By lakong on November 13th, 2006 (more posts by author)

Today is Monday, and I really miss my weekly fix of High Stakes Poker. Not only is this my favorite televised poker show, it's probably my favorite TV show. Period. The show is just so entertaining and fun to watch. Much more so than the typical poker show. The tournament shows are just not that entertaining to me any more. They always turn into all-in fests because of the fast structures and the TV editing. Most of these shows do too many interviews and other features -- I guess to appeal to the non-poker players.

Contrast this to High Stakes Poker where we get to see how poker is really played. We see both pre and post flop play. Most of the players are really good and we can learn what these professionals do and don't do. I guess it's also fun to see how some of them players goof up and don't necessarily play as well as we believe they should. There is real money on the line; sometimes hundred of thousands of dollars, which makes for some interesting 'train wreck' moments as there is true pain in the big freefalls.

A close second to High Stakes Poker would be the Heads Up Championship on NBC. It also features mostly professional players and to a large extent we get to see many interesting hands.

Season 3 of High Stakes Poker will be on in January. It looks like Phil Ivey, Jamie Gold and a few other new players will be joining the mix. Even Gabe Kaplan will be playing this time. It should be fun.