HSP S06 : First third of the season

[CallifyouDare]

Well, it's been a pleasure to see High Stakes Poker coming back for a 6th season and so far, about a third of the episodes have been released (if season is going to be 24 episodes long). I've just finished watching episode 08 which ended the 2nd group of featured players (Dwan, Ivey, Negreanu, Greenstein, Antonius, Robl, Phillips, Veldhuis) and well, I'm confirming my opinion about the show when I saw the first episode : I'm not thrilled at all.

Before I get into assaulted by HSP fans, please hear my plead. First, the pluses :

On this new season,
1) No more AJ Benza just laughing at Gabe Kaplan's attempts to humour and said maybe 10 words every episode. Gabe Kaplan comments and rimes can now shine without the other bugger.

2) Tom Dwan played in every episode so far which is a great addition because he's involved in a lot of action and I'm pleased to get to know more about such a crushing online player.


Then the minuses :
1) 30 seconds with Kara Scott looks an awfully lot like the side interviews with the host in Poker After Dark. The only difference is we don't hear the chips and the table talking while doing the interview which in my opinion cuts the interviewer and the interviewed from the rest of the world. Of course this is a better interview environment but I liked the continuity feeling from the interviews on PAD.

2) Negreanu doing the "Did you know ?" is probably an attempt to look more appealing to beginners/newcomers to the show. I'm not a fan of this part of the show because high stakes aren't for the beginner player and the choice of topics discussed so far doesn't quite match the action on the table.

3) The cast of "non-uber-well-known-pros" (such as Veldhuis) didn't make the action more interesting. They just let the other pros feast on their stacks... I mean, what good does it provide to the show to see pros doing what they regularly do for a living (aka hunting fishes) ? We're here to see big actions at high stakes (we've seen a few but not as much as I expected), not fishes doing mistakes pros exploit easily.

4) Phil Laak crashing the last episode of a group of players (first group as well as second group) and plays like a nit and for only a couple of televised hands ? No thank you ! I mean I like the guy and usually like how he plays but like Barry Greenstein said in episode 08 ***spoiler alert***




"Phil Laak didn't come here to play poker, he came here to get TV time"




***end of spoiler***

Well, it's only the first third of the season and I'll expect the rest of it to be more entertaining than this third was. I'm missing a little bit Sam Farha and other gamblers like him. Let's hope for the best.

PS : Now, you fans can assault this thread

[KINO2WIN]

I think you are right in lots of things you tolld. gabe kapplan alone is just not funny at all, and he misread alot the players thoughts hehehehee.

other thing that i dont like at all is to see lots of withouit without all players in the table.

In other way i like alot the did you know part, i think a little of culture is good even for people that just wants to see action.

[travz21]

The only thing terribly wrong with your post, OP, is your "minuses". This season is doing everything the right way, mixing in elements that will appeal to both beginners and advanced players.

[phaul]

I really like the 30 secs w/ Kara bits, they provide some genuinely hilarious moments (e.g. when they asked the others what they thought of Hellmuth). And yeah, the show has to appeal to both advanced players and beginners, and I think it's doing a really good job of that.

I'm really enjoying watching Negreanu get continually owned, often making basic mistakes even I wouldn't make. Ivey and Dwan are such sickos. Having them both on for all the shows was a stroke of genius imo. I also enjoyed watching Elezra, he seems to play really solidly. I just enjoy watching people own others I guess!

Kaplan's OK, sometimes irritating, but someone who's commentating on that show should know that the pros don't raise for information. Maybe Phillips does.

[keanosdog]

I really like the 30 secs w/ Kara bits, they provide some genuinely hilarious moments (e.g. when they asked the others what they thought of Hellmuth). And yeah, the show has to appeal to both advanced players and beginners, and I think it's doing a really good job of that.

I'm really enjoying watching Negreanu get continually owned, often making basic mistakes even I wouldn't make. Ivey and Dwan are such sickos. Having them both on for all the shows was a stroke of genius imo. I also enjoyed watching Elezra, he seems to play really solidly. I just enjoy watching people own others I guess!

Kaplan's OK, sometimes irritating, but someone who's commentating on that show should know that the pros don't raise for information. Maybe Phillips does.

"pro's don't raise for information?"

plaease go on.


on HSP , i thinks its been a great season. ivey and durr are so entertaining to watch. two great great poker minds.

i also don't agree with the OP critique of lex vleidhus. i thought he was a really interesting player.the play hand between himself, greenstein and ivey was one o the best i've seen on the show. and there wasn't even a flop.

[CallifyouDare]

A lot (if not all) of people who responded agreed to the fact seeing more of Ivey/Dwan/Negreanu (pick any of your favorites) playing was a definite good thing for the show and I concur, just like this little post (sorry if this link is against the rules).

On the other hand, it doesn't make me, a veteran viewer of the show (seen all 5 seasons), 100% happy. I'm not saying I'm not happy with seeing them playing. I'm saying I'll need more than that to let the champagne burst

Surely enough, any newcomer to the show can turn the "minuses" into "pluses" which I can understand. But, from my point of view, this season still lacks that secret ingredient that turns a good show into a great show people will always remember and get inspired by.

