Posts Tagged ‘poker tv’
WPT: 15 Remain As Legends of Poker Starts Day 4
August 24th, 2010
Jonathan Little is looking to repeat his considerable past WPT success at the Bike.
Three days of poker have reduced the 2010 Legends of Poker main event from 462 players to just 15, and today will see that field whittle down to just six for the televised final table. Holding the biggest stack when play resumes this afternoon will be Andrew Frankenberger, who holds 1,958,00 in chips. That’s more than two and a half times the average stack, so Frankenberger’s fate in this tournament is really in his own hands. The New York poker pro has five cashes this year, the last being a win in a $2,000 event at the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza this summer.
Meanwhile, Season VI World Poker Tour Player of the Year Jonathan Little lurks in second place with 1,314,000 in chips. He’ll be looking to make his fifth WPT final table today, which would give him a chance to tie the all-time record of three WPT wins currently held by Gus Hansen and Carlos Mortensen. Part of Little’s ascent to the front of the pack involved picking off a big river bluff with second pair against former chip leader Phil Collins to send the online star home in 29th place. If he makes the final table, Little will make his first appearance in front of the WPT cameras since winning the Foxwoods World Poker Finals in November 2008.
Play resumes at the Bicycle Casino at 1 p.m. PT today and will go on until the Legends of Poker TV table lineup is set; the WPT will provide live updates all day on its website.
Patrik Antonius on Isildur1 and the Durrrr Challenge
April 27th, 2010
Patrik Antonius dishes on Isildur1, durrrr and Ziigmund.
Poker pro Patrik Antonius might not be the most talkative guy at the tables, but when he does open his mouth, he tends to say some interesting stuff. This, despite the fact that he used to be a male model. He recently sat down for an interview (which you can watch here) where he talks about, among other things, battling it out with Isildur1 and Tom “durrrr” Dwan.
It’s been a crazy year for the Finnish star. While most pros make headlines with big tournament wins, or on the poker TV show circuit, Antonius has been getting lots of attention for a variety of epic head-to-head tilts.
The biggest and most talked-about was his super high-stakes battle with the online legend Isildur1. Patrik took on the mysterious Swedish phenom over the course of a couple weeks, and they ended up playing the biggest pot in online poker history.
Antonius has also been tangling with the young American online star Tom Dwan, in the durrrr Challenge. This 50,000 hand battle has tilted badly in favor of Dwan in the last couple months, but it’s not over yet. In fact, at the rate they’re going it may never actually end.
Patrik talks about the challenge of taking on both those players in the video, starting at about the 9:30 mark. Fans of multi-tabling should be amused at Antonius’ admission that his brain just can’t handle anything more than three or four tables at once.
The video is pretty long, at about 50 minutes or so, but there’s lots of good stuff in there. One other highlight is hearing Antonius dish about the questionable poker etiquette of his Finnish rival Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies. Apparently Patrik isn’t a big fan of players who hit a big online pot then run for the hills, a practice that Ziigmund is somewhat known for.
NBC National Heads-Up Championship Returns to Las Vegas
February 18th, 2010
Huck Seed finally won last year after two previous semifinal appearances.
One of the most popular poker TV shows in America is returning to Las Vegas early next month.
The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship will once again be held at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip, marking the sixth year that the made-for-television tournament has played out there. Running from March 5th to 7th, the 64-player field will be highlighted by defending champion Huck Seed. The former WSOP Main Event winner is the only player in the tournament’s history to cash every year and is widely considered one of the best heads-up no-limit hold’em players in the world. Last year he defeated Vanessa Rousso in the final.
The rest of the field will be filled out by invitations. The previous five winners of the tournament get automatic bids, including recent WSOP Circuit Tunica winner Paul Wasicka. Some players receive invites for winning some of last year’s biggest poker tournaments, like 2009 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada and 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event champ Barry Shulman. And another four players - Phil Ivey, Jeffrey Lisandro, Greg Mueller and Brock Parker - earned their invitations by winning mutliple bracelets at the 2009 WSOP.
The brackets for this year’s tournament will be drawn the night before play begins in an exclusive party at PURE Nightclub at Caesars Palace. Hopefully this year everyone will make it back for the tournament instead of missing out.
