Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

Ok so who do we even got in this debate. I'm going to try and think of everybody...

1)Norman Chad and Lon McEachern- hands down the best team, Norman Chad is by far the funniest and well informed poker commentator on TV. Lon does a great job of complimenting Chad and keeping the ball rolling. I laugh out loud at least 3 times during a telecast they are doing.

2) Phil Gordon and Dave Foley (now of course 86 Gordon, add Phil Hellmuth) The play on Celebrity Poker showdown is awful to watch, but it's fun to hear Gordon ridicule players for bad plays and Dave Foley is usually good for a couple laughs. Sorry I can commentate on Hellmuth haven't watched an episode since he took over. Also I think Phil Gordon did a great job during the Final Table pay per view telecast, he maybe a better broadcaster than player.

3) Gape Kaplan- He's rarely funny but his commentary is right on the money. I can't think of too many places you'll see him other than the NBC heads up poker where he's partnered with Matt Vasgersian (who kinda sucks at broadcasting if you ask me) I think he may have been the prior host for ESPN's WSOP coverage.

4) Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten- Overall watching the WPT events is kinda second rate when compared to ESPN broadcasts, but they do an adequate jobs. My one beef with them is they tend to (Sexton especially) give a guy all kinds of credit when they bluff and it works, but totally turncoat on that player if the bluff doesn't work, they are too results orienated in their commentary. But with pattoned phrases like "he's getting out some Raisin chips!" and "He's making this move with Zip and Pip!" how could you not love those guys?

5) Chris Rose and Howard Lederer (and other Poker Superstar announcers)- I'm not even sure Chris Rose knows how to play Texas Hold'em. He sounds more shocked than a prepubescent boy seeing a pair of naked breasts for the first time everytime he sees pocket Aces. He's absolutely dreadful, fortunately Howard is there to salvage the show a little bit. The poor production value overall on Poker Superstars doesn't help matters either and for reason I seem to remember Rose being paired with someone else besides Lederer in previous seasons.

6)Michael Konik and Barry Tompkins- These guys host Speed Poker on Fox Sports Sunday nights. Really who cares about them? I'm just waiting for them to shut up and a player to bust out already so I can see some more Lee Ann Tweeden, Yum Yum!

7)Mark Seif and Matt Corboy- They host the PPT and OH MY GOD do these guys suck! in Season 2's final table Chris Bigler had J-10 and Daniel Negreanu had 10-6 on a flop of 9,8,6 one says to another (they both sound the same to me, same irritating monotone voice) Bigler has an open ended straight draw but Negreanu's pair of 6's are out in front. And than the other idiot cuts him off, Don't forget Negreanu has an gut shot straight draw of his own. Are you freaking serious? These two could put Bebe's kids to sleep they're so boring.

I hope I didn't leave anybody out, there's my rankings feel free to give your own complete with commentary of your own if you wish


P.S. Oh yeah AJ Benza sucks!

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

Your rankings suck. Norm/Lon #1? LOL. Kaplan/Benza are 1000 times better than they are but I guess you've never heard of a little show called High Stakes Poker?

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

I like Gabe Kaplan the best. At least he provides real insight into what the players could be thinking. Sexton does sometimes, as well, but the "BOLD AGGRESSIVE POKER" gets really old. I think Norman Chad is pretty entertaining, but the format of that show doesn't allow them to say anything very interesting, because they're jumping around ever 5 seconds. The rest just suck, first and foremost the PPT announcers. No wonder it's already cancelled.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

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The rest just suck, first and foremost the PPT announcers. No wonder it's already cancelled.

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Breaking some news there?

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

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The rest just suck, first and foremost the PPT announcers. No wonder it's already cancelled.

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Breaking some news there?

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zomgz yes I heard about it first when they announced it this morning.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

I said AJ Benza sucks didn't I?


(nothing against Kaplan he is greatness)

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

Nobody is worse than VVP and Sexton to me. The over dramatics, the totally corny lingo, just horrid.

I like Chad a lot, but I really dislike when he starts moralizing and he's got a few default jokes that after 4 years lose their punch. I think Lon is very solid.

What little I saw of Chris Rose and Kaplan I like a lot.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

Gabe Kaplan is the best, no contest. Has anyone seen his interview after the 79wsop? funny stuff.

lon & norman? not even close, he cracks that same tired joke about his ex-wives about three times an episode. *yawn*

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Kaplan is the best, but I can't stand Benza. The best team IMO is Norman/Lon, they work well together and Norman can be pretty fun.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

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Kaplan is the best, but I can't stand Benza. The best team IMO is Norman/Lon, they work well together and Norman can be pretty fun.

