Poker Stories: Mori Eskandani

Mori Eskandani spent the better part of three decades grinding out a living on the poker felt, even notching a handful of tournament wins along the way, but it's his contributions as the President of Poker PROductions that has earned him deserved praise as one of the more influential people in the game today.

A natural story teller with a knack for spotting big poker personalities, Eskandani and his crew are responsible for thousands of hours of original poker programming, including shows such as High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark, Face The Ace, the Poker SuperStars Invitational Tournament, the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, and coverage from events such as the World Series of Poker, WSOP Europe, and the Super High Roller Bowl.

Highlights from this interview include working for free, grinding in the 80's, the power of pomegranate, an 80-hour week at the Stardust, naming the game of H.O.R.S.E., showing Henry Orenstein his hole cards, bad TV show ideas, being wrong about mixed games, watching Jamie Gold lose on High Stakes Poker, getting out the pickle business, a $600,000 poker table, the Wild, Wild West, and the importance of a Johnny Chan bad beat story.