Pay no-show halts Tilt filming
Cardiff production company cancels filming of Full Tilt-sponsored The Poker Lounge after not receiving payment from Pocket Kings.
Cardiff-based production company Presentable Productions was forced to cancel recordings of its Full Tilt-sponsored show The Poker Lounge last night as the financial repercussions of Black Friday extended into the realm of television.
Its decision was made after payments from the US site’s owner Pocket Kings failed to arrive on time, although eGaming Review understands that the problem has now been resolved.
The postponement followed yesterday’s statement from Full Tilt on the return of player funds in the light of the US Department of Justice agreeing to return its dot.com domain.Nevertheless, the show is still expected to air in July, after executive producer Megan Stuart told eGaming Review an agreement had been reached in principle to reschedule filming in May.”We are currently in the process of sorting out the availability of players, crew, and so on,” she confirmed.
Stuart added: “We haven’t sorted out figures for the future but we have been given assurances of future payments from Full Tilt with which we are satisfied. They are honourable and we have always had good relations with them in the past, so we have no concerns about payments.”
Rob Thomas, show producer, said: “Just like any TV production company, if we don’t have money in our account before filming then it would be reckless to go ahead and film it.” However, he added that Presentable has no problem with Full Tilt “as they are honest and full of integrity,” explaining “there is a huge amount of trust between the companies, but considering what happened [on Friday] we had to be careful in ensuring we would get funding.”
A number of players were affected by the cancellation, with Full Tilt pro Scott Montgomery tweeting: “My first invite to a TV tournament, down the drain.”
It is unknown at present whether the players due to appear on the programme will all return for any rescheduled filming, although Stuart said that the majority were “very sympathetic to the situation.”
Each episode of The Poker Lounge features three Full Tilt pros, one online qualifier and two further players not sponsored by Full Tilt.
Earlier this week, Fox and ESPN announced they were cancelling a number of scheduled poker broadcasts. For more on the potential impact of Black Friday on televised poker, see Gary Wise’s blog for eGaming Review.