'Poker Dome Challenge' debuts Memorial Day weekend
May 25, 2007 8:00 AM
"Poker Dome Challenge" will be shot with 26 cameras, recorded onto four six-channel EVS servers and switched on a Grass Valley Kalypso switcher.
More than $2 million is up for grabs in Fox Sports Network’s “Mansionpoker.net Poker Dome Challenge.” On Sunday, May 28, the first hand will be dealt as players compete for their share of a $2.2 million series purse.
“Poker Dome Challenge” will be shot with 26 cameras, recorded onto four six-channel EVS servers in addition to several DigiBeta tape decks, switched on a Grass Valley Kalypso switcher and edited with three Final Cut Pro edit suites running on G-5 Quad Macs (linked to 2TB of Apple’s Xsan storage).
The game is a 43-week series containing six seven-week Speed Poker tournaments, all leading to a final table where one online qualifier will walk away with $1 million. Speed Poker gives each player 15 seconds to act before the player's hand is declared dead.
Each week, six players from around the world will strap on Suunto Team POD heart monitors and step into the Poker Dome. The soundproof dome allows audiences on the outside to see all the action — hole cards, discarded cards, a rabbit-hunting camera, the players' heart rates and chip counts that change when a player makes a wager — while keeping the players completely isolated.
Players will have 15 seconds to bet, check or fold. Instead of playing the standard 15-20 hands an hour, Speed Poker ratchets that up to 80-100 hands an hour by using two dealers at the table, switching off after every hand.
The series starts off on the Las Vegas strip at the Tropicana Casino before its move to its permanent location inside the Neonopolis on Fremont Street.
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