i mean come on!? no one watched big brother. now you are going to try get peopleto watcht that shit threw poker?
ugh… TEN get a GOOD show on t.v will you so i don’t have to keep PAYING for pay t.v
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I think it’s a great idea. I play poker 5-6 times a week, and it’s tough to get a real opportunity like this! You see other reality shows air for over 5 seasons, and no matter how “bad” people say it is, there are a lot of people who still watch, and find interest in it because it is not the “norm”.
Poker is something that not everyone can do. Sure, you can learn the rules, and sit down with your mates once a week to play a home cash game, but for the pro’s and aspiring pro’s, it’s a game that you can never really master.
I will definitely be auditioning for it.
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