Magog: Unguarded
Magog: Unguarded
Swarming Around... cats living with dogs... total chaos.

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Poker (ahem) stars

I'm watching the elusive Poker Superstars Invitational (part II). I say "elusive" because, as they did with the first tournament, Fox Sportsnet lacks a regular schedule. Meaning that I've seen several round one matches (and some of those multiple times) but I'm not sure if they've progressed to round 2 becuase round 1 seems to be going on for weeks. Also similar to the first broadcast, they have taken no time to explain the format. I think it's a little more understandable this time, as players eliminated get points for the position in which they are eliminated (that is, 0 points for 6th, 1 for 5th, etc) and after x number of these matches they are going to seed the final 16 according to their point totals. I hope this improves play in the final round, as the first broadcast ended with a nationally televised final table on NBC that had Gus Hansen ahead by about forty gazillion chips and devolved into a rathe tepid display of move-in poker that failed to highlight the skill of the participants.

The most puzzling thing about this second broadcast is that, although they wisely expanded the format to 24 players, their means of selecting those players is a little, er, suspect. Right now I am watching the immortal Bobby Hoff get eliminated. Yes, I know...who the hell is Bobby Hoff? Maybe he won a tournament back in the '50s, I have no idea, but as poker players go he is not exactly a household name. Next to him is "Wang." I have no idea what Wang's first name is, but there are a number of hilarious possibilities. Meanwhile, no Daniel Negreanu, no Erick Lindgren, no Paul Phillips...I could go on and on. I wish I knew what their criteria was for selecting players. Recognizability was not among them, I can assure you that.

posted by the wolf | 8:06 PM
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