# Ultimate Poker Challenge

The Ultimate Poker Challenge (UPC) was a series of weekly poker tournaments acting as super-satellites into the series semi-finals.
The first and second seasons are available on NTSC DVD. In the United States, it was a syndicated program.

## Format

Players are entitled to enter multiple super-satellite tournaments (entry into the semi-finals is transferable.)
Players can also qualify for the semi-finals based on the points leaderboard for their finishing position in each event. In the first season, "Silent" Steve Simmons placed highest on the points leaderboard and received $40,000. The second place finisher received $20,000.
Beginning with season 4, the show was renamed Ultimate Poker Challenge Presents Cash Poker: The Ultimate Gamble. The format changed from weekly tournaments to following the action at cash games.

## Crew

Each tournament was commentated by Chad Brown, with Brandi Williams performing interviews along with intros and outros to commercial breaks. Daniel Negreanu provided cover for Chad Brown in episodes 19 and 20. Each tournament featured a professional poker player as a guest commentator, who would offer poker tips for the home viewer along with their commentary.
Beginning with season 4, Brian Mollica took over commentating duties with Williams continuing in her role as interviewer. Brown is frequently featured in the game.
The on-camera Poker Tournament Director starting in Season 2 was Brad Thomte.
Executive producer Dan Pugliese played in several tournaments throughout the series.

## Results
### Season 1

| Week | Guest Presenter | Winner | Prize | Runner-Up | Other Finalists |
| 1 | Chris Ferguson | Nick Bouyea | $10,000 | Phillip Matthews | Eli Balas Jeff Stoff Jess Kaufman Gavin Smith James Van Alstyne |
| 2 | Chris Hinchcliffe | Erik Seidel | $8,000 | "Silent" Steve Simmons | Michael Ross Brian Nadell Renee Wexler Ken James Mike Turner |
| 3 | Rob Huxley | Andy Bloch | $13,500 | Cong Tran | Dan Pugliese Erik Seidel Nick Bouyea Mel Judah |
| 4 | Jennifer Harman | James Van Alstyne | $12,600 | Todd Brunson | Allyn Jaffrey Shulman Jimmy Ngoc Tran Ron Blenski Maureen Feduniak Max Pescatori |
| 5 | Kyle Morris | Ken James | $12,640 | Dan Alspach | Chris Ferguson Robert Tolliver Mel Judah Thor Hansen Chris Hinchcliffe |
| 6 | Mike Matusow | Kathy Liebert | $11,500 | Don Barton | Eric Nickelson Chad Layne Rick Russell Jimmy Ngoc Tran Gary Beck |
| 7 | Robert Williamson III | David Luttbeg | $8,000 | Matt Dean | Daniel McGrew Tim Waterhouse Renee Wexler Cong Tran Dan Pugliese |
| 8 | Clonie Gowen | Steve Simmons | $13,400 | Kristy Gazes | Max Pescatori Andy Bloch Nick Bouyea Eli Balas Evelyn Ng |
| 9 | Renee Wexler | Kenna James | $8,400 | Tony Toscano | David "C-4" Plastik Gerry Drehobl Todd Brunson Amir Vahedi No seventh place finisher |
| 10 | Daniel Negreanu | Joe Toth | $6,800 | Tony Kassab | Chad Layne Max Pescatori Paul V Carroll Howard "Tahoe" Andrew Kal Stiles |
| 11 | Brandi Williams | Recap Show | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 12 | Mark Tenner | Chris Hinchcliffe | $8,000 | Max Pescatori | Matt Russell Ned Shabou Rick Russell Evelyn Ng Larry "Sig" Sigety |
| 13 | Antonio Esfandiari | Vandy Krouch | $8,200 | Dr Andy Robins | Kenna James Kenny Wagner Clarence Moore Eric Nickelson Ken James |
| 14 | Phil Laak | Champie Douglas | $8,000 | Ned Shabou | Jason Buckley Max Pescatori Pete Ostrowski Nikki Harris Michael Abdoulah |
| 15 | Kenna James | Pete Lawson | $8,000 | David Plastik | Rich Lister Howard Andrew Connie Kim Renee Wexler Rick Russell |
| 16 | Russ Hamilton | Robert Keith Young | $4,400 | Nick Bouyea | Max Pescatori Kenna James Tom "John" Ralis Howard Andrew Chris Hinchcliffe |
| 17 | Phil Hellmuth | Kris Crudup | $6,000 | Avi Freedman | Renee Wexler Tom Robinson Dan Pugliese Terry Nachtergaele Steve Simmons |
| 18 | Amir Vahedi | John Cernuto | $6,800 | Scott Epstein | Dan Pugliese Nick Bouyea Howard Andrew Rich Lister Kenny Robins |
| 19 | Matt Savage | Kenna James | $9,000 | Karina Jett | Paul Magriel Greg Moran Larry Sigety Chris Ferguson Julie Liebel |
| 20 | Evelyn Ng | Robert Bright | $7,400 | Shawn Rice | Larry Sigety Steve Simmons Warren Briscoe Kenny Robbins Max Pescatori |
| 21 | Daniel Negreanu | Jeff Shulman | $8,400 | Jim Meehan | Max Pescatori Howard Andrew Dan Hart Andy Bloch Eon Marshall |
| 22 | Paul Phillips | Dennis "Mickey" Seagle | $8,000 | Steve Simmons | Bob Stupak Shawn Rice Dan Pugliese Bon Phan Jeff Rine |
| 23 | Robert Williamson III | Joe Awada | $7,400 | John Phan | Nick Bouyea Barry Greenstein Scotty Nguyen Daniel Thomas James Matthews |
| Semi-Final Pt. 1 | Daniel Negreanu | (leads to Semi-Final 2) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Semi-Final Pt. 2 | Daniel Negreanu | (leads to Grand Final) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Grand Final | Doyle Brunson Todd Brunson | James Van Alstyne | $100,000 | Jeff Stoff | Jim Meehan Jeff Shulman David Plastik Chip Lightman Scotty Nguyen |

