James Edward Hartigan (born in Carshalton, South London) is an English journalist and broadcaster who is best known as a poker commentator on British and American television, and as a presenter and film critic on London talk radio station

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadcast ...

Background

Hartigan grew up in Sutton, South London and Banstead, Surrey. He went to university at Christ Church College Canterbury, graduating in 1996 with a BA in Radio, Film and Television and English Literature.

Radio

Hartigan began his broadcasting career as a film critic at

BBC Radio Kent BBC Radio Kent is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Kent. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at The Great Hall in Tunbridge Wells. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of ...

and journalist at County Sound Radio before joining London’s Heart 106.2 in 1998 as the news anchor on

Jono Coleman Jonathan "Jono" Harry Coleman (29 February 1956 – 9 July 2021), was an English-born television presenter, radio announcer, writer, comedian, and advertorial spokesperson. He was known for his career in his native country and Australia. Earl ...

’s Breakfast Show. In addition, he was the station’s Showbiz Editor. In 2001, he was hired by UBC Media to run commercial programming, including its syndicated entertainment news service. He returned to live broadcasting in 2004, reading news bulletins on Jazz FM and

Classic FM (UK) Classic FM (styled as CLASSIC M) is one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations and is owned and operated by Global. The station broadcasts classical music and was launched in 1992. Classic FM was the first national c ...

, and presenting a variety of programmes on LBC, including news magazine The Morning Report on

LBC News 1152 LBC News is a rolling news radio station based in the United Kingdom. It broadcasts in Greater London on AM and UK wide on DAB and online. History The 1152 AM frequency in London has a complicated history of format and ownership. Continuous n ...

and the weekday Drivetime show on

LBC 97.3 LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment, Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed Commercial broadca ...

. Since November 2008, Hartigan has been LBC's film critic.

Poker

Hartigan has been a recreational poker player since the early 1990s. In 2005, as a professional broadcaster with a keen interest in the game, he was hired by

The Poker Channel The Player Channel, known as the Poker Channel until 3 December 2012, was a gaming TV network which broadcast to over 30 million households in 30 countries. The Channel was typically carried in the basic packages of cable and satellite operator ...

to commentate on the World Cup of Poker and the World Speed Poker Open. He has since commentated on tournaments across Europe and has presented poker programmes for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...

and Challenge. He currently works on the

European Poker Tour The European Poker Tour (EPT) is a series of poker tournaments similar to those in the World Poker Tour (WPT), created by John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Tex ...

and

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure was an annual televised poker tournament. The event was first held in 2004 and was originally co-sponsored by PokerStars and the World Poker Tour. In 2008, the event moved from the WPT to the European Poker Tour. ...

, as the main host of the television highlights shows and EPT Live webcasts. He played in the Deauville EPT in season one. Hartigan has also fronted coverage of the

North American Poker Tour The North American Poker Tour (NAPT) was a series of international poker tournaments held in North America. The NAPT included an associated television series broadcasting the final table of some of the tournaments. The NAPT was started in 2010 ...

and

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...

for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, including the 2010 WSOP Main Event Final Table, and is one of the faces of

Sky Poker Sky Betting & Gaming is a United Kingdom, British-based gambling company, owned by Flutter Entertainment, with headquarters in Leeds, West Yorkshire and offices in Sheffield & Solihull. Sky Betting & Gaming consists of five core brands: Sky Bet, ...

, appearing on the channel as a presenter and analyst. He also writes an occasional blog for the Sky Poker website.

Awards

Along with fellow poker commentator

Joe Stapleton (poker) Joe Stapleton is an American poker commentator. He has been an active commentator since 2009, and currently works for PokerStars. Stapleton did numerous broadcasts for the European Poker Tour. In 2011, Joe Stapleton was living in Los Angeles bu ...

, Hartigan was the recipient of the, 'Best Podcast' award at the 2022 Globe Poker Awards, for their show "Poker in the Ears".

Personal

Hartigan lives in Putney, South West London. As well as poker and movies, he is a fan of tennis and

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

. He has followed the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

since they won

Super Bowl XIX Super Bowl XIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1984 Miami Dolphins season, Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1984 San Francisco 49ers season, San Francisco 49 ...

References

External links

lbc.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartigan, James English male journalists English film critics Poker commentators People educated at Sutton Grammar School 1975 births Living people English male non-fiction writers