PokerFace

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This article is about the game show. For information relating to the poker term, see Bluff (poker).

PokerFace

Genre	Quiz show
Creator(s)	Ant & Dec
Starring	Ant & Dec
No. of series	2
Production
Producer(s)	talkbackTHAMES
Running time	60 minutes including commercial breaks
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV1
Original run	2006 – 2007

PokerFace is an ITV1 game show, where one person is guaranteed to win £1,000,000. The show was created by Ant & Dec, who also host it.

PokerFace, as implied by the title, is based on the bluffing aspect of poker games. The contestants don't necessarily need to get the questions right in order to win, and can bluff their way through the game and pressure their opponents into folding in order to win.

The show was originally going to be called The Con.Test, but the name was changed just weeks before the show began. The Australian version is called The Con Test.

Series 1 of the show was aired nightly for 7 consecutive days (the 7th show being the final). Starting with series 2, the show has moved to a Saturday prime-time slot, and will last for 7 weeks.

1 Format
2 Series 1
- 2.1 Winners
- 2.2 Final winner
3 Series 2
4 International Expansion
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Format

On each show, 6 contestants compete for a prize of £50,000 and a place in the £1,000,000 final.

The show opens with "The Grilling". This is where the 6 contestants are introduced, and tell the other contestants about themselves. The viewers can see whether a person is telling the truth or not by the 'TRUE' and 'BLUFF' prompts on the screen. After all 6 contestants have been introduced and grilled, the game begins. Each contestant sits in front of a screen, and only they can see their score.

In Round 1, there are 8 multiple choice questions worth £500 each. After the answer to each question is revealed, viewers at home can see which contestants got it right or wrong by a series of ticks and crosses appearing on the pictures of each contestant. At the end of each round, viewers at home see the leaderboard, and more importantly, who's in last place. Ant & Dec then ask the contestants in turn how they think they did in that round.

After the round has finished, the face-off begins. The contestants stand in front of red buttons that rise from the floor, and a 10 second countdown starts. There are 2 possible outcomes:

A contestant folds by pressing the button. They lose their place in the game, but take home with them their winnings.
Nobody folds. The player with the least money will be removed from the game and they leave with nothing. If there is a tie at the bottom, then the person who answered their questions the slowest is out.

In either case, the losing contestant is briefly interviewed and asked to justify their decision. The contestant is then shown a leaderboard which reveals how the other contestants are doing.

There are 5 rounds in total. In each subsequent round, there are just 5 questions, but the prize money increases by £250 each round.

During the final, the £50,000 won in the heats was used as stake money, and the amount on offer per question was doubled.

[edit] Series 1

[edit] Winners

Monday 10 July - Sarah
Tuesday 11 July - Kim
Wednesday 12 July - Julian
Thursday 13 July - Geoff
Friday 14 July - Amy
Saturday 15 July - Bill

[edit] Final winner

Sunday 16 July - Sarah Lang - £1 million (her total from the questions was £84,500)

Sarah is possibly Britain's biggest game show winner in total, having also won £32,000 on a National Lottery game show within the previous year. She has also appeared on The Weakest Link and Wipeout. [1]

Runner-up - Julian Sperring-Toy (£0 - did not fold so lost £75,500)
3rd - Amy £68,000
4th - Geoff £59,000
5th - Bill
6th - Kim £51,000

[edit] Series 2

The second series of PokerFace began on Saturday January 20, 2007.

[edit] Winners

Show	Date	1st	Amount	2nd	Amount	Folded?	Decision
1	Saturday 20 January 2007	Dominic	£12,750	Antonia	£14,000	Yes	Wrong
2	Saturday 27 January 2007	Del	£13,750	Daniel	£12,750	Yes	Right
3	Saturday 3 February 2007	Shane	£14,750	Hilda	£11,750	Yes	Right
4	Saturday 10 February 2007	Victoria	£14,250	Georgeia	£14,250	Yes	Wrong
5	Saturday 17 February 2007	Andy	£15,500	Donna	£14,500	Yes	Right
6	Saturday 24 February 2007	Colin	£19,250	Philippa	£19,250	Yes	Right

[edit] Final Winner

Show	Date
Final (7)	Saturday 3rd March 2007

Position	Name	From Show	Amount Of Money	Folded?	Desicion Right?
1st	Dominic	1	£76,000	Did Not Fold	Right
2nd	Colin	6	£73,500	Folded	Right
3rd	Andy	5	£65,000	Folded	Wrong
4th	Victoria	4	£63,000	Folded	Wrong
5th	Del	2	£55,500	Folded	Right
6th	Shane	3	£53,000	Folded	Wrong

[edit] Notes

One interesting quirk of the series was that the two eventual finalists, Dominic and Colin, were the first and last contestants to be introduced in the course of the heats - Dominic as the first person in 'The Grilling' of Show 1, and Colin as the last person in 'The Grilling' of Show 6.

[edit] International Expansion

The UK show also aired on TV3 in Ireland.

The format for Pokerface has been sold to Crackerjack Productions in Australia, where it screens on the Ten Network. The first episode was screened on the 7th of February 2007. The Australian version is called The Con Test. Whilst the show essentally remains the same, there is no $1 million dollar playoff, with winners of each show receiving $50,000. Triple M radio host Brigitte Duclos, and TV host Andrew G, are the hosts for the Australian version. Future Seasons are in doubt though with the show recieving less than 1 million viewers a week even after the third episode screened^{[citation needed]}.

A Swedish version of the show run on TV4.^[1]

A Norwegian version is planned, with contestant auditions starting in February 2007, and the show to be aired later in the year on TV2. ^[2]

The Colombian version, named El jugador ("The gambler") was broadcasted on RCN TV on February 2007 ^[3]

The Polish version, named "Wielki Poker" ("Big Poker") was public broadcasted on TVP 2 on 2007.