### Season 2

| Week | Winner | Prize | Number of players | Buy In | Prize Pool | Runner-Up | Other Finalists |
| 1 | Vince Burgio | $41,020 | 61 | $2,000 | $118,340 | George Bartlett | Luis Santori Dwayne Vetter David Levi Stephen Huang Petar Ivancevic |
| 2 | Rafe Furst | $35,650 | 70 | $1,500 | $101,850 | Santiago Terrazas | Richard Brodie Mike Cordell Keith Cordell John Murphy Darren Brandes |
| 3 | Ronnie Ebanks | $51,410 | 53 | $2,500 | $128,525 | Dan Pugliese | Kevin Chan Jae Yun Ken Jacobs Joe Bartholdi Jr Andy Bloch |
| 4 | Bill Edler | $61,110 | 60 | $3,000 | $174,600 | Todd Brunson | David Daseke Don Mullis V S Senthil Kumar Kassem "Freddy" Deeb Al Krux |
| 5 & 6 | Roy Obriecht | $21,140 | 146 | $500 | $70,810 | Ben Hutton | John Pesch Brad Varnell Kyle Tupp Michael Souza Phil Humphries |
| 7 | Rukhsana Guevarra | $28,235 | 194 | $500 | $94,090 | Ali Lari | Irving Overman Kenny Robbins Dan Johnson Dan Kaufman Chung Ng |
| 8 | Tom Cope | $45,740 | 139 | $1,000 | $134,830 | Sandy Blecker | Ronnie Bardah Bob Kirkeby Raul Paez Ryan Welty David Brooks |
| 9 | Vince Burgio | $24,055 | 31 | $2,000 | $60,140 | V S Senthil Kumar | Hymie Dahar Jane Gamble Edward "Bolivia" Moncada Kenny Robbins Clonie Gowen |
| 10 & 11 | Bon Phan | $21,680 | 149 | $500 | $72,265 | Howard Andrew | Erika Obst Rick Fuller Jeff Blenkarn Andre De Montesquiou Dan Johnson |
| 12 | Gary Do | $24,445 | 42 | $1,500 | $61,110 | Matt Sterling | Anders Berg Renee Wexler David Singer Kevin Ratliff Allen Kessler |
| 13 & 14 | Ryan Larsen | $32,980 | 100 | $1,000 | $97,000 | Derek Harrington | Simon Hennessey David Rheem Chris Tsiprailidis Richard Brodie Phillip Penn |
| 15 | Bill Edler | $32,010 | 33 | $2,500 | $80,025 | Richard Brodie | Jesse Martin Cliff Pappas Gavin Smith Sean McCabe Kevin Chan |
| 16 | Joe Bartholdi Jr | $27,160 | 35 | $2,000 | $67,900 | Don Mullis | Kristy Gazes Dan Pugliese Al Ciaglia James English James Hofheinz |
| 17 & 18 | Michael Mizrachi | $41,905 | 36 | $3,000 | $104,765 | Kathy Liebert | Rick Fuller Mike Wood T. J. Cloutier Scott Fischman David Singer |
| 19 & 20 | Allen Cunningham | $34,920 | 30 | $3,000 | $87,300 | Gavin Smith | John Roveto Kevin Chan Sean McCabe David Singer Tony Malcein |
| 21, 22 & 23 Grand Final | Andy Bloch | $167,500 | 55 | $10,000 | $541,750 | Blair Rodman | Chau Giang Mike Wattel V S Senthil Kumar Scott Fischman Ted Forrest |
| 24 | Bon Phan | $47,000 | 24 | $5,000 | $117,600 | Herbert Montalbano | Allen Kessler Phillipe Rouas "Pistol" Pete Lawson Joseph Saunders Chris Gilvone |

