In 1997, the hole cam, which allows audiences to see the hidden cards that players held in their hands, was πͺ introduced in Europe. The hole cam was patented by WSOP bracelet winner Henry Orenstein and first used in the Late πͺ Night Poker television series. It was used again in the inaugural Poker Million tournament in 2000 which boasted the attraction πͺ of the first Β£1,000,000 poker game on live television. By 1996, however, the ESPN one-hour highlight show only included hands πͺ that were shown down, so that the commentators, including Gabe Kaplan, could comment, in post-production, on the hands while they πͺ were being played out. The commentators referred to this as "taking a peek at the cards", and provided the first πͺ contemporary announcing on hands during the play in poker history. By 2001, however, Late Night Poker had been cancelled in πͺ the UK and televised poker could no longer be found in Europe. In the US, the 1999, 2000, and 2001 πͺ World Series of Poker events were only broadcast in one-hour documentaries on the Discovery Networks.
In 1999, documentary filmmaker Steven Lipscomb πͺ produced and directed a documentary on the WSOP for the Discovery Channel. It was the first U.S. poker production funded πͺ entirely by a television network rather than the casino. When the 1999 WSOP aired, it doubled its audience over the πͺ hour time slot. Seeing the audience reaction, Lipscomb believed there was an untapped market and began pitching poker series ideas πͺ to cable and network television. Because poker had been on the air for over twenty years, with little viewer interest, πͺ broadcasters were unwilling to commit resources to put a series on the air.
Televised poker experienced a sudden disruption in 2011 πͺ after the lawsuit United States v. Scheinberg et al. was filed. Two of the defendants in that case, PokerStars and πͺ Full Tilt Poker, were the primary sponsors of most of the shows that were airing on American television at the πͺ time.[2] Since it was discovered that online gambling (other than sports betting) was not illegal and the state law used πͺ to file the lawsuit was not applicable to foreign companies, the lawsuit was resolved in 2012, with the two companies πͺ merging and without any admission of guilt.
Here is a list of poker television programs that have aired on television in πͺ either North America or Europe.
1 ESPN did not air the WSOP in 1996 or 1999β2001; The Discovery Channel did air πͺ one-hour specials of the 2000 & 2001 Main Events