*blushes*
Really enjoyed stint in the booth. Will write a longer post with my thoughts on the stream concept when I get a chance.
Well done to DTD on further innovation/free content.
Firstly, thank you all again for kind words. Unless this is one massive and terrifically well co-ordinated level (perfectly plausible), you are all very kind.
So....
Being 'in the booth'Very interesting indeed. I was rather blindsided by the request to commentate - arrive, walk through the door, Ian/Tom say "you're commentating", though I was certainly willing
If I'm perfectly honest I have very little recollection of any 'colour content' I offered up, so apologies if there was a lot of nonsense in there!! In terms of the technical aspects of the game I am a mere poker enthusiast. At no point have I been a 'pro', though I am certainly fascinated by the game. From a purely personal/selfish perspective it was really interesting being in, and yet out, of the game. I'm sure I made the point several times that decisions are easier away from the felt, but I really can't emphasise this enough. I have watched streams in the past and 'seen' things clearly in my head, but I can assure you 'seeing' things clearly enough to articulate them well is bloomin' tough - imagine how tough it is in those spots to actually be in the game with your own dollar on the line!!
The game itselfThe vast majority of poker games are hella dull. That's just how it is. This game was a full-ring NLHE cash game played slightly outside the comfort zone of a number of players present. That is in no way a judgement on their decision to play in the game, rather it is a simple statement of fact. Many will assume that this is the reason the game was perhaps a little staid at times, I would disagree.
I can only speak for the first 4hrs (the period I commentated)....but I remember just one cooler (Ian's AA Vs LilD's AKss), and even that hand featured a v. curious run-out that in this kind of game killed the action. It was actually, imo, a fascinating hand, but owing to the fact it didn't feature all the money going in, it was more interesting from a theoretical standpoint than a 'pain' standpoint. It sounds like things hotted up somewhat later in the evening, but the fact remains that live-streamed affordable stakes NLHE will always be a spectacle only for the 'purist'/(s)he who is familiar with the players. I go back to my original point....the vast majority of poker games are hella dull.
The stream itselfDifficult to be too sure as I was the otherside of the 'wall', but it felt like the stream itself (ie. video content, graphics etc.) worked pretty well? If people noticed specific items that they felt were tweakable and flag them up I'm sure DTD are all ears. Only one from my side would be a button that could acknowledge when a straddle has been posted as it aids in comprehension of the action
The standard of playPretty darn good I thought. I am no great authority so the next couple of sentences are essentially worthless but I was particularly impressed by three plays that, though they may not have featured heavily in the coverage (owing to its non-bias by dint of being broadcast live), were pretty strong.
Relatively early in the game LilD opened the
and fired two barrels on something like
In itself many won't see this as anything particularly special (open/cbet/2nd barrell I would think are pretty stnd), for the way the game was playing this was pretty perfect and represented good aggressive play netting a nice return relative to the pots that had been played thus far.
A little later Alex opened the
and Ian 3bet the
small from the SB. Ian had recently lost a sizeable pot and those listening carefully will have witnessed a genuine and uncanny prolepsis from me that this coup would end badly. Alex peeled the 3bet IP, cbet the flop and floated the small c/r, before barrelling the turn (which brought him a FD and a gutshot) strongly, eventually seeing Ian fold the best hand.
There was an open and a call when Skalie 3b the
from the BTN. I think three came along incl Tom with the
and LilD with the
Something like
checked through to Skalie who got the half pot c-bet through, taking advantage of initiative and position. Well played that man.
If you want to watch cooler central / pots played out with 'fake' money, you can head over to pokertube.com for any manner of historical content. If you'd like to watch an interesting insight into a game that isn't that different from the one you play of an evening at the casino, I'd think this stream is a pretty darn good option. Wp DTD.
Author