blonde poker forum

I watched this two nights ago and it is absolutely fascinating

It is, as the name suggests a high stakes cash game shown as live from Vegas. Deep stacks and a mixture of rich amatuers and pros

In the edition I watched Doyle and to a lesser extent Johnny Chan and Freddy Deeb took the amateurs to the cleaners

One guy from Chicago passed AJ, correctly, to Doyle's all in on a A4x board when Doyle had A4

The next hand shown (I have no idea how it is edited and the time lapse between the two hands in reality) Chan raises UTG with AA and finds himself reraised by same player on the button with AJ, amatuers thinks he's been p[ushed around by Doyle and doesn't want to be seen to be an easy touch...so......all the money gets in pre flop...$320,000 and the Chicago guy is wiped out and gets up...

It is really instructive and eye opening to see craftsmen like Brunson, Chan, Deeb and Negraneau (though he was suffering bad outdraws) completely fillet these rich guys and the gap in class and ability is huge.

was that the one on Challenge. I saw Sammy Faha & Barry Greenstein get all their money in, with Barry holding pocket Aces & Sammy Kings. A King comes on the flop, & Sammy is nicely ahead for the night to the tune of $200,000 or so. I love the way Sammy plays, he's willing to gamble. What a character.

There playing for some serious dosh too... negranu sat down with a cool $1m, as you said tho, he suffewred some serious bb's. Great stuff 8)

Its a great series, season 2 has been produced and will be aired in the next few months.

The table banter was great as well.
There are a couple of 47os involved as well ;)

You have to feel bad for the truly bad beats that get put on Barry Greenstein and Antonio Esfandiari though.

Sammy Faha - what a cash game player he is!!

You gotta respect the way Barry took that beat against Sammy, the man is super cool.

Wait for the episodes when Helmuth comes in, that's when the true hilarity starts.

I think that might be the one on Challenge tonight at 10.30, i'll be watching, he's always good value.

Hah! He trashed his hotel room and got banned from that chain of hotels because of that bad beat :p

But yeah, super smooth when it happened.

I love this programme-its so amazin the way these guys play at such high limits-sam farha is the epitome of coolness!!!

Plus the bar maids are absolutely stunning  ;D

there were a few threads about this a couple of months ago, all the shows are avaliable online. Best poker on TV ever.

DN's Blog makes interesting reading when this was filmed.

They are playing props at the same time - at which Daniel remains way ahead of the game.

Crazy stuff - great viewing.

yeah you hear them talking about the props. Mad i think to expose the cards for $1250/hr

i wanna be like sammy when i grow up

sorry, I dont understand any of this - I am watching this at the moment - what do you mean by props , and $1250 per hour

prop bets.

They bet on what colour the flop will be, what the highest card will be etc, 300-600 NL is boring otherwise......


The 1250 is what they were all paid/hr

Hellmuth was hilariousa tonight

as DN says "he messes with his own head and he is a welcome addtion to the game"  :D

raises with 43

flop AK 10

Deeb with K10, check calls

turn K

Deeb bets, Hellmuth raises and passes to the allin


He was steaming!!

hellmuth had no class, he brought his cash in a carrier bag  rotflmfao the guy is crazy, but good value on TV

great show, it was funny to see Hellmuth calling an all in so fast his chips burnt the table only to find he was a mile behind and then dig out his green carrier bag for another 50k like a kid getting his school lunch out.

there is surely nothing sweeter in poker than seeing a trapper unwittingly trapping himself. Especially if you are the beneficiary.

I found it funny when Negranu was rubbing his hands together with glee when Helmuth walked in, this from the guy who was the biggest loser!!!
Not sure which episode you are up to so i'll stay off this thread i think!!

what about poor esfandiari getting his AA cracked by elezra's JJ

he was gutted

pot was over $200,000

he admitted to and i believe him that was the biggest pot he has lost

hellmuth was pure hilarity,
& does anyone know where i can get a green carrier bag - vintage!

Wait til the next episode for the real hellmuth meltdown :)

what epidode numbers arew these?
im going to try and find the torrents.

Thanks

Its compulsive TV.  Although Iw ish those two fecking annoying commentators would piss off the banter at the table is class and anyone who knows anything about poker understands whats going on without some numpty explaining it to us!