On another note, this post states there will be only 3 groups of players in season 06. Does that imply we've already seen two thirds of the season ?? If so, I'm putting all my hopes into the last line up of player (Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, David Benyamine, Eli Elezra, Doyle Brunson, Mike Matusow, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier) in order to make the show sky-rocket my expectations.

[phaul]

Wow, Negreanu, Brunson and Matusow are gonna get destroyed.

[travz21]

I really enjoy watching Brunson, Hellmuth, and Negreanu get owned. They are so far behind the top notch players now, and I think they realize it. I don't really expect too much from Mike. He's just cool to have at the table for obvious reasons. And Dennis Phillips...wow. I just felt sorry watching him play. I felt his pain.

Lex actually was in some pretty good spots and just ran into the nuts every hand. Well, besides Ivey's 52o hand. I came when I saw that.

[travz21]

And no poker show should be life-altering or inspirational. It should be for entertainment. This season blows every other season out of the water. I still wish it was 6-max like Poker After Dark, but I think it might even be more wild 9-handed.

[keanosdog]

i read doyle's blog regularly. in it he says the name of the game is winning. which he's managed to do 16 times in a row on tv. not bad for a fella way behind the game at 76 years of age in fairness..............

[travz21]

Limp/calling OOP with ATo usually hinders one's winning streak. It's tough to play that bad and win 16 televised sessions in a row, which I'm not even sure is true.

[keanosdog]

Limp/calling OOP with ATo usually hinders one's winning streak. It's tough to play that bad and win 16 televised sessions in a row, which I'm not even sure is true.

why wouldn't it be true?he's won every time he's played HSP up to this series. i know thatis a fact because i've watched every single episode.

the following is a c&p from his bog ,
linked here http://196.40.46.9/~blogdoy/doyle-brunson/1122/


"I might as well keep rambling while I’m at it. After I read blogs, forums and different poker discussions, I see where I’m perceived to be a “nit” at the poker table now. Old style, new style, doesn’t make any difference. The object of the game is to win your opponent’s chips. It’s not to make “star” plays and try to entertain an audience. I thought I was doing ok when I won 15 straight times in the TV cash games. But that doesn’t please the poker critics who want to watch spectacular plays, big pots, etc. If you want to watch poker on TV objectively, you have to realize that the way the other players play dictate the way you should play. So yes, I sit back and wait for the young guys to make mistakes. And they always do. Call me crazy, but I only see 5 or 6 players that I can think are fundamentally sound. You can get away with it sometimes but if you don’t observe some simple fundamentals, they are going to bite you in the ass. There must really be a big difference in the online play because most of the youngsters from the internet don’t have a clue. One of these days I might just twist off and show these kids how Doyle Brunson used to play. Actually, that would be stupid because right now, it’s hard to lose when these young guys are trying to make their star plays."

[travz21]

LOL. Oh, Doyle. He doesn't know what fundamentally sound is. There's thousands of players online that have played more hands than he has in his life and thought about poker way more. Just because he has a 300 hand winning streak on TV he thinks he can trash talk about how he's playing better poker than the young guns.

Like I said, limp/calling OOP with ATo is about as far from fundamentally sound as you can get.

And yeah, I would like to see how the "old Doyle" used to play. I'm sure it was a lot like Durrrr, who feasts off of nits that fold too much and hero call against the nuts. You can't fight well timed LAG with nittyness, Doyle.

[keanosdog]

doyle was playing at bobbys room in the bellagio yesterday. playing the highest stakes possible.at 76 years of age.he's been playing at the highest level for 50 years and has won milllions upon millions of dollars, playing against the toughest players around.

yeah, he's a nit alright.............

[travz21]

Just because he has enough money to play in the big games now doesn't mean that he is good enough to hang with them. And just because someone is nitty doesn't mean they aren't profitable. My point was he isn't playing fundamentally sound and is talking like he's owning the young maniacs.

[phaul]

Just watched episode 9, Doyle is sooooooooooooooooooo BAD.

[C8H10N4O2]

What phaul? Open shoving AQ from early position just because there is a a double straddle going has to be profitable.

[pokerbucket]

What phaul? Open shoving AQ from early position just because there is a a double straddle going has to be profitable.

I would have loved to seen mike's reaction if they just ran it once
For the past 2 or 3 years mike has really tightened up his game... On one hand I think it is good because he doesn't blow up all the time but I have also seen him get bluffed out of so many pots. He is afraid to put money in unless he has close to the nuts.

[C8H10N4O2]

Oh yeah, or if Doyle had hit the straight on the second run. Mike would have exploded I think. He seemed to be on the verge of blowing up anyway even though he split it.

[keanosdog]

Oh yeah, or if Doyle had hit the straight on the second run. Mike would have exploded I think. He seemed to be on the verge of blowing up anyway even though he split it.

i think EVERYONE from gabe to the other players to the viewers (everyone except mike really)wanted that ten to hit the second river