Poker After Dark Season 7 Coming in January

It has just been announced that the seventh season of Poker After Dark will be aired in January 2011. With the emphasis put on cash games, top pros such as Phil Ivey, Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Patrik Antonius will collide in both No Limit Hold'em games as well as Pot Limit Omaha.

Photo source: Flickr

NBC's Poker After Dark will be returning to the poker fans' screens in January, 2011, as poker fans will once again get a chance to watch top pros compete against each other. With the high popularity of televised cash games, the spotlight in PAD Season 7 will be on No Limit Hold'em cash games with various buy-ins.

The line-up for the first two cash games with the $100,000 minimum buy-in will consist of pros such as Chris Ferguson, Michael Mizrachi, Mike Matusow, Andy Bloch, Antonio Esfandiari, Huckleberry Seed, Justin Smith and the omnipresent Phil Hellmuth, who will appear in several games throughout the show.

The peak of the show will be the $200,000 minimum buy-in cash game, featuring Phil Ivey (pictured right), Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Patrik Antonius, David Peat, Eli Elezra and David Oppenheim.

PLO game with a stellar line-up

A Pot Limit Omaha game with a $100,000 minimum buy-in will also be included in the upcoming PAD season. Some of the players who will take part in this game include Ivey, Dwan, Phil "OMGCLayAiken" Galfond, Patrik Antonius and Brian Hastings.

Despite the majority of Season 7 being dedicated to cash games, there will also be three freezeout tournament. First one is dubbed "Wish List", as Mike Dappen of Redwood City, CA, who won the Howard and Suzie Lederer Charity Poker Tournament, will face seasoned pros in a $20,000 buy-in, winner-take-all match.

The other two freezeouts will be "Idol" and "Big Heat". The former will see Doyle Brunson taking on the young guns such as Annette Obrestad and Dwan in a race for the $300,000 first place prize, while the latter will announce the beginning of the new season, as it will kick off on January 3, 2011 and feature a hefty $600,000 going to its winner.

Players taking part in this "Big Heat" match and having the honour to open the new season will be Dwan, Seed, Galfond, Ivey, John Juanda and Erick Lindgren. As for the host of the show, Leeann Tweeden will once again fill that role with Ali Nejad providing the commentary. However, Nejad won't be alone in the booth throughout the season, as a guest commentator will join him for the PLO game.