Leeann Tweeden on Hannity Tonight
January 20th, 2010
Poker After Dark Host and More (photo courtesy of ModelVolume.com)
Everybody’s favorite poker TV personality Leeann Tweeden is appearing on Hannity, on Fox News tonight. It airs at 6:30 PM and then again at 9:30 PM tonight, Jan. 20th. And this is actually Tweeden’s second appearance on his Great American Panel segment.
The good part of all this is that you’ll get to see and hear that she’s more than just a pretty face. The bad news is you’ll also have to listen to a bunch of guys, including Sean Hannity himself, arguing with her.
Tweeden is busy right now. Besides the guest appearance on Hannity, she has, as you probably know by now, returned as host to add her considerable charms to season 6 of Poker After Dark. And we can hope that having to share a stage, and a microphone, with guys like Phil Helmuth and Antonio Esfandiari will more than have prepared her to put up with Hannity on tonight’s show.
Cop Beats Negreanu, Wins $1 Million
December 22nd, 2009
Mike Kosowski and his daughter celebrate his million dollar prize (photo courtesy of Ray Mickshaw)
For those of you following FOX’s poker TV show Million Dollar Challenge, you’ll already know that the format of the show doesn’t make it easy to actually win the grand prize. But in a heads-up match for all the cake, 9/11 first responder and former NY detective Mike Kosowski beat Daniel Negreanu to win $1 million dollars.
But though he’s rolling in dough now, it’s not exactly an easy path to the promised land. First he had to win a 16,000 person online poker tournament, then impress show judges with a bio video. Once accepted, he had to win a whole series of head-to-head and multiplayer games before finally earning the spot going up against Negreanu for the big prize.
Interestingly, he actually lost against one of the celebrity challengers on the show. Supermodel Joanna Krup beat him in an earlier head-to-head match. Luckily for Kosowki, Krup also beat all the other players that week, giving him a chance to continue on in the game by beating all the other contestants on that week’s show.
When it finally got down to it, Negreanu was no match for the skill and luck of the former cop, and Kosowki walked away with the million bucks.
New Episode of the Million Dollar Challenge
November 21st, 2009
Playmate and potential play mate, Jayde Nicole (photo courtesty of Pokulator)
If you haven’t already tuned in to check out the action on “Million Dollar Challenge”, you’ll get another chance tomorrow night on FOX as the first season continues. Two new challengers will take on a celebrity, like Playboy Playmate Jayde Nicole or former UFC champ Tito Ortiz, on their way to hopefully winning a million bucks.
The premier episode of “Million Dollar Challenge” was the most watched poker TV show in U.S. history, with just over 4 million viewers tuning in. By comparison, the recent final table of the WSOP main event peaked at 2.1 million viewers. On that first show, a poker-playing priest named Father Andrew Trapp won $100,000, while another contestant took home $25,000. But both fell short of the grand prize.
Tomorrow’s episode features two new challengers. One is a former football player named Oluwasegan Odumuyiwa, who was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys but never played an NFL game. The other is a wine and liquor salesman named Brian Barboza.
The challengers each face a number of head-to-head matches as they strive for the million bucks. First, they have to play a celebrity. If they win that, they go up against a pro for a $25,000 pot. If they win again, they get a match against one of the top pros in the game, Daniel Negreanu for $100,000. If they beat Negreanu, they pocket the hundred grand, plus win a seat at one final multi-player match against all the other $100,000 winners on the show, plus Negreanu. The winner of that final table will take home the $1,000,000 prize.
You can check out all the action tomorrow night on FOX, right after their final NFL game of the day.
Poll Picks Phil Ivey as Huge Favorite to Win WSOP
November 2nd, 2009
Despite being shortstacked, Phil Ivey is a massive favorite to win in the eyes of the average poker TV viewer.
The WSOP recently ran a poll asking who would win the 2009 WSOP Main Event. While it’s not too surprising that Phil Ivey topped the chart, what was somewhat shocking was that a whopping 78.05% of those polled picked him.
While Ivey is definitely a contender despite his short stack, it seems safe to say that this poll reflects an exaggerated expectation from the average person who watches poker on TV.
Here are a few other predictions from a significantly more experienced group of poker fans.
TJ Cloutier: “I find it hard to pick against the chip leader Darvin Moon. Although very inexperienced, in a relatively short amount of playing time I think the big money will win. Plus, he’s a really nice guy.”
Bryan Micon: “I hereby predict that Jeff Shulman will win the 2009 Main Event. I feel that he is the only player that has two ways to win this thing: Either outplay his opponents or lucksack his way to victory. Godspeed.”
