Various and Sundry: Now Everything But Photography

This week we’re back to new episodes of POKER AFTER DARK, and they’ve been a ton of fun so far. Six TV poker commentators are playing against each other, and the banter is flying fast and furious. Really, it’s almost more fun listening to them talk than it is watching them play, though they are good at that.

Anyone who’s watched any amount of poker on television in the last five years will recognize the names:

Mike Sexton - the fatherly type. He’s the co-host on the World Poker Tour, with his southern drawl and friendly demeanor. Does anyone hate this guy? I couldn’t imagine. And he’s a good poker player, having won the Tournament of Champions after last year’s WSOP. It was also cute to see his reunion with Shanna Hiatt, who came to POKER AFTER DARK from the WPT.

Michael Konik - Co-hosted the POKER SUPERSTARS INVITATIONAL for a couple of years with Chris Rose, and wrote a couple of books on poker. I’ve never much liked him. He comes off weird on TV. I can’t exactly explain it. It’s a little smarmy, a little Napoleonic. I don’t know. He’s also cut a CD or two, and looks even more ridiculous on those covers.

Phil Gordon - The ultra-tall Dot Com millionaire turned professional poker player and co-host of CELEBRITY POKER SHOWDOWN, where only the worst poker ever makes the air. His growing frustration with clueless celebrity players finally drove him out, but he’s got a fun style and a sharp wit. You want to root for this guy.

Howard Lederer - The goatee does him no good. He tries to look serious and professorial, but so often just comes across a bit haughty and holier-than-thou. I don’t think he means to be, but that’s how it looks. You can almost see him roll his eyes when someone says something he disagrees with — because They’re Wrong.

Chad Brown - I don’t like him at all. Never have. The first time I came across him was on some poker show I couldn’t take watching longer than five minutes because he and his co-host were so obnoxious.

Gabe Kaplan - Better known as “Mr. Kotter” from that John Travolta show of the 70s, Kaplan did poker commentary before poker commentary was cool. He’s an interesting addition to the table, in that he comes from a Hollywood background, and that gets discussions moving in that direction.

After two nights, the table is still full, though Konik is on a perpetual short stack, and Lederer has been on tilt most of the week, being forced to lay down big hands from later players with bigger bets.

You can catch all episodes from the series on the website, PokerAfterDark.com.