Bill Perkins Wants Live Twitter Feed on PAD, He Won't Play Otherwise

Poker loving billionaire Bill Perkins recently tweeted that he’s refusing to reappear on Poker After Dark unless they install a screen where Twitter is displayed, allowing the players to interact with the viewers live.

The new and revived version of Poker After Dark debuted on August 14th on the online poker streaming service PokerGO. The popular show which features high stakes cash game action originally ran on the American TV network NBC between 2007 and 2011, and returned after a 6-year hiatus online with great anticipation from the online poker community. 

After a few months into its making, the producers of the show admittedly ran into a problem  - even Daniel Negreanu talked about it briefly in his most recent podcast - that is they have trouble finding recreational players who are willing to play stakes that high which in turn makes the appearance on the show less lucrative for the big name professionals. 

Bill Perkins certainly has been one of the amateurs who don’t shy away from playing cards for big money - he played $50/$100 on the new PAD on the January 17th episode; before that he also appeared on  PokerStars’ show The Shark Cage and The Big Game and even live streamed high stakes online cash games on America’s Card Room until he got banned for sharing his account with Dan Bilzerian.

Recently, however, he tweeted that he will not play on Poker After Dark until they implement some changes that - quoting the hashtag he used - will “make poker fun again”.

Perkins is proposing a screen displaying Twitter in the background, visible to the players at the table so they can interact with the audience. 

The post was retweeted 18 times, received 306 likes and 33 comments, all higher than usual for Perkin’s Twitter feed. The majority of commenters seem to support the idea, although some point out issues with the innovation as well. These issues include the 30-minute delay the PokerGO stream is on, or the fact that it can make players vulnerable to vitriolic comments from the audience. Amateurs are especially likely to be a target for harsh criticism, as we saw with Lauren Roberts, so the live Twitter feedback may be just another deterrent for them. 

The next Poker After Dark game will be streamed live on February 15th - the line-up has not been revealed yet, but based on his stance, it’s unlikely Perkins will be there. Disappointing, since the eccentric billionaire has given us some special moments at the poker table, most famously the time he sparred with Phil Hellmuth, even claiming that he doesn’t have respect for him during their argument.