But great TV - I lurve it!

MAke sure you don't miss the next episode for The full Helmuth routine. The best TV ever helmuth tantrums. On a side note Farha was stuck over 3 million in the cash games the week when he finished 2nd in the wsop a couple of years ago.

I would love to see some high stakes PL Omaha on the tv!

One of the commentators says Sammy is considered the best PL omaha player in the world Ir eckon that could make for some good telly viewing.

I never seen fredy deeb either before

he and farha are my new heroes

and negraneu for keeping a level head despite being $750,000 down

that was a crazy amount to be down- I know these guys are multimillionairres but when u consider $750k thats 1st in a 10k buy in tourny ur just throwing away

ohhh to be able to throw away $750k  8)

Daniel N wins and loses a million dollars rehularly in one night at the Bellagio. Many of the players in that game have lost more than 2 million in one sitting (including the likes of Phil Ivey,Jennifer Harman etc). They live and play in a different world to us. In your local £100 sit down game do you not have any players who pull up a grand to be the table bigstack (we have Howard in Blackpool lol)? Its only the same for them here at their level. Now you can understand why they just dont seem to interested in many of the comps they play in- Ivey regularly busts out in the first level of 10k buyin comps and makes more in the cash games than the winner of the tourney does.

Well Negreanu clearly goes on tilt, i dont think the swings are quite as hi as Ariston says i remember just a few months ago reading about how Danny first got stuck for 1m in a game. He then made back most of it. Being 750k down for him is a big deal, especially when its on telly!

Mate of your's then is he, Danny ?

Where do you think he learnt?

In fairness to Negreanu he had some sick beats.

I can assure you Flushy the swings are that big in the bellagio big game. I  had a conversation with Kirk and daniel about how they can possibly justify loding a million dollars in a night- their attitude is basically that they also win a million dollars in a night as well. I was challenged to a game of basketball by kirk for stakes to be arranged when we are out at the wsop this year (I can promise you it will be very small stakes though) and I want DN to be in on the action as well (basketball was going to be my proffesion when I left school many years ago- ok I was maybe 8 stone lighter then but I am hoping I still got an edge lol).

I only know from reading his blog, but i remember him saying how it was such a big deal when he was first down $1m so to say it is regular is unlikely!

Watch phil explode

What episode number is that mate?   ty

Best poker show on TV

His A-4 had to be good, surely?  :D

Jennifer Harman's 82off play was the best, he doesn't bet til he's behind then confidently says "Queens!" before being forced to muck.

Yeah, that's something I might do. Get overtricky and slowplay the hell out of it until I've been outdrawn, and THEN bet.

What was surprising was that she flat-called, and then everyone else looked around as if to say "what just happened there?"

There were three diamonds on board I suppose.

I have to agree with others views this show is the best out there. Real poker with lots of money.

This last week has been great to watch, Deeb going mad at being accussed of going south with chips. That skeleton like man who only played one hand and it was AA. The brat getting schooled by the cash players (Barry hitting quad 8's was harsh though) and finally last night watching more AA's getting busted for big money.

Thats interesting mate.  Do you mind telling more? 

Not much to tell really. From the age of 11 to 16 I played basketball for a minimum of 5 hours a day and had trials for Manchester United (the name adopted by Manchester Giants in a spin off) and was choosing between a full time contract or a scholarship to America but it all went when I snapped my right foot at a right angle to my leg in the semi final of the British School Championships. I was 6ft 4 and around 10 1/2 stone then and I am now nearer to the 18 1/2stone mark so I will probably not be as fast as I used to be but I can still shoot. After that I did field hockey for 8 years and stock car racing for about 5 years. Poker is now the only sport I do.

lots of varied sports there. Stock car racing sounds good

Man I love this programme-

Helmuth is absolutely steaming and betting with absolute crap-so funny when Greenstein bet with his set to put phil all in and negraneu and Esfandiari cant stop laughin at him

Jerry Buss    " He sounds like a rapper "    lol    :D :D :D :D

That has to be the funniest comment I have heard


What was the episode number of tonights show?  I would like to torrent that one  ty

Esfandiari has gone up in my estimation, losing with class and dignity and made a terrific call with JJ for all his dough before the bad beat

Yea I agree.  Watching Hellmuth acting like abit of a baby, then Esfariandi getting unlucky and still acting like a gent is great to see.  I have lots of respect for his behaviour.

