Some poker TV shows are enjoyable because they bring the game to life. Others feature poker as an aside, a cameo part in a Hollywood movie that works to develop the characters in question or sometimes fails miserably.

The TV show we’re featuring in this week’s Poker on Screen article is a show dedicated to the game, the UK & Ireland Poker Tour, or UKIPT for short. The UKIPT was a little brother or sister show to the slick, polished, glossy neon lit world of the European Poker Tour. But was it even better? Let’s dig behind the scenes and find out.

On screen between the years 2009 and 2016, the UKIPT gained what you could say was a cult following, and this reporter was among the many devotees turning up to watch. The poker action was a degree lower in terms of quality than the European Poker Tour due to the buy-in, the set might have creaked a little more than its European counterpart, but the show itself was every bit as watchable, and there’s one major reason for that.

Nick Wealthall.