An ambitious $60 million poker tournament (see previous reports) scheduled for July 12th has been cancelled according to planners FSN and Mansion Poker.net, but a $1 million first prize alternative at the same Dome venue in Las Vegas is shaping up to be a major attraction.
Details for an upcoming TV series branded The Mansion Poker.net Poker Dome Challenge were released this week, and the first event will be screened on FSN this weekend at 11pm Sunday.
As previously announced, the studio audience will be able to see the players’ hole cards, but cannot be seen or heard by the players at the table, who are enclosed in a glass ‘dome’, with soundproof one way mirrors that prevent them from seeing the audience. FSN is bringing back the heart monitor for this series, and commentators will include several well known poker personalities.
The format for the new show is a weekly contest in which six highly experienced qualifiers will face off in a one table tournament. The winner of that tournament picks up $25,000, and advances to the semifinal round. The six winners of the semifinal table square off in another single table tournament, with the winner of that table picking up $50,000, and moving on to the final, where he or she will play a winner take all tournament worth $1,000,000.
According to George Greenberg, FSN’s Executive Vice President of Programming and Production, FSN was simply not prepared to produce both the upcoming Poker Dome series, and the $10 million buy-in event at the same time.
“When we took a step back and looked objectively at the size and scope of producing both the premiere season of the Mansionpoker.net Poker Dome Challenge series and the 2006 Mega-Event, we had to be honest with ourselves – these are two massive projects, each requiring considerable resources and manpower.” Greenberg said “To produce them both simultaneously would compromise the quality of each, a concession FSN is not willing to make. Therefore, we have decided to cancel the 2006 Mega-Event and focus on delivering an explosive 43-week series that will change the way poker is televised.”