### Season 3

| Week | Winner | Prize | Runner-Up | Other Finalists |
| 1 | John K Robertson | $9,470 | Max Grottschneider | Chris Par Gus Ruelas Ted Melikian Stan Schrier Brian Faires |
| 2 | Brian Riley | $7,385 | Brian Faires | Dan Reitberg Johnny Scott Steven Ellwood Pete Kaufman Edward Teems |
| 3 | David Brooks | $7,855 | Rami Owera | Bruce Gallion Don Lambertus Isaac Do Tex Bronson Jae Chun |
| 4 | Michael Gambony | $12,050 | Cal Dykes | Jim Olsen Todd Peterson Carl White Warren Karp Timothy Belstner |
| 5 | Paul Buntin | $10,365 | Roxci Rhodes | Dale Tarbet Dan Pugliese Chris Williamson Marikiyo Adachi Rory McHugh |
| 6 | Ed Tonai | $6,015 | Rick Troendly | Mark Casipong Rory McHugh Scott Coffee Chris Truppi Marty Wong |
| 7 | Rick Fuller | $10,670 | Ken Wa | Craig Gray Jim Lea Jenny Kang Michael "Shoes" Gambony David Levi |
| 8 | Stacey Guenther | $6,180 | Mike Giordano | Tam Ho Douglas Carli Ric Tuholsky Chris Mankameyer Jenny Kang |
| 9 | Ted McNeely | $12,950 | James Carroll | Ut Nguyen Men Nguyen Becky Makar Douglas Carli Michael Miner |
| 10 | Craig Gray | $29,255 | Kris Crudup | Nathaniel Parks Neil Wright Mike Laing Kevin Jessie Al Ethier |
| 11 | Patrick Fee | $21,040 | Matthew Lesage | Rory Monahan Mike Bond Stan Jablonski Tristam Coffin Max Pescatori |
| 12 | Christy Combs | $5,790 | Ted McNeely | Eric Crain Steffen Kurz |
| Grand Final | Amir Vahedi | $181,390 | Chip Jett | William Edler Douglas Carli Luke Neely Blair Rodman Tom Koral |
| Additional Event | Dan Pugliese | $5,780 | Becky Makar | Jack Jobe Allen Kessler |