Ultimate Poker Challenge Alive and Well

The rumor mill was grinding hard this week with forums and various media casting shadows on professional poker players and online poker rooms. Fueling the fire was the news that the Ultimate Poker Challenge had packed its bags at Binions and headed home from Las Vegas.

"You may have read recent online articles claiming that the Ultimate Poker Challenge is dead," sites the official UPC website, "but don't you believe it."

The UPC vows it will continue to air its series on schedule, since scheduling was the only factor that forced the cast and crew to take a short break from their Las Vegas venue.

So how did the rumor get started? "This is all pure conjecture based on a handwritten sign hanging at Binions stating that the UPC weekly tournaments have been temporarily canceled," says Rita Hawn, UPC's production manager. "The reason we canceled them is that we have 28 episodes sitting in our production office waiting to be edited and televised. We have, right now, enough UPC episodes to last 14 weeks."

This past January, UPC began airing its new television series UPC Cash Poker. Regarding this show Hawn states, "Cash Poker tapes every three weeks at Binions. We have absolutely no plans whatsoever of halting production of Cash Poker."

UPC already has its 2007 $10,000 Championship Series schedule in place. The production crew confirmed that they would be taping each day of the main event, starting on March 16, and the televised series will air later this year.

To put to rest the rumors that online advertisers have pulled their funds from the project, Hawn gives her final statement: "Our advertisers are in place for the near future and we have no plans to cancel our show."