Agreed, Esfandiari was very impressive.

I remember reading about the JJ in DNs blog around the time it happened, was really interesting - his mistake was definately offering to show.

Cracking entertainment.  Love him or hate him Phil should have his own TV show.

I also agree with tighty about Anonio he has always been a player I have liked, and he made a crackingc all with the Janck horrendous for him that Daniel hit his King, but Daniel was also loosing out to some shockig beats earlier.

It was nice that Daniel even said to Antonio near the end something along the lines of "thats the difference you lost all your cash to a bad beat and laughed it off Phil makes a silly call and starts steaming"

Absolutely Bongo, DN overdid the speech play and AE picked up on it well

Interesting hand, AE would have mucked if DN had kept schtum


 

i think these shows prove that phil is way behind the big boys when it  comes to playing cash!

He plays them like he would play inexperienced amateurs, betting small on each pot and hoping to win there and then

Strangely they have picked up on this and raise him mercilessly...


Excellent television though

I thought a top player like Hellmuth would be able to self analyse while playing. I mean adapt his play to what is happening in the game at that time. If he saw that betting small didn't work, I wonder if he will be able to change this approach or ego will stand in his way

He has three key faults

a) Ego

b) He doesn't trust his instincts...so you hear him talking thorugh the hand perfectly, like Greenstein's 222 and then calls anyway for all his chips...he outthinks himself

c) Insecurity...doesn't like to be seen to be beaten up on.....so others can raise him and set him up for when they have a hand cos they know he won't be able to pass to reraises

Someone sums in up perfectly when they say that Phil beats Phil or somesuch...

I think if I was ever fortunate enough to be in a position like Hellmuth in the future. I would stick to the area of my game where I felt strongest. For him this is obviously tournaments.  Why venture into another mans territory when you aren't equipped to deal with the dangers that rests there

because he probably earns more from the publicity than he loses in the game.

It must be more painful for someone in his financial position to get beaten like he has than lose money. His ego is fueled by his tournaments success, I would stick with what I knew. I understand what you mean about the publicity though. Good point.

He wants to be bigger, and as well known as possible. He loves the TV time and playing on high stakes is another chance to get some. Sometimes I think he exagerates his image as the "poker brat" and the strops he has whilst other times I think he's actually genuinely losing it!

he wants respect from the big guys

Yea I guess you are right mate.  It is hard to imagine for me, I play poker for me and not to impress others.  I guess it shows the differences between my level at the scum limits and his at the big limits

no not scum limits sark, i call them "council limits"

 rotflmfao  n1   :D

Surely these days it's' low rent social housing limits'

 :D
 Td Th

i wouldnt know, ive moved up in the world, i live in a rented tenement now!

Season 2 starts in the US today. New players include Hansen, Juanda, Lindgren, Matusow and The Grinder.

http://www.gsn.com/specific_page_elements.php?link_id=S82 (http://www.gsn.com/specific_page_elements.php?link_id=S82)

Aren't Huck Seed and Chau Giang top cash game players?   Do they play?

Series 1 is starting up again on Challenge (Sky 121)

I think it was episode 1 on again tonight (the one with Dr. Nasseri's 5-5 and Ted Forrest's 2-2 and the 2-4-5 flop)... can anyone confirm that was the first episode of series 1? ???

Anyway, it's on every day, just after midnight

(and then again on Challenge +1 of course ;) )

That Dr Nasseri - He might as well shouted out "I've got Aces!!!!" when he got them.

Jesus, playing at that level, you would think he could show some restraint in his body language!!

Was that Episode 1 though?

(I am trying to tape them in order...  :D)

Last hand of the night on last night's show

Greenstein and Farha have $190,000 each in front of them, both are comfortable winners over the night

Greenstein raises to $2,500 UTG with AA blinds being $300-600

Farha reraises to $10,000 in MP with KK

Greenstein re-reraises to $50,000

Farha goes into the tank, he senses he is is beat...it looks as if he is going to make the laydown...the other players are milling around, wanting to go home but sensing the impending car-crash

Farha, suddenly, as if ultimately deciding on instinct, pushes all in to be met with an instant call

a $380,000 pot...

