The Ultimate Poker Challenge (UPC) was a series of weekly
poker tournament
A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table (called a "heads up poker, heads-up" tournament), and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on th ...
s acting as super-satellites into the series semi-finals.
The first and second seasons are available on
NTSC
The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
. In the United States, it was a
syndicated program.
Format
Players are entitled to enter multiple super-satellite tournaments (entry into the semi-finals is transferable.)
Players can also qualify for the semi-finals based on the points leaderboard for their finishing position in each event. In the first season, "Silent" Steve Simmons placed highest on the points leaderboard and received $40,000. The second place finisher received $20,000.
Beginning with season 4, the show was renamed ''Ultimate Poker Challenge Presents Cash Poker: The Ultimate Gamble''. The format changed from weekly tournaments to following the action at cash games.
Crew
Each tournament was commentated by
Chad Brown, with Brandi Williams performing interviews along with intros and outros to commercial breaks.
Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu (; born July 26, 1974) is a Canadian professional poker player who has won six World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and two World Poker Tour (WPT) championship titles. In 2014, independent poker ranking service Global Poker Ind ...
provided cover for Chad Brown in episodes 19 and 20. Each tournament featured a professional poker player as a guest commentator, who would offer poker tips for the home viewer along with their commentary.
Beginning with season 4,
Brian Mollica took over commentating duties with Williams continuing in her role as interviewer. Brown is frequently featured in the game.
The on-camera Poker Tournament Director starting in Season 2 was Brad Thomte.
Executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
Dan Pugliese played in several tournaments throughout the series.
Results
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
{, class="wikitable"
! style="background: #E9E9E9;" , Week
! style="background: #E9E9E9;" , Winner
! style="background: #E9E9E9;" , Prize
! style="background: #E9E9E9;" , Runner-Up
! style="background: #E9E9E9;" , Other Finalists
, -
, 1
, John K Robertson
, $9,470
, Max Grottschneider
,
* Chris Par
* Gus Ruelas
* Ted Melikian
* Stan Schrier
* Brian Faires
, -
, 2
, Brian Riley
, $7,385
, Brian Faires
,
* Dan Reitberg
* Johnny Scott
* Steven Ellwood
* Pete Kaufman
* Edward Teems
, -
, 3
, David Brooks
, $7,855
, Rami Owera
,
* Bruce Gallion
* Don Lambertus
* Isaac Do
* Tex Bronson
* Jae Chun
, -
, 4
, Michael Gambony
, $12,050
, Cal Dykes
,
* Jim Olsen
* Todd Peterson
* Carl White
* Warren Karp
* Timothy Belstner
, -
, 5
, Paul Buntin
, $10,365
,
Roxci Rhodes
,
* Dale Tarbet
* Dan Pugliese
* Chris Williamson
* Marikiyo Adachi
* Rory McHugh
, -
, 6
, Ed Tonai
, $6,015
, Rick Troendly
,
* Mark Casipong
* Rory McHugh
* Scott Coffee
* Chris Truppi
* Marty Wong
, -
, 7
, Rick Fuller
, $10,670
, Ken Wa
,
* Craig Gray
* Jim Lea
* Jenny Kang
* Michael "Shoes" Gambony
*
David Levi
, -
, 8
, Stacey Guenther
, $6,180
, Mike Giordano
,
* Tam Ho
* Douglas Carli
* Ric Tuholsky
* Chris Mankameyer
* Jenny Kang
, -
, 9
, Ted McNeely
, $12,950
, James Carroll
,
* Ut Nguyen
*
Men Nguyen
Men "The Master" Nguyen ( vi, Nguyễn Văn Mến; born 1954 in Phan Thiet, Vietnam) is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player.
Personal life
In 1967, he dropped out of school at age 13 and became a bus driver to help support his fam ...
* Becky Makar
* Douglas Carli
* Michael Miner
, -
, 10
, Craig Gray
, $29,255
, Kris Crudup
,
* Nathaniel Parks
* Neil Wright
* Mike Laing
* Kevin Jessie
* Al Ethier
, -
, 11
, Patrick Fee
, $21,040
, Matthew Lesage
,
* Rory Monahan
* Mike Bond
* Stan Jablonski
* Tristam Coffin
*
Max Pescatori
Massimiliano Pescatori (born 22 January 1971 in Milan) is an Italian professional poker player.
His first tournament win was in the $300 limit hold'em event in the 2003 World Poker Challenge in Reno, Nevada. Three days later he won the Omaha H ...
, -
, 12
, Christy Combs
, $5,790
, Ted McNeely
,
* Eric Crain
* Steffen Kurz
, -
, Grand Final
,
Amir Vahedi
Amir Vahedi (February 25, 1961 – January 8, 2010) was an Iranian professional poker player born in Tehran, Iran. who won a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet at the 2003 World Series of Poker in the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event.
World ...
, $181,390
,
Chip Jett
Charles McRae "Chip" Jett (born September 22, 1974 in Scottsdale, Arizona) is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada. He is one of the most popular players on the World Poker Tour.
Jett has been known as "Chip" ever sinc ...
,
* William Edler
* Douglas Carli
* Luke Neely
*
Blair Rodman
Blair Rodman (born April 5, 1954, in Troy, New York) is an American professional poker player, based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Rodman has been playing poker professionally since 1985, when he quit his job dealing craps.
He has had numerous finishes ...
* Tom Koral
, -
, Additional Event
, Dan Pugliese
, $5,780
, Becky Makar
,
* Jack Jobe
* Allen Kessler
Poker television shows
Poker in North America