Last month Nolan Dalla, creative director of “Poker Night in America”, traveled to Pittsburgh in search of local players participating in a high-stakes cash games against notable professional players. Games worthy of headlining Vegas and Atlantic City are beginning to pop up throughout the city as it makes a name for itself as an amateur and professional poker hub.

Dalla believes Pittsburg to be an easy choice for the filming of the series, being under the radar and already having an active community known to few outside of the scene. He went on to state, “We find that players are much more excited and open to what we are trying to do in poker locations that are relatively new and fresh.”

Jack Schanbacher, a local Pittsburg player, of Reserve went face to face with 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer, 2009 Main Event champion Joe Cada and several other pro players during the filming of “Poker Night” at Rivers Casino in Pittsburg. Jack cited his experience in cash games as a distinct advantage against his competition, who made their millions playing in big poker tournaments.

Schanbacher attests that No-Limit Hold’Em games with blinds of $10/$25 or $25/ $50 are not unheard-of in Pittsburgh. Dalla’s “Poker Night” game featured $25/$50 blinds with a buy-in of $5,000. Schanbacher came out ahead in the event, making a few thousand in the process, but he’ll leave fans in suspense as to how he did it until the series airs.