I have this running argument with my friends. I tell them that out of all the pro poker players that are supposedly "stars of the game," very few of them will cross into the mainstream. ESPN has done their best to hype up the faces behind the cards, and some players are very well-spoken and interesting people, but ultimately I don't think Americans are ready to embrace them as marketable product endorsers. Just out of curiosity, which poker players do you enjoy watching? Which ones do you feel have mainstream appeal? If you are kind enough to share your thoughts, please also share what type of poker experience you have. I mean, come on, if you are a poker freak, even someone like Lee Jones will be like a god to you. BTW, my favorite poker player, Clonie Gowen, is from Dallas.
Well Clonie is hot, which helps a lot. Theere aren't a whole lot of good looking women in professional poker... I seem to have a love / hate relationship with guys like Phill Hellmuth and Mike "the mouth" Matusow. Hate their guts for having so much talent combined with so much mouth, but it is actually seeing myself want to act like that that gets to me. That hits home when my aces get cracked by some guy calling an all in pre-flop with 10,2 to be cute and the flop comes 10, 10, 2. "What was he thinking?!" as the hands fly into the air in utter disbelief and contempt... Get a big kick out of watching Sammy Farha, Men the Master, Don the Dragon, and the Brenes Brothers, etc. It's those colorful guys that will keep this going on TV. I like to study the more quiet types like Phil Ivey, Harold Lederer and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson try to play like they do. There is something about sitting at a poker table and thinking with all seriousness "What would Jesus Do?" WWJD BTW: I can't believe this hasn't been made into a t-shirt...
i love watching Gus Hansen and Phil Helmuth. I wish they would show Gus Hansen all day so all the fish can think that playing any two cards is ok. Because, you know, a pro is doing it. I like Helmuth b/c he's really a great player, alhtough i can do without his whining. well, i guess the whining what makes him entertaining to me. i've been playing for about 2 and half years now. play mostly online and love it.
"WWJD" I would totally buy that shirt! I am also entertained by Helmuth's rants. However, he has been pretty quietly lately. I guess he is making so much money from books, deals, and endorsements, that getting beat by inferrior players (which, in his opinion, is everyone) doesn't bother him as much. Gus is just the epitome of . P.S. If anyone here plans to talk about the 2005 World Series of Poker results, please post a spoiler warning.
So is anyone keeping up with the WSOP this year? With 5611 entries, I was hoping maybe a Clutchfan member might have entered or at least be there. *******SPOILER********* I've been reading the hourly blogs from pokerpages.com and Mike Paulie definitely has the most up-to-the-minute blog. Freakin crazy, the leaderboard going to Binions (final 27 players) has Mike Matasow, Phil Ivey, and Greg Raymor. Still alive is Tiffany Williams, a black woman lawyer born in the US and living in England, who was top 5 in chips for the longest of times. Raymor was leading after day 3 of the main event, then went down to 700,000 while the leaders were up to 2.5 mill, but Raymor made a huge surge on day 5 and moved up to the top 5 mostly at the expense of Tiffany Williams. Lots of cool stories for bracelet winners this year: Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Barry Greenstein, Mark Seif, TJ Cloutier, Josh Arieh and many other pros adding to their bracelets or picking up their first ones. I can't wait to see this stuff on ESPN, or better yet, wait for it to come out on DVD and skip the way too many commercials.
my favorite poker players to watch are: daniel negreanu - because he's canadian. johnny chan - because he's a legend. gus hansen - mr. sixth sense. the unibomber - wild phil ivey - classy style and probably matches up the closest of any pro to my style. the magician - good class act with a little style to make it fun.
Is it just me or does negreanu remind you of one of the hobbits? PIppen or Merry, that's my question. "I was hoping maybe a Clutchfan member might have entered or at least be there." I took a picture of a guy wearing a Rockets cap during day 1A. I'll try and find that picture and post it.