Farha offers to run it twice, Greenstein declines

the K comes on the flop

Greenstein takes it like a man, pure class

Farha is the epitome of cooooooooooool!

didn't the flop come down before he offered to run it twice?

didn't he offer it before and on the flop? very sporting.

 :blonde: run it twice?  :blonde:

as a form of insurance, participants agree to run two flops and split the pot according to the results of both

Ah, cheers.

I'm pretty sure that you run it twice post flop not pre flop. I thought I heard BG muttering something about how he wanted to run it twice with the nuts.

All the calcs in this thread (after a quick glance) seem to be for the last two cards.

http://www.fullcontactpoker.com/poker-forum/index.php?showtopic=54819 (http://www.fullcontactpoker.com/poker-forum/index.php?showtopic=54819)

Why would the underdog, Farah in this case, want to run his kings against aces twice, and why would Greenstien refuse?

Farha asked to run it twice once the cards are on their back pre-flop with all the cash in the middle.

Greenstein declines.

Then the flop comes K-high, and Farha again offers Greenstein the chance to run it twice.

Greenstein declines again.

So Farha asked to run it twice when he was miles behind, and Greenstein refused. Then having hit his miracle flop, Farha offers Greenstein a possible get out which is also declined.

The two players were ice cool throughout.

Fantastic TV, and to me, much more compelling than a bunch of idiots pumping fists and whooping and hollering when they catch their card.

They run it twice for half the pot at a time.

running it twice would give farha 10 cards to hit a k and get his money back. Greenstein would be less likely to be outdrawn twice (especially as being outdrawn once would lower the chance of it happening again).

I'm sure I recall a quote from a tournament where Phil Ivey is pounding Hellmuth and Hellmuth complains saying something along the lines

'Every time I raise, he reraises!'

and one of the old timers says

'That's cos you keep folding son.'

Its just a class show!

Season 2 Episode 4 just came out for those wanting such things.

yes...on the WPT that was...I was nearly pissing myself as I thought the same thing when watching it.

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=3862.msg89819#msg89819 (http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=3862.msg89819#msg89819)

I think it's good for the game aswell.

It has the characters/top pros that people want to see, the amateurs (or whoever else they want to bring in (would anyone fancy a chance at winning a seat on the net with $100k to sit down with?) to cheer on, watch them lose etc and class play without the blinds rising so fast it becomes a luck fest. Could this be a big part of the future of TV poker?

I make it five episodes into the first series repeats now on Challenge - which make up Day One.

Good TV, & different enough to be way, way, above the run of the mill, made for tv junk that is flooding our screens.

Fahra is a real character, larger than life.

Daniel, well there's some nonsense there, he has those two "bricks" (both $500,000 in 100 dollar bills) - what's that about, an ego trip? They could just as easily give him chips.

Sheiky - his rudeness HAS to be an act, after all, he's not pure American, which would make it plausible.

Harman is Harman, trades on her cutie pie looks.

Greenstein cool, yes, dull too, but a good foil for the noisy buggers.

All in all, you could not script a better blended bunch.

Which is what niggles at the back of my mind.....I keep thinking "WWF" - something which started out "straight", & gradually evolved to a circus, a farce so dumbed down that a 3 year old can see through it. (Though obviously, your average American still thinks it's legit).

Am I the only one so cynical as to wonder just a tinsy winsy bit that we are not getting what it says on the tin, that this is the begininng of Poker's version of WWF?

 ;scarymoment;

Are you saying WWF is fake, tikay ?     I thought the Ultimate Warrior was a real guy.

Was it an act as well, then, when he was on Matusow's table at the WSOP Main Event last year?

Next we'll have people saying that Hellmuth's temper tantrums are all an act...  ;scarymoment;

No, Sheiky's rudeness is not an act, though I fancy he hams it up for the TV Cameras, as he did against Matusow.

