PokerWorks

Mike Sexton has had quite the year. While his entire career has consisted of numerous ventures in the poker world, the last year found him back in partnership with PartyPoker as its spokesperson and inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. And most recently, word came of his association with a new television show to be aired on MyNetworkTV called “Shuffle Up and Deal,” with Sexton as the host and a premiere date set for sometime in 2010.

“Shuffle Up and Deal” has a rather simple game show-type premise, with five amateur poker players, who are chosen through a casting process that begins by contacting the show’s website, taking the stage to choose cards that will make the best poker hand from those available on an electronic board. The winner at the end of the show then has the chance to compete for a progressive jackpot that ranges between $250,000 and $1 million, a number that increases from the low end by $10K each time a player fails to win it.

The audience watching “Shuffle Up and Deal” will also be in on the action, as viewers are invited to pick the location of the ace on a board, and winners are entered into a drawing that will award $10,000 to the name chosen randomly from the batch. Reminiscent of other game shows that involve the television audience, the show looks to aim for viewers that have any interest in poker but don’t need to possess any intimate knowledge of hold’em or the strategy involved.

One last aspect of the show is a coordinated live show that will take place in casinos around the United States, though locations have yet to be announced. The live show will invite random members of the audience to participate in the non-televised version of the game show, and Chad Brown will be the host of the festivities where players can win yet-undisclosed amounts of money by winning the live contests.

The show will be one-half hour in length and will run for an initial series consisting of 13 episodes. Brandi Williams will join Sexton as the co-host. The creator of the show, Dewey Oates, was quoted as saying, “I think this game show will be the next generation of televised poker.”

MyNetworkTV is an independent network that boasts of shows like “Deal or No Deal” and “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” and is broadcast over local stations in various markets. For instance, its shows air on KCOP-13 in Los Angeles and WWOR-9 in New York.

Editor's note: Updated information now confirms that "Shuffle Up and Deal" will not be on MyNetworkTV, though we are working on confirmation that the show's producer may be in talks with MyFamilyTV.