Victoria Coren and Maria Ho in the Shark Cage

At EPT Grand Final in Monaco and with all the poker celebrities in one place PokerStars saw their chance to shoot another episode of the televised poker show The Shark Cage.

The Shark Cage consists of eight heats and a final where the winner – and the winner only – will take home $1 million. Each heat is made up of one qualifier and five poker pros. The show emphasizes entertainment, vivid table chat and some funky new rules. A 30-second “shot clock” operates and there is rewards and penalties for successful and unsuccessful river bluffs.

The first two episodes were filmed at the PCA in January with Phil Laak, Jennifer Harman, Tony Dunst and Jennifer Tilly among others.  You can get an impression of what to expect in this trailer:

The contestants in the third heat in Monte Carlo today were poker pros Vicky Coren, Maria Ho, Gus Hansen, Patrik Antonius, David Williams and one online qualifier.

Two-time EPT Winner Vicky Coren was delighted to play the “soft field”:

I can't tweet any results cos it won't be broadcast for a while but, I mean, LOOK at that line-up. They don't stand a chance.

— Victoria Coren M. April 27, 2014

While Maria Ho, who recently won the Sunday 500, uploaded a picture from the six-handed tournament without revealing the result:

Excited to play for $1,000,000 in Shark Cage with & . pic.twitter.com/UgQ8sdC7S2

— Maria Ho April 27, 2014

The remaining four heats will be recorded at the start of season 11 at EPT Barcelona. The big money final will take place in London towards the end of the year, where the winners of each heat will meet and play down to a single winner.

Photo: PokerStars The Shark Cage