Five Poker Babes on WPT Season 9

[lwestatbus]

I've been watching Season 9 and they have a pretty articulate spokesmodel and then the Royal Flush Girls. These latters look like refugees from a low rent massage parlour in Garden Grove (not that I would know first hand, mind you).

I really like the lead-in to the first episode of each two-episode series for the tournys. They do a recap of the rest of the tournament by showing some celebrities and what happened to them and some key hands before the TV bubble.

[HalfSugar]

Is it still Mike Sexton, VVP and loads of cheering and applauding when a player does anything? Is it also a six-handed TV table?

Other than Mike Sexton, I like none of the above!

[lwestatbus]

Other than the two changes it is still pretty much the same. I agree with you about Mike Sexton. I have learned a LOT over the years from his commentary (not that it has done me any good). Vince van Patten is jumping in more on stuff I'm not really sure he knows much about. It is still 6-handed. The WPT even has its own term, the "TV Bubble", to describe when you bust out before making it on TV.

They are pushing the ClubWPT.com every chance they can including in the commentary.

[lwestatbus]

Ooops. There are SIX poker babes. They have Kara Scott doing some interviews and she's both a looker and a good player.

I forget her name but the new spokesmodel/interviewer is actually pretty articulate and seems knowledgeable. I think her name is Tiffany but the fast forward on my DVR isn't working so I'm not going to try to figure it out right now.

[HalfSugar]

Shana Hiatt was by far the best but in the UK, we now have Liv Boeree presenting coverage of the UKIPT and she is the perfect woman.

I met her a couple of weekends ago at an event in London and she was a delight. I'm hoping to marry her soon.

[lwestatbus]

Shana Hiatt was by far the best...

There is a lot to be said for her, especially with her Playboy pictorial pictures speaking thousands of words. But she never struck me as an intellectual giant. Maybe the format just never gave her the chance to shine. The new gal's name is Kimberly Lansing. Not nearly as hot as Shana but definitely has some brains.

... but in the UK, we now have Liv Boeree presenting coverage of the UKIPT and she is the perfect woman.

I met her a couple of weekends ago at an event in London and she was a delight. I'm hoping to marry her soon.

OMG. What an absolute hottie of the first magnitude. UN__Believable. Invite me to the wedding.

[golddog]

Shana Hiatt was by far the best but in the UK, we now have Liv Boeree presenting coverage of the UKIPT and she is the perfect woman.

I met her a couple of weekends ago at an event in London and she was a delight. I'm hoping to marry her soon.

Don't invite me to the wedding. I'd just get drunk and make fun of her (because she's an astrophysicist) until I got thrown out.

And yes, I do think the reason that humans talk so much is because if they didn't, their brains would start working.

[lwestatbus]

I've had a chance to sit down and watch some old saved WPT Season 9 episodes and have noticed some addtional changes to the format. There is more commentary than there used to be (and less poker) but I like what they are doing. Tony Dunst, a young man who made it pretty deep in last year's WSOP ME is doing additional commentary (a segment called the "Raw Deal") and I find these pretty informative. He digs into the play of either a single hand or a series of hands by a player at a critical juncture and I like his analysis. He is articulate and seems pretty bright. I enjoyed watching him at the WSOP last year as he seemed competent but also lost with class. He also wore a suit to the poker table and talked some blond hottie in the audience into a good luck kiss in the late stages of the tournament.

The Royal Flush Girls are just not a credible addition to the show. I like spectacular bosoms as well as the next man but their main function seems to be standing around Mike Sexton at critical moments, delivering the cash to the heads up stage of the final table, and working in bikini shots at odd times in the coverage. I wonder if Mike Sexton got them added as some sort of Hall of Fame perk. Now that I think about it I sort of miss whatever local version of the HU cash delivery they would arrange, whether local hotties, Indian dancers, or a stagecoach.

Kimberly Lansing, the hostess, also does a Five Questions segment with a poker celeb and this is OK. Sort of depends on the celebrity. I've seen her left dangling when she asks a question and gets a pretty lame response that gives here nowhere to go with a follow up or commentary.

All in all I enjoy the format. Again, not as much poker but I find it entertaining.

BTW: Has anyone run the numbers to see if WPT is skewing the payouts in some way? It seems that the first place prize is always at least a million dollars but they have smoe pretty low participation counts for some events. I can't help but wonder if they feel the $million is an important draw for TV audiences and fiddle with the payouts to ensure that 1st is at least a million.

[HalfSugar]

Tony Dunst

He draws quite the polarised responses that boy. I've been reading his blog for quite a few years and I can see why people would dislike him but ultimately he is entertaining and charismatic enough to make for some decent TV. He is articulate and enthusiastic and most importantly not so far up his own ass that he can longer see daylight unlike a lot of the young douchebags that play predominantly online.

Earlier I was watching a few minutes of some heads up tourney on UK TV and Isaac Haxton was commentating. I really cannot last more than a few syllables from that guy.

[miaowmiaowchowface]

Tony Dunst

He draws quite the polarised responses that boy. I've been reading his blog for quite a few years and I can see why people would dislike him but ultimately he is entertaining and charismatic enough to make for some decent TV. He is articulate and enthusiastic and most importantly not so far up his own ass that he can longer see daylight unlike a lot of the young douchebags that play predominantly online.

Earlier I was watching a few minutes of some heads up tourney on UK TV and Isaac Haxton was commentating. I really cannot last more than a few syllables from that guy.

haha, i like ike