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PR: Montel Williams to Launch Brand New Poker TV Format
EMMY Award Winning Talkshow host Montel Williams to Launch Brand New Poker TV Format
International Team Poker League will combine online qualifiers with bricks and mortar casinos
London, 22/01/09: The world of televised poker looks set to be revolutionised in 2009 with a new format TV show, “International Team Poker League”, devised by EMMY Award winning TV supremo and poker buff Montel Williams. The show, starting with satellite tournaments in March and to be televised from November this year, will combine fast-paced No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em (NTHL) games with ‘reality TV’ style segments about the players.
Creator, commissioner, and CEO of ITPL, Montel Williams comments, “I love poker – it’s a game that has everything, played by kings and leaders and regular joes alike. It crosses boundaries and borders, now, thanks to technology and the internet, a global phenomenon that brings people of different ethnicities and origin together around the world. It is truly international, and the time is right for the International Team Poker League to take poker to a new level and a wider audience.”
In a similar format to familiar talent shows, the series will begin with a selection process through regular NLTH satellite tournaments in both land-based casinos and online poker sites. Entrants play to win entry into a three-day Draft Pool Seeding Tournament at a Las Vegas host casino at which the leading players will be selected into six teams, before fighting it out to build chip stacks for the final one-day SuperTable team event. The six winners will become the ITPL Team for the season, and will be filmed as they live the Poker lifestyle, play the Pros and possibly find celebrity for themselves.
Specifically designed to fit a one-hour TV slot, the show will air each week for a season and offers high profile strategic partnerships and affiliate activity for both the casino and remote gambling industries. A number of global brands have already shown interest in taking part, although no announcements of partnerships are being made at this stage.
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About Montel Williams:
Montel Williams is the Emmy Award winning host of the Montel Williams Show which ran for 17 years until 2008 - one of the longest running talk shows in US History. He is currently launching a multi media venture around a brand he created, “Living Well with Montel” which includes an international TV format, products and educational seminars. Montel has authored eight books, three of which have been NY Times Bestsellers. His current book release, “Living Well Emotionally” has received rave reviews. Montel has acted in a number of TV projects over the years and was nominated this year for a NAACP Image Award for his acting on Guiding Light. He is a former US naval intelligence officer, motivational speaker, philanthropist and activist. After being diagnosed in 1999 with Multiple Sclerosis, he founded THE MONTEL WILLIAMS MS FOUNDATION to raise awareness and funds for MS research.
About Montel Media Group, LLC:
Montel Media Group, LLC, a Montel Williams company, has over 17 years’ experience in producing quality television. Subsequent to developing the Living Well with Montel brand through self-help DVDs and books, Montel Williams has introduced the Living Well with Montel talkmercial model to meet the economic demands of television programming today. Montel Media Group credits include the nationally syndicated Montel Williams Show and CBS dramatic series, The Education of Matt Waters, as well as such projects as Snapshot, a game show in development with producer Phil Gurin and distributor Debmar, and a talk show with Robin Givens
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Originally Posted by Casinomeister
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