Friday Night is 'CASINO NIGHT' Starting January 21 on GSN

Special Night Will Feature Original Casino Themed Programming Including the Premieres of 'POKER ROYALE: BATTLE OF THE SEXES' and 'WORLD SERIES OF BLACKJACK,' as Well as Network Favorite 'CELEBRITY BLACKJACK'

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Jan. 14 -- Friday night is not just date night anymore, it's CASINO NIGHT! On Friday, January 21, GSN will unveil CASINO NIGHT, a brand new programming block that will feature original casino themed programming including the premiere of POKER ROYALE: BATTLE OF THE SEXES at 9 pm ET/PT and the second season of WORLD SERIES OF BLACKJACK at 10 pm ET/PT followed by network favorite CELEBRITY BLACKJACK at 11 pm ET/PT. The announcement was made today at the network's Television Critics Association presentation by Ian Valentine, Senior Vice President of Programming, GSN.

The new programming night will kick off with six weekly sweepstakes from January 21 thru February 25 with a $1000 prize each week for CASINO NIGHT interactive players at http://www.GSN.com.

Additionally, a new on-air campaign will be unveiled on January 21, which features "Ms. Casino Night," who is the ultimate Las Vegas showgirl and embodies everything great about Vegas.

POKER ROYALE: BATTLE OF THE SEXES features twelve of the world's top players, six men and six women, participating in a series of six matches, with matches including three members of each team. Based on their performances over the six matches, three members of each team will earn a seat at the final table for a shot at a total prize of $520,000. The first episode on January 21 at 9 pm ET/PT will include Chris Moneymaker (2003 World Series of Poker 1st place), Paul Wolfe (2003 World Championship Online Poker final runner up), Amir Vahedi (2001 No Limit Texas Hold'em Player of the Year), Kathy Liebert (2002 Party Poker Million champion), Karina Jett (2001 World Series of Poker Shoe 5th place) and Clonie Gowen (World Poker Tour Ladies Night champion).

WORLD SERIES OF BLACKJACK features 40 of the world's top blackjack players and expert tournament competitors vying for over $500,000 in total prizes and the title of world's best blackjack player. The players appearing in the first episode on January 21 at 10 pm ET/PT are Katya Underhill, Joe Pane, CELEBRITY BLACKJACK dealer "Hollywood" Dave Stann, Kevin Blackwood and Rene Angelil (husband of Celine Dion).

CELEBRITY BLACKJACK features 40 stars playing against a dealer and each other in tournament-style blackjack for a total pool of one million dollars for charity. Jason Alexander, Jamie-Lynn DiScala, Lance Bass, Giuliana DePandi and Coolio will appear on the January 21, 11 pm ET/PT episode.

GSN, the Network for Games, is the only U.S. television network dedicated to game-related programming and interactive game playing. The network features game shows, reality series, documentaries, video game programs and casino games. As the industry leader in interactivity, GSN features 84 hours per week of interactive programming, which allows viewers a chance to win prizes by playing along with GSN's televised games via gsn.com. Reaching 56 million Nielsen homes, GSN is distributed in the U.S. through all major cable systems and satellite providers. The network is jointly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation. For further media information, visit GSN's press website at http://corp.gsn.com.

SOURCE GSN
Web Site: http://www.gsn.com