It all just seems a little "convenient" to me. I mean, that AA v KK jobbie. The Table Mouth v the Table Quiet Man. KK v AA. Fahra says "run it twce", then flops his miracle card &, incredibly, repeats the offer, & Greenstein politely declines.

Mr Buss, clearly WAY out of his depth, like the WWF wrestler on his last lergs. But then, somehow, Mr Down & Out makes a comeback - see next episodde?

Daniel giving it the Big Dick thing with his $1 million cash on the table.

Jenifer sitting there, the table beauty.

Todd Bruinson, "Mr lolok at how cool I am".

I mean, you could not script it better. Could you?........

Guess I'm too cynical. But I am wary of it's integrity. Remember, these are Americans, so they have a very low opinion of our intelligence.

I see what you are saying Tikay, but do you really think an ego as monstrous as Hellmuth would consent to being made to look such a fool on TV, for the sake of better ratings?

Personally I think someone came up with a good idea, got the right people round the table, and it paid off.

You have to have some form of an ego to get that far.
As for Jerry buss etc the guys a bajillionaire, why would he need to do any of that?

If you listen to the cardplayer radio show, you'll know Barry Greenstein trashed his hotel room the night that happened and got banned from whatever hotel chain he was staying at ( this is according to his adopted son Joe Sebok ).

Plus they are all hamming it up for the TV hoping to get paid for advertising etc. etc.

I have to say when i first saw it i thought so with the Doyle Brunson all in pre flop for $500,000 with AK.

The more you see though the more it seems real to me, Daniel on tilt, he isnt that good an actor, you can see his anguish.

Season 2 makes me sure, the firts 2 episodes were just poor, but as the night has gone on its got much more entertaining!

I don't know about any of this.  I am just getting my head round WWF being fake.   

I don't buy it. I think it's real.

It is well done if it is fake ( The Poker that is, not the wrestling )

Jerry Buss said in one episode that he's willing to pay the 50 or 100K just so he can sit at the table & play with the best. I like his attitude, he's just having fun, but I guess with his dough it doesn't quite hurt as much when he looses.

What's your take on Father Christmas. & the Tooth Fairy, Sark?

What are you trying to say here Tikay?!?!?!?!?!


 :D

Well I'm glad you actually gave it some thought Flushy, & OK, I'm not convinced it's a sham, not by any means. But the jurys still out for me.

I've had a life-long tendancy to question everything I see, hear, or read. Ask myself "why?", "oh really?", "does it all stack up?", that sort of thing. It's a gut reaction to anything & everything I encounter in life. Often, I'm right, often, I'm wrong, but I can't help doing it. If someone tells me Couch Kev has won a Tourney, I ask myself, "is that likely?".......And something - I'm not sure what yet - does not add up with this show. I mean, from the players perspective, viz-a-viz cameras, why?.......

Oh dear, what HAVE I said?....

A million dreams shattered by a chance remark. I'm sorry Gryff, & Sark.

The thing is which players would agree to lose!!!

How do you know they are really losing?

Father Christmas is real.  I am not sure about the tooth fairy though.

I think you must be at that awkward age Sark.

For tikay - Some modest american teenagers talking about the program.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=6344754&page=0&fpart=all&vc=1 (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=6344754&page=0&fpart=all&vc=1)

"modest American teenagers".....?

Surely not........

By which i mean which players would agree to appear to lose

Maybe they take it in turns.

The WWF heroes generally got smacked around, then did the Great & Impossible Comeback trick.......

I think he was 99.9% sure everyone else was folding; wasn't that one of the very first hands of the day?

Yeah, it as that that point i figured it was all a setup. The more i watched the more i thought it was real.

Are my monkey senses detecting that Tikay is a secret closet WWE fan?

Although now you come to mention it i've not heard anything from Randy "the macho man" Savage in a while and you two are of a similar build............

Is there something you're not telling us about your past Tikay??

In the gruffest voice I can manage . . . .

"OOOOOooooooooHHhhhhhhhh  YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH"

I've just got episode one and it's facinating stuff.  I've not read the thread so forgive me if I'm covering old ground!

