Scenes from a Poker Peek Room

TAMA, IOWA–I was dressed in TV-crew ninja wear (head-to-toe-black) in the \”peek room\” of the Heartland Poker Tour as the final table of the Main Event was being filmed last night. This area is where the pre-production of the popular poker show happens, behind the TV set/final table. The producer, Fred Bevill, communicates with the floor director, who controls the action at the table, and several computer monitors are set up to show the hole cams, and a birds-eye view of the board.

But (really) all I wanted to do to get a look at a live hole cam feed.

And just so you know…there is absolutely no mocking of play going on here, but wtf was he thinking shoving with a K-3 off ?! One of the views shown is a not often used used \”rabbit hunt\” camera, where the dealer can opt to flash the remaining board cards in big hands that don\’t go to the river.

The players remain miked up throughout the entire final table taping, and the feed\’s broadcast in the peek room — even on breaks in the bathroom, where it\’s sometimes impossible for the guys in the peek room not to mock the action they\’re listening in on.