A couple of weeks back I saw a commercial for the World Poker Tour and scribbled a little note inside my cranium that I should watch it when the season started.
Apparently I need to use better markers when noting something in my head because I completely forgot about the show until I sat down one weekend afternoon and stumbled across it. Fate smiled upon me that day.
As you may know I really don’t give a damn about sports, with the exception of World Cup Soccer which is only available every other year anyway (the tournaments for the men and women alternate, each only occurring once every four years. While I may watch part of a football game on Sunday while gnawing on some ribs or pizza, I don’t follow a team, nor do I schedule anything around a game.
Now though, I have something worth watching: poker. Unlike football, baseball or basketball this game comes down purely to individuals. Players can catapult to the top or get knocked out at any point in the game - due to luck in some cases, but all the more often strategy.
You see, the game requires a mixture of poker strategy and reading your opponents. You may be an amazing player technically, but if you can’t tell when someone is bluffing, or holding a monster hand you are at risk every round.
The show itself is set up very well, providing a view of everyone’s cards and running commentary by people who understand the game exceedingly well. Thankfully, the Travel Channel didn’t try to pare the show down to an hour or less. The two hour time slot provided for each show is ideal.
The only downfall is the fact that the schedule does not follow a set schedule as is the case with football. Rather it bounces from day to day like baseball or basketball. So, I’ve printed out the schedule from the Web site and plan on setting up reminders in the ol’ Palm Pilot.
And the next time someone asks me “hey didja see that amazing Hail Mary play by Johnson on Sunday?” I’ll reply “Could you believe Nguyen lucked out when the river turned out to be a third nine? Talk about a bad beat.”
I love No Limit Texas Hold ‘em.
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Actuall, there is a set schedule. Except for the two new specials they added for this Sunday, each episode airs Wednesday at 9pm ET and again at midnight, and is rebroadcast Saturday at 2pm ET. After the WPT championship airs in a week, the shows will rerun weekly (at the same times as before I believe), for those who missed them the first time around. Check http://www.worldpokertour.com or http://www.wptfan.com for more WPT information.
Quite true. I wrote this before realizing that they were running the games more than once in a week, so I thought there were some odd times. Add to that my stupidity in not actually looking at the schedule long enough to see the pattern.
Needless to say I caught on to the schedule quickly and even signed up for the reminder e-mails to ensure I don’t forget!
I think it’s funny how if a player gets lucky, has a few good hands, and wins a tournament, people put so much hype on it and act like he’s the next big thing. Of course, that’s how it is in any sport. I don’t see how people can’t just admit an individual or a team was lucky instead of presenting them as having some extraordinary skill.