© October 19, 2006
By Daniel Cox
Editor, Poker Insider Magazine<><>

Las Vegas - Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel is proud to announce that America’s top syndicated poker show has moved to “The Place that Made Poker Famous.” The Ultimate Poker Challenge (UPC), after three successful seasons at The Plaza, changed venues for the 2006-2007 season to Binion’s. The No Limit Hold’em tournament action is scheduled three times weekly for the next 52 weeks.

Mary Frabbiele, Director of Poker Operations said, “The UPC is very important to Binion’s. No matter what else is happening on the strip [referring to World Series of Poker or World Poker Tour events], something will always be happening at Binion’s.“ Recent ownership changes have brought a whole new life to the casino’s poker operations. Gary DeWitt, Binion’s new Poker Room Manager, said, “Binion’s is getting back to where it is meant to be.” As the original home of the World Series of Poker, ESPN’s televised coverage of amateur players Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer winning millions of dollars at Binion’s sparked a poker revolution worldwide.

The additional UPC televised tournaments are another example of the resurgence of Las Vegas’ Downtown as a place to come and play. The Fremont Street Experience occurs nightly outside the casino’s doors. Tom Pohlman, Binion’s Assistant General Manager, summed up the casino’s attitude on hosting the UPC when he said, “This is great for Binion’s and it is great for Downtown.”

On October 10, 2006, Binion’s and the UPC previewed the new home with a $10,000 No Limit Freeroll tournament. Noteworthy in the field was top female professional Kathy Liebert and UPC final table regular, Vince Burgio. The tournament winner took home $2,500 and a trip for two to Mexico, second place received $1,000, third received $500.

Following the format that made the UPC’s $10,000 championship the most popular televised poker show, the tournaments are two-day affairs. The first day narrows the field to seven players, and the second day’s final table is played in the televised arena, with bleachers for the show’s fans. Hosted by poker professional Chad Brown and Brandi Williams, the show will continue to use poker professionals as weekly co-hosts.

During the previous two years, the format was a single weekly tournament, with buy-ins from $500 to $10,000. The new format airs three times each week, with Saturday and Sunday featuring a $300 + $40 buy-in tourney, and Monday featuring a $600 + $60 buy-in tournament. On Saturdays and Sundays, Binion’s will host continuous $40 single table tournament (STT) satellites with a first prize of a $340 entry into that night’s tournament. On Mondays, they host $60 STT satellites with a first prize of $660 in tournament chips up for grabs. Four times during the year, Binion’s will host a $10,000 buy-in Main Event. Binion’s expects many of the previous season’s top stars will return, including Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Kristi Gazes, Vince Burgio Allen Cunningham and Scotty Nguyen. Air dates for the televised broadcasts in your area can be found at http://www.ultimatepokerchallenge.com/. The UPC tournaments augment Binion’s already full tournament schedule of $60 to $125 buy-ins at 10 AM, 2 PM, 8 PM  and 2 AM  daily.  

“Brooklyn” Dan Pugliese, a final table regular during the first two years of the UPC and President of The Ultimate Poker Challenge, proudly announced that one of the reasons the move was made was that “Binion’s is the place for poker.” Brooklyn Dan also talked about the new syndicated poker talk show produced by Passport Entertainment, the same people who bring you the UPC. Poker Parlor is billed as a place to “lounge with the legends and bring your game to a new level.” Host Oliver “Ali” Nejad, a poker professional himself, talks weekly with top professionals who share the thoughts behind their actions on key hands, thus bringing you the game behind the game. Air dates for the televised broadcasts in your area can be found at http://www.pokerparloronline.com/. 

The legend continued on October 14th at 4:00 PM  with the first Binion’s/UPC Tournament. Making Sunday’s initial UPC final table were:  Ryan Krull, Las Vegas NV; Steve Schechter, Everett, WA; Ken Brunelle, Largo, FL; Stan Alexander, North Pole; AK; Dennis Ripley, Las Vegas NV; J.J. Liu, Las Vegas NV; Andy Wallus, Las Vegas NV. The winner of the first Ultimate Poker Challenge at Binion’s was…

Sorry, you will have to tune in to find out.