Ever wonder why commentators...
 

don't play in the tournys themselves?? If they're such experts why don't they enter it. I've seen Howard Lederer do the color commentary, I guess that's the +EV play, but he could probably win a lot more if he sat down and took those guys down.

Those other guys like Mike Sexton, Vince Van Pat, Norm Chad, etc, probably gets smoked all the time in tourneys.

How dare you speak negatively of Mike Sexy! He is a grrreeeeatttt player! Now based on my first 2 sentences you might think I'm joking, but I am not... seriously :).

Mike Sexton does compete in events, and was shown in the televised tournament "Championship Poker at the Plaza" I think he was in the first 2 or 3 episodes. Vince VP also competed in this tournament and outlasted maaannny pros, but he's no Mike Sexton. I believe Mike Sexton has won many strong poker tournaments over the years.

Cheers,

Gutzz

PS. If you ever get a chance to watch this Championship Poker at the Plaza series of shows (that last 7 or 8 episodes? I've only seen 6 so far), I highly recommend them.

I did watch most of those episoids, and I don't think Sexton played all that great. He's really tight and can be easily bluffed from what I saw. I saw few hand where he had an opportunity to do a semi bluffs to take down a pot, but he failed so and let the other player catch.

Well Howard Lederer did play the Turning Stone event but he was eliminated so he did color commentary for the final table. As for VVP and Sexton they both play tourneys.

Sexson is super tight player from what I saw on the plaza event.

Norman Chad also plays but not tourneys, he usually is playing 15/30 Stud or something of that nature.

Well I figure his play had something to do with the size of his stack. He never really had much since the start right? Also the show edits it down... so I'm sure Mike did a bunch of killer hardcore awesome in your face moves that would blow your mind(!!), but unfortunately didn't make the cut :).

Cheers,

Gutzz

What is color commentary as opposed to regular commentary?

its the same thing... you can call it either one.

I think the color commentor is more like the one that analyzes the play. And the regular commentor just talks about the action. So Sexton is more like a regular commentator, and Vince Van Pat is more like the color guy, but they both aren't that great :P

Well there's no denying that Howard Lederer is the best commentator. Much of what he said during the turning stone tournament I found to be educational and interesting! The same cannot be said for most of the other commentators.

Cheers,

Gutzz

The color commentator is the guy who makes jokes. The regular commentator is usually the one to explain the action, size of the bets, outs, etc etc.

does anyone know wehre i can download turning stone?

I know it's on the net somewhere. Maybe suprnova.org (type turning stone) or --- type poker and it might pop up.

Cheers,

Gutzz

PS. I believe it'll be available on DVD in a few months? That should be cool...

Ever wonder why commentators...don't play in the tournys themselves?? If they're such experts why don't they enter it.

The commentators that don't play are branching out. They're making a decent buck calling the action rather than enduring the stress of playing. Howard's got plenty of chances to play poker, just as do Phil Gordon and Mike Sexton. Chances to appear on the other side of the mic aren't as plentiful.
While I like Howard's color commentary, being new to poker, I think Phil has taught me the most about the whys and hows of certain plays. It's a shame Phil's laden with the worst players on which to comment. But then again, maybe that's why I think he's the best at it.

yeah Phil Gordon and Howard are both good. I always liked Phil Hellmuth when he did the action for the WSOP back in the day. The 1998 WSOP (the one Nguyen won) he called the hole cards of both guys in the hand. Remember these were the days of no hole cams.

^Yea I'm pretty sure I read that in his new book. (it was a gift although I did find it entertaining)

One time Helmuth said if this one guy ended up winning the whole thing, he'd shave his head. And guess what happened? Yea- Phil was practically bald for a little while. :D

yeah 2002 WSOP... Varkoni won it and Phil lose. Varkoni was last in chips going into the final table and ended up winning.

I also have that book and I think its pretty good so far.