2021 US Poker Open Will Run On NBC Sports Network This August

The 2021 US Poker Open, which ran from June 3 to15 was a huge success. The series returned for a third edition this year, after the 2020 event was cancelled due to the pandemic. The festival featured 12 events, headlined by a $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament. In the end, David Peters was declared the overall champion, taking home $50,000 in extra cash, alongside a Golden Eagle trophy.
2021 USPO To Air on NBCSN Until Aug. 30
Now, there’s some good news for USPO players and fans. NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) will broadcast the entirety of the 2021 series. Part 1 featured the four episodes of the series and was shown on August 16. Part two of the series hits NBCSN’s airwaves on August 23, while the final four episodes will air on August 30. It will be three consecutive Mondays of top-notch action on TV for poker spectators and fans.
For those who were not able to follow the live action back in June, here’s some spoiler alert: The episodes will feature some of the biggest highlights of the festival, including performances by elite pros, such as Eli Elezra, Joe McKeehen, Stephen Chidwick, Ali Imsirovic, and David Peters.
The players competed in a total of 12 high roller events, but don’t expect to see huge fields, as majority of the tournaments were participated in by less than 100 players.
Nevertheless, there’s a lot of exciting action to look forward to, and all eyes will be on Peters, who scored 4 cashes, including 3 wins ($10K No-Limit Hold’em, $10K Short Deck, $25K No-Limit Hold’em) to bag the series championship title for the second time. The American poker pro also topped the leaderboard back in 2019.
The $50K No-Limit Hold’em event was won by Sean Winter, who also ranked second in the overall leaderboard. The other winners in the series include Jake Daniels, Sam Soverel, Joe McKeehen, John Riordan, Joey Weissman, Eli Elezra, Jared Bleznick, and Ali Imsirovic.
Poker Central-NBCSN Partnership Continues
Prior to partnering with Poker Central, NBCSN already ventured into poker programming in the past, broadcasting the NBC National Heads-Up Championship until 2013.
NBCSN first worked with Poker Central, PokerGO’s parent company, back in 2017. Under the initial deal, the network would broadcast the Super High Roller Bowl on Monday nights. In 2020, both companies announced a renewal of the agreement through 2022, and the deal was expanded to include more programming.
However, since the renewal took place at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, no relevant content was produced for broadcast right away, with live tournaments cancelled. Poker Central was only able to resume filming certain events in late 2020 when restrictions had been eased.
The US Poker Open, which was dropped that year, returned in June 2021, and by that time both Poker Central and NBCSN were able to smoothly work on the production, and now poker players and fans can finally enjoy poker on TV over the next two weeks.
Global Poker To Host Online Version of USPO
Here’s another good news for USPO fans – Global Poker is set to host an online version of the festival, which will run from August 23 to September 5.
The online series includes 32 tournaments, and will be held in two parts: there’s a Gold Coins (GC) edition, which comes with GC 500,000,000 in guarantees. Players may also compete in the Sweeps Coin (SC) version where they can win a share of SC 1,000,000 in guarantees. The GC and SC editions will crown their respective champions.
Global Poker General Manager David Lyons said they’re delighted to offer an improved viewing experience for poker fans by being the presenting sponsor of the 2021 USPO on NBCSN, and they’re running an online edition of the series to celebrate that.
PokerGO President Mori Eskandani said they’re equally pleased to give players and fans the chance to relive the 2021 USPO action while at the same time take part in an online version of the festival.