Candio = Donkio

Watching last night’s 2010 WSOP Main Event coverage on ESPN was pretty painful. I was trying to like Filippo Candio, as I think it’s good for the game on televised coverage when you see poker players wear their emotions on their sleeves, but man, Candio is too much of a donk as far as his actual play to really root for him.

That huge pot with Cheong was just hard to watch, as everyone has been in that spot with a dominating hand, huge pot, and a donkey willing to stack off when he absolutely has every reason to fold yet somehow doesn’t, and gets donkfish lucky to win a monster pot.

NBC Heads-up Poker Championship – Brackets Announced!

The Poker Prof has announced the heads-up poker championship. If you’re interested in taking a look at the brackets and “who’s playing who,” head on over to the Poker Prof’s website. Here are the NBC Heads-up Poker Championship Brackets.

Interesting First round match-up include:

First round -

• Carlos Mortensen Vs. Barry Greenstein (Will my pick survive the first round?)

• Patrick Antonius Vs. Huck Seed ( Internet pro vs a poker legend)

• Joe Hachem Vs Moneymaker (who’s the better WSOP champion?)

• Mike Matusow Vs Daniel Negreanu (Is Daniel as good as he says he is against The Mouth?)

• Jennifer Tilly Vs Jamie Gold (Beauty vs the Geek)

• Chris Ferguson Vs Scott Fischman ( If Ferguson is able to take this he probably has Phil Ivey in the next round. Tough road to another Final Table)

NBC Heads-up Poker Championship

This weekend is the NBC heads-up poker Championship. This is the third year running and should be as entertaining as the first two years. The event is being held at the fabulous Caesar’s Palace Casino in Las Vegas (and I wish I was there).
The last two years winners had to face Chris “Jesus” Ferguson in the final. Both times Jesus lost to Ted Forrest (2006) and Phil Hellmuth (2005). Will Jesus be able to walk on water to the final again? Will another big pro take the event or will a up-and-coming internet pro be able to take it? Stay tuned.
The event will be taped for three days (March 1st – 4th). While the show will be aired on NBC on seven consecutive Sundays from April 8th to May 20th.
All the big name pros will be in attendance and should make for some great (hung-over) television. For more information and to check out who’s exactly playing check out the NBC Heads-up Poker Championship website. My money is on Carlos Mortensen this year.

Live blogging a repeat

Fox Sports Network ran what I think is a re-run of of Full Tilt Poker’s “Learn From The Pros” this evening. I never saw it the first time around, but I recognize Chris Rose and Howard Lederer’s suits. They wore the same suits every show that first season.

Here’s a summary of the episode: Aggression is good.

Ok, you need more?

Phil Gordon: “If you’re not an aggressive poker player, you’re a broke poker player.” Glad I tuned in.

According to the commercial during the first break, I need to get my free credit report. Excuse me a moment…

I’m back. Yeah, it’s an old one. Daniel is still working at the Wynn. Hellmuth supposedly demanded to be introduced as a “poker icon.” Today he demands to be introduced as ”poker legend.”

They’re talking about having to make adjustments because of the aggressive nature of the latest round of amateurs. Hellmuth is mostly saying “Yeah, me too,” so he can brag about being on the TV table for 12 hours.

Brilliant point of the show: Be passive and trap against aggressive opponents, be aggressive and bluff against passive players.

Thanks guys, now can have that 15 minutes of my life back?

According to the commercial during the second break, I need to go get some Valtrex. Excuse me a moment…

I’m back. Did you know that when you play passively, bad things can happen?

Damn, that was a quick segment, we’re back to commercial. Let’s see if there’s anything I need to take care of… trips to Vail, new Ford truck, … nah, can’t afford any of that. Maybe I should learn to play poker better.

We’re watching Daniel and the Mouth argue over the “Showdown at the Sands”. Each is trying to explain why they both played the same shitty cards in shitty position. They’re arguing all the way into the commercial break.

According to the commercial break, the psychic can tell what you did in Vegas by looking at some dice or tiles or some crap like that. I’ll wait while you go make sure that skeleton is still buried…

You back? Good. Did you know the Panthers are primed and ready to take on the NHL?

Yeah, me neither. Nobody cares about hockey.

Ok, just closing it out with some crap about how Matusow is down 2-19 vs. Daniel heads-up. But, he beat him for a world championship in O8, so he thinks he’s ahead. He may be, if you value the bracelet more than money. I think he has a debatable point.

Well, Idol is on, and I really need to check out how Antonella Barba does after this week’s nekkid photo revelations.

BSN out!

“One of a Kind” Set to Premier Saturday, July 29th on ESPN

While most hard-core poker players are familiar with the tragic story of Stuey Ungar, but the general public will soon learn his story when ESPN premiers “One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stu Ungar” on Saturday, July 29th.

The documentary contains interviews (including audio recordings of Stu Ungar himself intended for an autobiography) with players that knew and played with Stu before his early drug-related death, including Doyle Brunson, Billy Baxter, Mike Sexton, Dalla, Eric Draiche, and others. Ungar’s wife and daughter are also interviewed, adding an extra element of humanity to Ungar, who was ultimately unable to escape the demons that plagued him.

Southern Comfort to Sponsor Bravo’s Celebrity Poker

Bravo has signed a deal with Southern Comfort parent Brown-Forman, establishing the SoCo brand as an integrated part of the eighth season of Celebrity Poker Showdown, which begins May 31.

As part of the agreement, departing poker players will be interviewed in the SoCo Lime Lounge just after their elimination, and the Celebrity Poker programming and website will feature the Southern Comfort logo.