Solitare, anyone?
Poker isn't a sport, so stop pretending. You'd be hard pressed to convince anyone at ESPN of that these days (my apologies to my pal, Norman Chad, who says they can call it whatever they want as long as the checks clear). ESPN is also the network trying to pass off dominos, darts, paintball and the Spelling Bee as legit, while backing away from the NHL.
GSN - otherwise known as the Game Show Network - is where the real cards are dealt for our taste. We don't play, by the way. But we'll watch it now and then, if the choice is that or the WNBA.
We have our TiVo set for Monday, which is Opening Day in GSN land for the card games.
Monday, the second season of “High Stakes Poker,� which is the only version played for real cash, launches on GSN at 6 p.m. from the Palms in Vegas. Here, players buy in for $100,000 of their own money. The pot last year at one point got up to $400,000 before pocket kings beat pocket aces.
This is the series where "Welcome Back Kotter" hanger-on Gabe Kaplan and super sleuth AJ Benza call the action for 16 episodes. Doyle Brunson and Phil "The Unabomber" Laak are in the field, but we're partial to Jennifer Harman (pictured above) for some unexplained reason. Check out her website.
Right after that, the “World Series of Blackjack,� with $1 million in prize money ($500,000 for the winner), starts its third season (Monday, 7 p.m.).
Ben Mezrich, who wrote the book, “Bringing Down the House,� about the MIT whiz kids who took Vegas for millions, and spent the whole day with Jim Rome on his radio and TV show promoting the fact he's the co-host with John Fugelsang, gives this some edge. It's a 40-player field that includes L.A. residents Jennifer Ortega and Mikki Padilla, and Playa del Rey's Erica Schoenberg.
Comments
High Stakes Poker is the best poker show on television because its a real game, unlike all those other tournament shows.
Posted by: Mike Brown | June 3, 2006 09:13 AM