While watching
Poker After Dark on
NBC (at 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday "nights") recently, I saw some very interesting plays. Because they show every single hand that was played, you really get to see the caliber of the play, whereas in regular televised poker tournaments, you get to see only the highlight reel hands. I must say that I saw some pretty weak poker being played by some of the players during the first two weeks of this show. And, admittedly, some of the weak poker that was played was my own! One day on the set, Doyle Brunson and I talked about the fact that we play in so many huge poker tournaments these days that the ones without historical meaning (like
Poker After Dark) are hard to get up for. This serves as a nice excuse for Brunson and me!
Starting with six players with the blinds at $200-$400, Daniel Negreanu, in first position, raised it to $800 to go with the 4
3
, and Mike "The Mouth" Matusow folded. Comedian, actor, and poker player Gabe Kaplan (formerly of
Welcome Back, Kotter) called the $800 with the 4
3
. David Grey looked at A-Q on the button, and decided to fold. Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson folded K-4, and L.A. Lakers owner Jerry Buss (a top hold'em player himself) called $400 more from the big blind with 8-7.
The flop was Q
5
2
, and all three players checked. When the 6
hit on the turn, Buss bet out $800 with his open-end straight draw, Negreanu made it $2,300 to go with his straight, Kaplan said, "Ohhh, I didn't expect that," and then raised it to $6,700 to go with his straight. Buss folded, Negreanu moved all in, and Kaplan called. Of course, it was a split pot, and both players were disappointed that it was. At this point, Grey said, "Well, looks I would have gone broke had I played my hand." By the way, Buss asked to see the last card (a 10), as he obviously wanted to know if he would have made his straight (he needed a 4 or a 9).
What the heck happened in this hand? Let's take a closer look. First off, I do not mind Negreanu's raise to $800, or Kaplan's $800 call, although they were somewhat loose. But what the heck was Grey thinking? Even if Negreanu wasn't in his normal "play a lot of hands" mode, Grey had an easy reraise. The fact that Negreanu was playing a ton of pots makes it an even easier reraise. And the fact that Kaplan called the $800 makes it an even easier raise still yet. Grey should have called the $800, and then raised it about $3,000 or so - $3,000 being the size of the pot. If he does pull the trigger and pop it up $3,000, he almost certainly wins the pot. On this night, Negreanu was not calling big raises with weak hands, nor was anyone else, as they all were aware that going broke early would cost them a day or two of NBC television time. You see, the show is shot in one five-hour day (roughly), and then is aired over five nights. Grey was right, though, in that if he had called before the flop, he probably would have lost a huge pot.
I do not mind Buss' bet on the turn, as he didn't make very many bets throughout the whole show, and I liked seeing a little aggressiveness out of him. Buss' bet here is what we call a semibluff: Someone bets when he has a draw. I like Negreanu's raise, as he gave Buss a chance to reraise him, and he charged Buss $1,500 more if he was drawing. I also like Kaplan's reraise, but I do not like the fact that he opened his mouth and said something. Negreanu is too smart for all of that. In fact, any talking that you do in a hand with Negreanu will give him more information about your hand.
I watched the show late on a Tuesday night, and all six of the players were still in there, although Buss was short on chips. On Friday night, I will see the final heads-up match, and on Saturday night, I will watch the "Directors Cut," which will recap the week as well as let us know who's playing the following week.
