A look at the PokerGo Studio at Aria Resort and Casino, Monday May 16, 2022.
On a recent afternoon, Phil Hellmuth, one of the most recognizable faces in the poker world, strolled into the sprawling PokerGO Studio on the Las Vegas Strip.
The 10,000-square-foot facility at the Aria features a main studio with a Strip skyline backdrop, remote cameras and, of course, a poker table. There is also a smaller studio with a green screen and a commentary table similar to those seen on networks like ESPN or CNN. Hellmuth was there Monday for the “weigh-in” for the taping of the “High Stakes Duel III” showdown against fellow poker pro Scott Seiver.
Hellmuth, nicknamed “The Poker Brat,” is a PokerGO ambassador who has a small piece of equity in the company, which was principally founded by businessman Cary Katz.
PokerGO will play a large role in the upcoming World Series of Poker from May 31 through July 20 at Bally’s, which is being rebranded as the Horseshoe.
PokerGO, which employs nearly 60 people, will livestream nearly two dozen gold bracelet World Series events.
In 2015, Katz, the former head of a student loan firm, founded Poker Central, which later launched the subscription-based PokerGO. The streaming service offers a mix of live events, archived videos and original programming. A yearly subscription to PokerGO costs $99.99. The company also has a quarterly subscription plan and a monthly plan for $14.99.
The idea for a one-stop poker hub website came from Katz, but the media-shy businessman — also a serious and successful poker player — was sure to surround himself with others who share a love for and commitment to the game.
Along with Hellmuth, that list includes World Series of Poker Hall of Famer Mori Eskandani, a former pro player who went on to produce some of the best-known television shows to feature the game, such as “Poker After Dark” and “Poker Superstars.”Eskandani immigrated to the United States from Iran as a teenager in the mid-1970s. He went to college at Portland State University in Oregon, but spent much of his free time playing five-card stud in poker rooms […]
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