GREAT BRITISH POKER TOUR WILL BE ON I.T.V.

11 May 2007

Gala and ITV ink agreement on televised tournaments

British viewers have a poker treat in store following an agreement between Gala Casinos and ITV4 which will result in all six festival events in the Great British Poker Tour being televised later this year.

Television production firm Presentable, which claims to have started the worldwide boom in television poker back in 1999 with Late Night Poker, is filming all the key play from each of the 5-day festival events that comprise the Great British Poker Tour in Edinburgh, Teeside, Nottingham, Bournemouth and Leeds.

A company spokesman said that play from each final table will be covered in-depth to reveal how each regional winner achieved festival victory. Alex Jones will front the television series, which will consist of 12 one hour shows. In addition, several celebrity players will be amongst those on the air. To date, Michelle Heaton of Liberty-X, Doug Henshall of ITV1's Primeval, and Norman Pace from comedy duo Hale & Pace have all played in the GBPT.

Nick Potter of Gala Casinos said, "This is a long term, prestigious partnership with ITV and Presentable which adds another dimension to the play at the GBPT. So far the tour has been a massive success, and we plan to work with Presentable and the poker community to get some great programme content that all fans of the game will love".

ITV4 Channel Controller, David Fewings, said, "We're looking forward to having The Great British Poker Tour on ITV4 this autumn. The popularity of poker is growing every day and I'm sure this will be a fantastic contest".

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