Daniel, do you have enough of a say in the media and poker communtity to create a television show that shows players playing all the games other than NLHE that you mentioned in your last blog? If there was a show that showed cash games of this style I think it would be the best poker show hands down. Even at the WSOP last year, they did not show any of the HORSE tournament play until the final table (I think), and that was all NLHE. I know that part of the reason I have become a solid player is because I have watched so much of the cash game play on TV and learned tons from it. Not only will a mixed game be more intriguing to watch/learn from/commentate on, it seems like the top pros would like to play the other games as well. I know that my home game has now become a mixed game of omaha, omaha 8, pineapple, pharaoh, seven 8, seven, and other limit games. Let me know what you think.

Not to hijack (I think this follows), what exactly is the difference between Stud H/L and Stud H/L Regular? Thanks.

In Stud Hi/Lo you have to have 5 cards of different value all 8 or lower to qualify for the low part of the pot, in regular, the worst 5 card combination qualifies for low, so 2367K is better than 22346

So in regular, the low side is basically razz. Gotcha. Thanks.

In hi-lo regular there is no qualifier for low meaning there is always a low. In Stud 8 or better, you must have 5 cards 8 or lower to qualify for low.


The HORSE event this year will be televised and the final table will remain HORSE.

Awesome...this I'm really looking forward to.

Last year's WSOP was really kind of boring to me. They showed a few other things, but it seems like the year before they showed much more 7-card stud, Pot limit Omaha, etc...I don't think they've ever shown a "split" game, although I wish they would.

How exacly are they gonna show the hi/lo games on ESPN? There won't be any percentages (no loss) and Norman Chad's explination of what's going on is going to get old... "Well Lon, going to the river he's got the the nut spade draw, the second nut heart draw, and the nut low draw... so he's gonna need a spade, a heart, an 8, 7, 5, ... Oh wait he also has an open ender, so he could also get a..."

I'LL watch it, multiple times even, but I don't see the rest of America staying tuned for very long.

Also, the way ESPN cuts up the show so much, how are they gonna deal with switching games? Will we get one hand of LHE (the most 'exciting' of course), then one hand of O8, etc. I just don't see how you could air a HORSE FT correctly in a one hour show, maybe they'll split it into Part 1 and Part 2...

well, i dont think that they have ever aired a HORSE game being played. i think its worth a shot just to see how it goes.

This is good news. I thought it was kind of stupid to have the final table NL.

The HORSE final table will be great, but tbh, I think having just one final table of it televised will be enough. I think poker fans will like to watch the 'ultimate final table' if you will, but a weekly show would not keep people interested. My main games are NLHE, PLO and O8. FLHE and the stud games are ok, but lets be honest, watching ANY fixed limit game isn't nearly as exciting as watching a PL or NL game. I think FL games are def more mechanical and mathematical which aren't marketable for TV. But in NL/PL, theres always a big bluff, or a great read, and of course the typical all in scenarios. #
As poker fans, I think we would like to see the HORSE final table, but I honestly believe 95%+ of us would not like to consistently watch it. And we're poker fans so you can imagine what the general public would make of it

I agree with you about the general public, but not about people who play a lot of poker. Most people who play a lot of poker are watching more to gain knowledge than to be entertained. I mean, I have seen every bad beat possible and every good hand possible, just cause Gus Hansen gets quads over DN's boat doesn't make me rediculously excited. It doesn't matter what two poker players were playing that hand, all of both people's money would have been in at any level. It is the different kinds of play that the pros do that I want to watch.

I love HORSE and am looking forward to the ESPN broadcast!

I hate raining on parades, but seriously don't get your hopes up for a quality show... ESPN WILL cut it to shreds so that you only see the hands where the SS (who has a few big bets left) gets all in and eliminated... just like the Stud FT's they showed in '04 and the LHE FT's they showed in '05. You see a few hands (90% eliminations) .

Never doubt his power again

I'd love to play HORSE more often, but everytime I mention not playing just Hold 'em, everyone at the table practically has a seizure.

They say they won't play because they aren't very good, and all I'm thinking is that they must have been God's gift to hold 'em when they first started.

You should just respond: "Well, you aren't any good at Hold'em either so what's the difference?"

Usually, hi/lo games that don't have a qualifier for the low end are played hi/lo declare which adds additional strategy to play.

Uh, most people who have an understanding of poker know that the worst way to learn how to play the game is by watching it on television.

1. They show a small percentage of the hands
2. They select hands that are played unusually (most times badly)
3. They edit the footage to add excitement so sometimes the shots of players during the hand are actually from different hands.
4. Since you know all the hole cards, any perception you have of how the hand was or should have been played is tainted.

IIRC, there were a couple of hands from the '04 WSOP (one involved Hellmuth and Tony D) where it was determined that they were showing one player's hole cards from a different hand to make it look like the laydown was a much more difficult decision than it actually was.

If you're serious about improving your game, treat TV poker for what it is - entertainment.

Watching the strategies on high stakes poker and poker after dark are great ways to learn how to play poker. I am not talking about the crappy ESPN and WPT broadcasts. And you don't have to not know what someone's hole cards are to learn something. When you read a poker book, much of the book is specific hands that the author brings up, much like those specific hands on TV. Are you gonna tell me that reading poker books such as the one Daniel is writing isn't good for learning either? Don't get me wrong, I know that experience is the one true thing that makes a player great, and believe me I have played lots and lots of poker, but don't tell me watching those types of shows is useless.