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So here begins my countdown of favorites to watch on TV. This first post will be “honorable mentions” and will be listed in no particular order. Obviously the majority of this list (and looking over it they all are) is poker pros — hence the reason they’re on TV all the time. Believe it or not there are a couple of players in my home games that I absolutely LOVE to watch play… but they’ve never made it to TV So, without further adieu, here here my Honorable Mention Favorite Players To Watch On TV.

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Johnny “The Orient Express” Chan

For those of you out there that only know Johnny from his appearance in Rounders I’ve gotta tell you — you’re missing out.  Sure he was on the receiving end of a Matt Damon bluff in the movie, but Johnny is quite simply one of the best players out there bar none.  He’s often referred to as “the perfect poker player” and I’ve haven’t seen anything that would cause me to doubt this.  It seems that Johnny is always in a big pot with a big hand and if he’s going to lose a pot it’s rare that it’s a large one.

I actually had the opportunity to meet Johnny a few years back when I was out in Vegas.  He was playing the “big game” with the rest of the crew and I happened to bump into him on a trip to the bathroom.  He declined an autograph but I don’t really fault him for that as he had just lost a pot to Doyle a few minutes prior.

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Doyle “The Godfather Of Poker” Brunson

I’m not even sure where to begin when it comes to Doyle.  He’s an author.  He’s been playing professionally for over 50 years.  He’s got more World Series of Poker bracelets than any man alive save one.  He’s finished in the money at the WSOP 30 times.  He’s won a World Poker Tour event — hell he’s even got a World Poker Tour event NAMED after him.  All along the way he’s a nice guy… A nice guy that will slit your throat and take your bankroll while smiling at you.

Every single time I’m flipping channels I stop when Doyle is at the table.  Even if I’ve seen the episode before I still find myself in awe of the man that they call “The Godfather”.  He’s always telling stories.  He’s always playing lots of pots.  It’s a true testament to the man that when he wrote a best-selling book telling people how to beat him he kept winning.  Think about that.  He TOLD people how he was winning.  He TOLD people what made him successful.  And he just kept on doing it.  Amazing.

He’ll play any pot from any position.  He’ll play nearly any two cards (just look at the “Doyle Brunson” hand of 10/2 to tell you that).  What sets Doyle apart is the ability to push at any time.  He’ll force you to make a decision.  He’ll force you to put your whole stack at risk and he’s not afraid to put his chips in the middle.

If you haven’t ever seen Doyle play don’t wait – go right now, TODAY and start watching.  I guarantee that you’ll learn something.  I consider myself lucky to have seen the man play.

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Annie Duke

For a long time Annie Duke was simply known as “Howard Lederer’s sister”.  If you ever have a chance to sit down next to her please, for the sake of your bankroll, do not make that mistake.  Annie has more cashes in the World Series of Poker than any woman in history with over 30 money finishes!

Some of the most compelling poker I’ve EVER seen on TV was when she was playing heads up with Phil Hellmuth for the WSOP Tournament of Champions.  She had Phil talking to himself.  She had Phil second guessing himself.  She had Phil literally walking away from the table mumbling to himself.  This was all after she was nearly knocked out very early in the tournament and battled her way back.

She’s been called “the best female poker player on the planet”.  While that’s a great moniker I think it actually sells her quite short — Annie is an incredible player regardless of sex or who her brother is.  Hell, she even tutored Ben Affleck to a 2004 California State Poker Championship.  That right there should tell you all you need to know about the calibur of pokler player she is.

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Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari

Antonio is just a joy to watch.  I’ve never had the opportunity to sit at a table with him but it seems to me that he really enjoys playing cards.  He’s always laughing and joking with the rest of the players and if he happens to be sitting with Phil Unibomber Locke watch out — these two former room mates REALLY know how to get each other going.

Antonio is probably best known for some incredible chip tricks that he does which were showcased a few years back during ESPN’s coverage of the World Series of Poker.  Like most other players I’m able to riffle chips but some of the stuff that Antonio does is simply unbelievable.

Outside of being a master when it comes to manipulating chips Antonio is a hell of a player as well.  He’s won a World Poker Tour title, a WSOP bracelet and even a National Heads-Up Poker title.  A very well-rounded resume for a very likable guy — don’t pass it up if Antonio is on TV.

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Jamie Gold

I’ll start out here with what I know is an ignorant statement: “I don’t think Jamie Gold is a very good poker player.”  There, I said it.  Now I can explain.

This series of posts is all about my favorite players to watch.  By extension that pretty much limits it to people that we watch on TV cause let’s be honest, you don’t care about guys & gals that I play with in my home games.  That being said, I am limited to what is SHOWN on TV and for Jamie Gold I think that’s probably not very indicative of the type of player he is.  When he won the Main Event of the 2006 World Series of Poker he was shown to be an arrogant, talkative player that lucked his way to a main even title.  When he was shown on Poker After Dark he was portrayed in pretty much the same way.  High Stakes Poker made him look like someone who just plain didn’t care about money.

The bottom line is this: you simply cannot luck your way into a Main Event title.  You can get super lucky along the way, but I’m sure that ESPN did their best to cut together some of Jamie’s best “I’m an asshole” moments and neglected to include some truly great plays.  All of the above being said, I LOVE to watch him play.  To listen to his bullshit is outstanding and even though I find myself rooting against him I can tell you that I’ve never turned off the TV when Jamie’s at the table.

So the other night I was playing in a super tight game (6 handed) at my place. I was sitting in the big blind where it was limped around to me (I.E. tight game). I looked down and found:

Not too bad for an unraised big blind hand. Off to the flop we went which looked like this:

Now based on the way the game was being played I wasn’t too worried. I was obviously not in the lead here but I figured if I made my flush I’d be in great shape. The small blind checked to me and I decided to try and take a free card to catch my flush so I checked. The next player checked. He was followed by a small bet, a call and a call from the button. The small blind folded and I thought for a moment before calling. The only reason I thought for a moment was because this was SUCH a tight game that any betting was out of the ordinary.

The turn came a and the betting was on me. I decided to make a bet to see just where I stood in this hand. The player to my left folded followed by a call and a raise! (remember, I’m surprised by this only because of how tight the game was). I immediately threw my hand away knowing that I was up against either a bigger flush draw, trips or at the very least a Q making my J no good if I hit it. The player who had called my original bet called the raise and we were off to the river.

The river came a making me feel very good about my laydown and VERY interested to see the cards that remained in play (2 players). The first player bet (very small bet in relation to the size of the pot) and the next player called.

I simply could not believe my eyes when the cards were flipped…

for a flopped quad 3s and for a flopped full house.

Remember that this hand was LIMPED AROUND TO ME IN THE BIG BLIND!!! I really can’t fault limping with a pair of 3s but for my money I’d be in there raising with a pair of queens in a 6 handed game. Not sure that a raise would have forced the threes to fold before the flop and there wasn’t anything in hell that was going to get them to fold after flopping quads. The best thing that I can say for the gentlemen with the queens is that he didn’t lose his entire stack on this hand which I definitely would have.

Just goes to show why I love this game… you never know what you’re going to see!