Poker gets the full BBC documentary treatment in the new series The Four Rules of the Poker Kings. The series focuses on Scottish poker pro Niall Farrell as he hits the poker circuit for tournaments around the world.
With $6.9 million in live tournament winnings, Farrell sits atop his country’s all-time money leaderboard with wins at the World Series of Poker Europe, World Poker Tour, and numerous other series.
Life on the Poker Road
The BBC program tracks his poker life – the highs and the lows of the tournament trail after taking some time off to start a family with his partner.
“Back on the road and on the tables, Niall is allowing the cameras to follow him for a year as he travels the globe to play in tournaments – but does he still have what it takes to win?” the network notes of the series. “Can he earn enough for both himself and his family? Can he once again be crowned a poker king or will he become just another poker loser?”
While Farrell was a bit worried about how he’d perform returning from a layoff and as the focus of a documentary, he seemed to continue finding some winnings along the way.
“It’s quite interesting to see me getting back into the swing of things as well,” he recently told WPT.com. “Another reason why it was kind of really fortunate that we got the poker footage that we did, because I think coming back after a fairly lengthy layoff, it’s quite likely you would just bust a bunch of tournaments in your return, normally.
“I was fairly comfortable and seemed to be doing quite good getting back in the swing of things. Some bad habits still remained, like being in sulk for 30 minutes after busting a tournament in my incredibly fortunate and privileged life.”
The program is now available on BBC Scotland and on the BBC iPlayer streaming service.