Daniel Neg... is fantastic to watch.  I've read some of his articles before and I've always thought he was pretty good.  Some of the moves he's made are excellent.  I like the 3s 2s move where he looks at his chips and someone else folds because they think he has the hand.  Other moves I'm liking are the just chucking in 100k with KK after a raggy flop and then he gets JJ and really gives the other guy with the beard the arse when he reraises again.

Now Doyle, who;s just sat there for ages has gone all in and Nasseri (?) says "has he even got cards yet" :D

Excellent program, will be getting the others real soon ;)

Its quite common to see cash game players with big wads of cash behind their chips, no ?

Admittedly, 1 million is higher than I've seen at $3/$5 :-)

After old spoilsport tikay said "It's fixed" I watched High Stakes Poker last night with my sceptical head on. It is my pleasure to reassure you, it's all cosher.

OK, so it is edited to make the most of the dramatic situations that naturally occur when large amounts of money and even larger egos come together. Big hand and interesting situations are shown at strategic moments, i.e. just before a commercial break or as a teaser for the next programme, but you just couldn't script it. The frayed tempers, the arguments, the banter, the easy humor. Doyle betting at exactly the same time as another player and then pretending he wants to raise, he knows he won't be allowed to when he asks for a ruling.

Now I know the American producers wouldn't be above pulling the wool over our eyes, and I do believe that the players are payed a fee for taking part in the programme, But anything the TV wallers could make up would pale in comparison to the normal everyday antics of these larger than life characters

It's the best poker on TV, and will remain so until they combine it with wrestling, 1 round of each.

Now there's an idea for the WSOP ladies event later next month..............

In jelly!

 :D

No, I mean that Doyle was very sure everyone else would fold, because it was at the start of the game, and even quite solid hands would not want to call, and he could pick up the limps and the small raise that was already out there. So it doesn't mean it was a set-up, more that he knew his table and was almost certain they wouldn't call, which means he could pick up the money that was already out there with relatively little risk.

Also, doesn't he advocate sometimes making big moves with A-K in S/S? (E.g. he says if he gets reraised from late position, he'll reraise all-in, because he feels the late position raiser is trying to steal the limps). In which case, he could always defend the play along those lines.

$1,250/hr accoridng to Todd Brunson, i asked him during a Tribeca comp.

Was looking forward to the ones featuring Hellmuth after people's descriptions here. Saw the first one last night.. didn't disappoint. Was very funny.

Is it just me missing some nuances of the cash bit is negreanu down so much cause he is just playing very badly ?

Was not playing badly at all,  lost a few unlucky big pots

He started playing like a complete mug!

I was thinking more about talking in a very affected way .... like an elf or one of snow white's seven dwarves

Aah flushy, speaks, knew I was right :-)

lol

is this on tonight on challenge?

Ive watched the last few and i'm sure they,ve been on earlier than this.

everytime i turn over the same shi**y american celebrity poker program has been on, for what seems like the last 5 hours,

Yes, they started it at 1am tonight instead of 12am, to make way for another series of 'Celebrity Poker Showdown' at 11pm.

Just incase anyone thought they were missing something, here's one of the hands from Celeb Poker Showdown:

Three to the flop: one of them has jack-high, one of them has 5-6 and one has Q-high. Flop: K-7-4 rainbow, no action. 3 on the turn.

Jack-high bluffs, queen high folds and the 5-6 folds as well.... i.e. she folds the nuts.

(Saints preserve us.)

Negreanu indeed got unlucky in several pots to find himself about 500k down from his starting stack of one million. Then he started overplaying marginal hands and draws and generally tilting cash until he found himself 725k down!

Now he's started a fightback; he took a big pot from Doyle with a set of 8's vs Doyle's A-A, and has taken some cash from Hellmuth as well (A-T vs A-4).

After having played sheiky this year at the LA poker Classic , I can confirm that what you see on TV is what you get. I was stuck at his table throughout day 1 and he certainly is abrasive, but having said that I found it all quite amusing, especially when I raised with QQ into his BB only for him to leap to his feet and aggresively question me 'Are you a gambler?'

 i won a nice pot too after the QQx flop  rotflmfao

Jerry Buss tells the table that Phil Helmuth sounds like a rapper during one of his tantrums. Classic.