World Series....of Poker
 

Am I insane?

If I'm flipping through channels and I see this on ESPN, I immediately stop and I'm transfixed until the show ends.

Am I insane?

Phil Helmuth facing off with Johnny Chan--brilliant.

So...Am I insane or have you been sucked into this too??

I used to watch it myself
It's not interesting after the first few times though. Same thing. Unshowered, unshaved men with mullets and sunglasses indoors, sitting at a table, wagering more on one hand than I make in a year.

It's amazing to watch

And I always have the desire to play Texas Hold'em whenever I see these guys play it on TV

It's also on the Travel Channel on Wednesday nights (11pm?)

Yeah, I was watching it and trick-shot pool...gotta love summer sports.

I have watched that too. Those guys don't look very smooth for such hustlers. I like the strong man competiton also. Those guys look like they are gonna rip off a limb sometimes.

The game itself isn't all that interesting. It is the psychology of the guys trying to make the reads that is fun to watch. I saw a few weeks ago this one guy just stare at this other guy. The other guy couldn't taken and hid inside his sweatshirt.

With apologies to all the billiards and poker fans out there, but they really need to start football a month earlier. Barring that, a little more exposure to the CFL, who just finished Week 7 of their regular season, would be nice for us gridiron addicts.

But then they show golf on TV and even give it its own channel, so why not billiards and poker.

You're not alone.

Between this and the Great Outdoor Games, I didn't stop watching ESPN for like a week while I was on vacation.

Man I watched like for 4 hours once and I kept thinking of Rounders. Kind of goofy looking dudes sitting around a table getting eliminated one by one. Trust me there was nothing else on TV.

Have a game every 3rd Friday at my place.....just can't get ESPN to come and film it :D

Love it. Besides, it's a fun game to learn and then to get some friends together and play a couple times a month.

I am addicted to the World Series of Poker on ESPN, and that World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel. I have no idea why. I do play poker often with friends, but man the pros are just transfixing to me.

The key to success, I think, is 1) letting us all in on the cards in each hand and 2) having the commentator there to discuss the odds/bluffs/strategies as the players are thinking about it.

How do they determine whats in each hand? Are the players showing the camera each time? I've seen that at times.

Anyway, its surprisingly cool.

Thanks for listening.

There are tiny camera mounted on the side of the table. When the players take a glimpse at their cards, the cameras can see as well.

That's the brilliant part. When you know a player has a pair of dueces, yet he's going "all in".

Brilliant.

Not insane at all. It's addictive. The insane part is thinking, well, you know I COULD come up with $10,000 to enter. You never know I might win some back. What a false sense of skill you get when you know everyone's cards!

You dont need 10k if you get into satellite games. This one guy paid 40 dollars to some online casino and won that and so he got a spot in it.

It is better reality TV than The Last Comic Standing and The Restaurant or another 20 different reality shows.


Art

ps I agree get more CFL on ESPN.

in britain when channel 4 show poker they glass tables with cameras mounted under the spot the players keep there cards. Sheer genius. Although the pros always look like a sack of shit, maybe that's tactical.

It just bearly beats The Last Comic Standing, and that's because Ralphy is only on for like 5 minutes each show. Poker absolutely kills the other 55 minutes of that NBC crap.

Now that they know they have a hit on their hands, I was just thinking of possible future variations on the theme. Instead of playing for money, why not clothes?

I'd watch.

Thanks for listening.

Yeah I know about the satellites, but I was just trying to show how easy it is to get sucked into the aura of it. :crazy:

I hate this show for one reason, it's causing me to play with my friends on Saturday night. :) I'm getting pretty damn good too.

Texas Dolly, Amarillo Slim, and Phil Helmuth Jr. all with only their boxers left going into the river?

No thanks. I'll pass.

LOL, yeah I think I'd pass too. But if they took some of the girls from Big Brother 4, a few from Survivor, and maybe a couple of celebrities, I'd go all in.

That just sounds like the plot of some bad porno.

Lol at the bad porno... Freaking mullets and discusting old fools smoking and ruining their families with their compulsive gambling habits, and yet i'm drawn to watching.
I need counseling.
Cheese

WPT Is the greatest thing ever. I try to watch it every time it's on. I can't get enough of it.

I like The WSP better than WPT. The guys on WPT talk too much, the environments are cheesy, and too much information is changing constantly which makes it harder to follow compared to WSP's nice, simple, set-up.

But then again, the WSP is only once a year, so maybe it's like the special treat.

Yea.

I think with the strip poker idea you have to bring in regular folks. The tour players would be too scary.

Thanks for listening.

Here's a question for everyone that's started playing. Anyone know a good place online to find casino quality chips? I hate using the plastic ones and I'd like to get some that look nice and have some weight to them.

Ask and you shall sometimes receive:

http://www.pokerchipsusa.com/pokerchips.html

--Paul