Poker Central Goes All In on Digital Programming

LAS VEGAS (September 21, 2016) — Poker Central®, your ultimate source for 24/7 Poker® content, today announced the expansion of its digital suite of products. Poker Central’s record performances on Twitch, as well as Chinese live streaming service Douyu TV, have driven Poker Central’s strategy in this direction.

“Poker Central is wildly popular with poker fans, who want the freedom to enjoy our content when, where and how they want” said Joe Kakaty, president of Poker Central. “We found an almost insatiable appetite for live poker and are investing in new studios in both New York and Las Vegas to feed it. Poker fans will love our full slate of live fast-action poker and our fantastic daily content offerings.” Poker Central is scheduled to launch the new digital programming suite later this year.

Poker Central consistently hits great numbers, particularly with millennials. The 2016 Super High Roller Bowl®, its flagship live event, broke global records on Twitch, the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers, for concurrent viewership on a live poker stream. The event also showed success internationally with live streaming on China’s Douyu, resulting in 1.1 million total views and 850,000 unique visitors across both sites.

“When our early access to the initial hours of the Super High Roller Bowl shattered Twitch records, we decided to embrace our audience’s preferred viewing habits,” said Sam Simmons, Vice President of Content.  “This means access to poker programming on the platforms of their choice, while expanding our live TV broadcasts by partnering with several fully distributed networks.”

Original Programming

Poker Central will continue to produce original programming like Pokerography and the Super High Roller Bowl. Poker Central’s multi-platform format will mix these traditional TV shows with a variety of new and fresh digital content that includes live events, scheduled episodic web series, daily short-form news and edgy content that’s ideal for today’s consumption habits.

“We’ve been impressed with Poker Central’s reach since day one, especially with the elusive millennial poker fan, whose demo overlaps closely with gamer fans,” said Jeff Liboon, Head of Mobile eSports Media and Content at Amazon. “Our team celebrated Poker Central’s media over-delivery at our World’s Collide Gamer & Poker event in Seattle. We are certainly looking forward to expanding our relationship with Poker Central next year.”

“Advertiser reactions have been incredible,” added Kakaty. “We have appreciated their enthusiastic support since our launch less than a year ago.”

Team Expansion

Poker Central has added two power players from the digital video world to kickstart Poker Central’s exciting digital launch.

Justin Lundstrom is Poker Central’s new Head of Production and Programming.  Formerly Director of Video Production and Operations at Complex Media, Lundstrom increased Complex Media’s video production to twenty times its former output. Lundstrom produced a film featured at the Sundance Film Festival and has years of production expertise with documentary, music video and feature film work.

Carl Marxer is Poker Central’s new Director of Creative Services, in charge of animation and brand graphics. Marxer is an award winning designer, a NATAS member Emmy Awards judge, and a member of the Television Academy. Marxer’s prior experience includes VICE, Viceland TV, the MLB Network, CNN and the Back9 golf network start up.

“These additions to our powerhouse team will assure Poker Central’s continued popularity,” added Kakaty. “Not just with poker fans, but everyone who loves the poker lifestyle.”

About Poker Central®

Poker Central is your ultimate source for 24/7 poker® content, when and where you want it. Available globally, Poker Central’s delivery of everything poker captivates viewers with the electrifying victories, opulent lifestyle and unique culture of the poker world. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Poker Central offers behind the scenes peeks into celebrity players and poker lifestyles along with live coverage of exclusive poker tournaments from stunning destinations around the globe. Poker Central is committed to thrilling poker enthusiasts and advancing the game of poker worldwide. For more information, visit www.pokercentral.com, www.facebook.com/pokercentral and www.twitter.com/pokercentral.