Barry Greenstein: “I think Phil Ivey will win. The other players will stay out of confrontations until Phil has enough chips to push them around.”
Daniel Negreanu: “I think Phil Ivey is the favorite to win at 3.8 to 1, but not the favorite to last longer than anyone. In fact, I’ve already bet a substantial amount on Ivey in a must win bet against chip leader Darvin Moon.”
Phil Hellmuth: “I am coaching Jeff Shulman, and the way Jeff plays may well shock the world!! So I am predicting that Jeff Shulman will win it all! If Ivey gets to 25 million in chips he will be tough!”
Jake St. Pierre: “Schulman, Ivey and Moon in the final three. Ivey gets it in good and loses to Moon. Heads-up action between Schulman and Moon. Moon’s luck finally runs out and Schulman wins, gets the bracelet and sells it to one of those ‘trade your gold for cash’ places.”
Face the Ace Sued for $85 Million
September 14th, 2009
Face the Ace is being sued for $85 million. Hopefully that’ll put an end to its miserable existance. (Image Courtesy NBC)
I’m not even going to feign impartiality here. The poker TV show, Face the Ace, is being sued for $85 million by one Brandon McSmith and frankly, this couldn’t happen to a crappier program.
But the irony is thick with this story my friends, because how the hell does McSmith claim to be the mastermind behind an atrocity like Face the Ace and expect to get $85 million for it? I think 85 million lashes might be more appropriate.
In his defense however, the idea behind Face the Ace isn’t that awful. According to TMZ, MsSmith’s description of his program idea was, “wannabe poker players compete against pros (who were hidden behind doors) for a chance to win a seat at the World Series of Poker.”
Not mind blowing but not awful either. I seriously doubt he included anything like:
“We need a very awkward host who doesn’t know anything about poker, lacks charisma and makes every scene with him involved a new lesson in agony.”
McSmith’s claim is that he pitched the concept of the show to the production company Poker Productions two years ago. He alleges that they rejected it then but have obviously now gone on to make it without him.
NOTE: On my last post on Face the Ace, we got a comment form Adam Ehrlich, the most recent contestant on the show. Adam asked I give the show another chance with the revamped format. The episode aired last weekend and I gave it a shot. I’ve posted it below so readers can make up their own minds but sadly Adam, I have to say this was as awful as all the other episodes. Congratulations on being on the show and I’m sorry you didn’t take it down, but to me, it felt lamely rehearsed and as awkward as ever.
Poker TV Reminder: Ferguson, Raymer and Costanza on WSOP Tonight
September 1st, 2009
The man known as Costanza takes on the Fossilman on ESPN’s WSOP coverage tonight.
WSOP Main Event coverage continues tonight at 8pm ET with back to back episodes.
Feature table action will include Jason Alexander (George Costanza to most of the civilized world) taking on the 2004 WSOP Main Event Champion, Greg Raymer.
We also expect to see plenty of Chris Ferguson, the always entertaining Phil Laak, the always well-endowed Jennifer Tilly, the always vocal Mike Matusow and the man who consistenly dances on the line between hilarious and obnoxious, Brad Garret.
And if you missed it, we’ve got all of last week’s WSOP TV coverage to get you back up to speed.
Online Poker Featured in 2 Months. 2 Million
August 17th, 2009
Online poker hits the airwaves in the G4 network’s latest poker TV show, 2 Months. 2 Million.
With all the poker shows popping up on the air waves lately, it’s nice to see online poker get some love in the new show 2 Months. 2 Million.
The G4 network just debuted the first of the 10-episode series last night and we were pleasantly surprised to see a pretty decent show. Admittedly, our expectations in poker TV has been dulled a bit by the recent Face the Ace debacle, but 2 Months. 2 Million made for a good half hour of poker TV.
The show follows four young online poker pros [Dani Stern (Ansky), Jay Rosenkrantz (Krantz), Brian Roberts (Flawless Victory) and Emil Patel (Whitelime)] as they try and earn a combined total of $2 million in two months. While the show doesn’t get too caught up in the actual poker playing, it’s cool to witness a long-term online poker grind happening while being cut up with prop bets and Vegas lifestyle stuff.
You can catch 2 Months. 2 Million on Sunday nights at 9:00pm ET on the G4 network.
