Bodog Beat

Poker pro Phil Hellmuth will be heads-up on Poker After Dark on NBC this week. (Bodog Beat Image)

Another week of NBC's popular poker TV show Poker After Dark means another theme for the producers to come up with. This week it will require a little bit of a change of format as the participants will be playing a mini heads-up poker tournament.

The four poker players tapped to take part are known as some of the best heads-up players in the world and they are also the last four winners of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Poker legend Phil Hellmuth won the first incarnation of the championship in 2005, Ted Forrest won the next year in 2006, Paul Wasicka took down the 2007 event and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson won this year's National Heads-Up Poker title.

Each player will be putting $50,000 on the line, and the winner will take home the entire $200,000 prize pool. The show will have a double-elimination format with the initial pairings set to be Forrest against Hellmuth and Wasicka against Ferguson.

The match began airing on NBC late night Monday at 2:05 a.m., July 28, and still has two more episodes to go in that same time slot. A special program called the “Director’s Cut” will air late night Saturday, August 2, at 1:00 a.m., right after Saturday Night Live. This show will feature a behind-the-scenes look at the week with highlights and player interviews. The episodes can also be seen at the newly-overhauled NBC Poker site.