Only Friends Returns Nov. 9 With Four-Show Weekly Schedule
Matt Berkey says a settled company legal dispute restored his full ownership before the poker podcast’s comeback.
- Only Friends returns Monday, Nov. 9, at 11 a.m. PT after more than 18 months off air.
- Matt Berkey plans four shows each week, from Monday through Thursday.
- The podcast ended on April 25, 2025 with episode 719 and a four-hour farewell stream.
- Berkey said a company legal dispute settled over the summer, leaving him with full ownership again.
- The returning production is expected to feature a simplified set, AI and expanded graphics.
Matt Berkey’s Only Friends poker podcast is set to return Monday, Nov. 9, at 11 a.m. PT, ending an absence of more than 18 months. The show will run Monday through Thursday, giving it four weekly broadcasts rather than its previous five-day weekday schedule.
The return follows the podcast’s April 25, 2025 finale, its 719th episode. Apple Podcasts lists that installment as the final episode, while the farewell broadcast ran for four hours and included Nikki Limo, Jesse Sylvia, Jason Somerville, Ryan Depaulo and Mike Holtz.
Only Friends launched in March 2022 as a Solve For Why production founded by Berkey and streamed daily for three years. It developed from conversations about the hosts’ lives in poker into a regular discussion of poker-community news, high-stakes games, cheating allegations, cryptocurrency and industry controversies. The show won Best Podcast at the 2023 Global Poker Awards.
The original run ended partly after the crew lost its Las Vegas studio space. Berkey later said YouTube’s crackdown on certain gambling-related content also made the timing of the shutdown feel appropriate.
A separate issue has now been resolved. Berkey said a legal battle involving his company was among the reasons the show disappeared, but that it settled over the summer, restoring his full ownership and allowing him to bring the program back on his own terms.
Berkey said he did not believe another show had filled the gap left by Only Friends. He pointed to a superuser scandal, a bot farm on overseas poker sites and other poker developments as material for the returning program.
The expected on-air group includes Berkey, Landon Tice and Melissa Schubert. Conrad Simpson and Jesse are expected to contribute more through call-ins because they no longer live in Las Vegas.
The production will use a different, simplified set and is expected to make greater use of AI, graphics and other production packages. Berkey said the format will otherwise remain similar to the earlier version, with the reduced weekly schedule reflecting his playing commitments.
