World Poker Tour on Travel Channel

[VOLTITAN]

Just finished watching a good hold'em tourney from the Reno Hilton for a seat at the WPT finals at the Bellagio in Vegas. There was this one player who was denist who the commentators were joking "had one move" and it was the "all in." He ended up losing to another player in the head up match at the end but I think he only showed his hand once and that was when he lost on the final flop. I don't know much about poker but it was interesting to watch and a good way to learn.

[theswami]

i watched it as well. that was unheard of, a guy making it to heads up in a decent tourney without showing one hand at the final table. the interesting part about the whole episode is that he started out at near the bottom in chips and at various times he went all-in against the large stacks with less than 10-20% of their chips and they still didn't call him. the first couple of times i'm sure they said, "he's playing tight, he has a hand." after the 4th time i cannot believe that not one of them thought, "eff it, ive got j6 suited there's no way this guy is pushing me around with his all-in bets." even X22's maniac a$$ with his "quack..quack" didn't call him.

with that said, we the viewers should keep in mind that they condense HOURS of play at that final table into 1.5 hours of content for a 2 hour show and we probably saw the only hands the dentist played over the course of the final table.

good fun. unfortunately watching those shows does little for my game since 1) i play low/mid limit hold-em versus the no-limit they play and 2) the players at my level are not good enough to recognize more advanced plays. they don't even get that a check raise generally means they should fold their middle pair.

[Matt24]

no kiddin, i love check raising in early position on the turn after i flopped a big hand. the original bettor will never lay his hand down and others won't either until the river, but the original bettor is always in with me at the end. I have had one person lay a hand down on a check raise, and it was a guy who was down there every time I was and knew I was a winning player. btw, I play 5/10 at Caesars in Indiana

[Matt24]

anyone know what kind of ratings this show is getting. All my friends watch it, my parents watch it, and numerous other people I've talked to watch. I think it would have outdrew the NBA finals if they had it on network http://therx.infopop.cc/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[theswami]

matt-

don't know the ratings first hand but i read on a poker forum that the ratings have been HUGE. apparently, the travel channel is renewing for another season and is pleased with the outcome for this year.

judging by the traffic increase on party poker i would think the show is doing pretty well. that site has been rocking since they started advertising during the world poker tour. they were number 2 in terms of traffic but since the ads, they've moved to number 1 by a mile over paradise poker.

the funny thing is i went on a nasty losing streak since the games changed a bit with all the new players. i had to get used to playing at some of the tables which were looser. instead of seeing 3-5 guys calling the flop now you frequently have 4-6 calling. don't try chasing people away with your AA. if you are in late position and there are already 4-5 callers and you raise, they will all call and AT LEAST 2 people are going to the river with you. expect to have them cracked. last week i played at the loosest table ive ever played at. normally at least 6-7 callers pre flop if no raise, with a raise 5-6. at least 4-5 saw the turn and river and you were always called down or bluffed at once the river fell by a minimum of 3 people. it was wild by my standards. the variance was quite large where our pot average was something like 85 bucks and the waitlist had 50+ people on it. i didnt leave the game until the 2 worst players busted out. the flip side is that ive taken more bad beats in the last 3 weeks than i had taken in the previous 2 months combined. anyway..you should check it out.

[KMAN]

Me and my friends have been watching it to. I will definitely be watching the championship tonight.

Anyone know a website that I can go to to find out more about Hold Em? How to play? Terminology?

Thanks,
KMAN

[Matt24]

twoplustwo.com is a good forum

order Winning Low Limit Hold Em by Lee Jones

And Hold Em poker by David Sklansky

[KMAN]

Matt24 - Thanks for the info.

I missed the championship last night but I'm sure it will be on again later this week. I'll have to catch it then.

KMAN

[qs185]

Schedule from the travel channel website

http://travel.discovery.com/schedule/series.jsp?series=104312&gid=11212&channel=TRV


Championship has already been shown twice (at least) and is on again

TRV Jun 28 2003 09:00 PM World Poker Tour Championship

TRV Jun 29 2003 01:00 AM World Poker Tour Championship


Then they start all over again, re-airing all the shows.

From the World Poker Tour website

http://www.worldpokertour.com/tv_show/schedule.phtml


Good Luck,
Bart

[SSI]

the russian guy looked a little like Matt Damon from Rounders... he went all in, 1 too many times,,

The People's Champ

[Sodium Pentethol V]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I don't know much about poker but it was interesting to watch and a good way to learn<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You have to be careful in that regard, alot of the play on the broadcasts goes with shorthanded NL tourney play, and that does not usually mix well with your typical regular limit money games.