PokerFace

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This article is about the game show. For information relating to the poker term, see Bluff (poker).
For the Ayumi Hamasaki song, see poker face (song).
PokerFace
Format Quiz show
Created by Ant & Dec
Presented by Ant & Dec
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 14
Production
Producer(s) talkbackTHAMES,
Gallowgate
Running time 60 mins (inc. comm breaks)
Broadcast
Original channel ITV
Original run 10 July 2006 – 3 March 2007

PokerFace is an ITV 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. However, 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 was moved to a Saturday prime-time slot, lasted for 7 weeks.

Contents

[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. In the final of the second series, the final countdown for the £1 million face-off was also extended to 15 seconds.

[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 £56,000
  • 6th - Kim £51,000

[edit] Series 2

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

[edit] Winners

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

[edit] Final

The final aired on 3 March. The result was as follows:

Position Name From show Amount Folded? Decision
1st Dominic 1 £76,000 No Right
2nd Colin 6 £73,500 Yes Right
3rd Andy 5 £65,000 Yes Wrong
4th Victoria 4 £63,000 Yes Wrong
5th Del 2 £55,500 Yes Right
6th Shane 3 £53,000 Yes 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.

Also, in both series, the winner of Show 1 has won the final. Even more interesting is that both winners made it through their heat by making the other contestant fold when they should not have done, but have then won the finals outright.



[edit] International versions

Country Name Host TV Station Top Prize in Local Currency Super Final Prize in Local Currency
Flag of Australia Australia The Con.Test Andrew G Network Ten $50,000 don't have
Brigitte Duclos
Flag of Brazil Brazil O Jogador Ana Hickmann Rede Record R$50,000 don't have
Britto Junior
Flag of Colombia Colombia El Jugador Andrea Serna RCN $200,000,000 don't have
Claudia Bahamon
Flag of Hungary Hungary PókerArc István Vágó RTL Klub 2,000,000 Ft 7,000,000 Ft (weekly final at sundays)
Balázs Sebestyén 50,000,000 Ft (super final)
Flag of Mexico Mexico Doble Cara Rodrigo Murray Azteca Trece $100,000 don't have
Flag of Norway Norway PokerFjes Cathrine Riis Lilleaas TV2 KR100,000 KR1,000,000
Øyvind Fjeldheim
Flag of Poland Poland Wielki Poker Cezary Kosiński TVP2 50,000 złoty 250,000 złoty
Paweł Burczyk
Flag of Sweden Sweden PokerFejs Gry Forssell TV4 KR200,000 KR1,000,000
Adam Alsing
Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom PokerFace Ant & Dec ITV £50,000 £1,000,000
Flag of Vietnam Vietnam Đấu Trí MC Tùng Chi VTV3 60,000,000₫ don't have
Lại Văn Sâm
  • The UK original's hosts Ant and Dec attempted to sell the show in the United States to ABC without success, according to an online article on A2 News Central's website that instead referenced the US launch of Wetten, dass..?/You Bet! for the same network (a programme they will host).
  • As you can see in the list, only Mexico's version does not have a co-host.

[edit] References


[edit] External links