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Yeah, I like Norman and Chad, not much poker insight, but they're funny in a self-depracating way. But I also really liked Phil Gordon as a commentator, he was actually making intelligent poker talk.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

1) Norman Chad
2) Gabe Kaplan
3) All other poker announcers suck. I'd rather just hear the table talk without any announcers.
My Advice? Turn down the announcers and put on Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil".

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

I love Gabe because he has the right mix of humor, seriousness, and always offers insightful commentary. The rest, mehhh, not so good. Poker seems to have the most unprofessional commentators over any other sport.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

VVP and Mike Sexton are easily the worst of the bunch.

Norman Chad is hit or miss. Sometimes he says things that make me burst out in laughter. Other times, it's really lame and boring [censored].

Gabe Kaplan wins though. He has enough poker knowledge to analyze what's going on. He takes the game seriously while maintaining a humorous edge and really takes the cake in a field of weak commentators. Welcome Back Kaplan

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

Padraig Parkinson does some commentary/analysis on some of the UK events. He is hilarious, and his comments on the play are usually spot-on. Best of the bunch IMHO.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

When Gabe made fun of David Grey a few weeks ago on HSP, he won me over. "I'm David Grey, and I've been playing poker for 20 years, and I always end up with the second best hand, so if aces were the best hand, then I had kings because that's the second best hand and I always end up with the second best hand." I thought it was hilarious.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

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The rest just suck, first and foremost the PPT announcers. No wonder it's already cancelled.

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Breaking some news there?

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zomgz yes I heard about it first when they announced it this morning.

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Link?

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

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The rest just suck, first and foremost the PPT announcers. No wonder it's already cancelled.

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Breaking some news there?

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zomgz yes I heard about it first when they announced it this morning.

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Link?

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freedavidwilliamsavis.com

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

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I love Gabe because he has the right mix of humor, seriousness, and always offers insightful commentary.

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My thoughts exactly.
This guy is both funny and an insightful poker commentator.
Number one by far.

From what i saw the WPT commentators are the worst.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

Kaplan wins just based on porno mustache alone.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

Gabe Kaplan is the best in my opinion. Frankly I get a little tired of Norman Chad's jokes and his bias for or against specific players.

I do like Lon. I think he plays a good straight man and his voice is the WSOP ME for me. I don't think he has ever claimed to be a poker expert. He's kind of like a good referee, you know he's doing a good job when you don't notice he's there. I'd like to see them pair Gabe Kaplan and Lon for future WSOP broadcasts (though I know it won't happen.)
I thought Phil Gordan and his partner(forget his name,) did a good job on the WSOP ME PPV. Wow, that's alot of acronyms. Especially considering that it was live. The guest pros were great. Anyhow, that's my .02

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

Phil Hellmuth and Dave Foley (Celebrity Poker)

LOL

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

None of them provide good analysis, so critiquing them based on that seems futile. Kaplan is assuredly not the best in my book.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

ok some of you are misguided....norman chad is the worst commentater in the history of television....his divorce jokes are horrible and it makes me want to kill myself everytime i hear one. i would take bart and dave over all those people except maybe kaplan.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

I know that it said, "TV" poker commentators but I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Bart Hanson and Dave Tuchman, granted they are not on TV so I suppose they don't count for this but they do have very entertaining and educational commentary.

I think Kaplan is the best for TV but think the Live at the Bike team deserves an honorable mention if not more.

-Shady Poker


Edit: Just noticed the post before mentioned them but I didn't see that as I was typing my original post.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

To be brief, I've never heard analysis better than that of Howard Lederer and Michael Konik. They actually discuss poker strategy and provide some information instead of cracking jokes about how many ex-wives they have (Norm Chad) or make up stupid nicknames for hands or players (Vince Van Patten). Chad and Van Patten make me not want to watch poker on TV.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

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I said AJ Benza sucks didn't I?


(nothing against Kaplan he is greatness)

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Yeah but this was your quote:

3) Gape Kaplan- He's rarely funny but his commentary is right on the money. I can't think of too many places you'll see him other than the NBC heads up poker where he's partnered with Matt Vasgersian (who kinda sucks at broadcasting if you ask me) I think he may have been the prior host for ESPN's WSOP coverage.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

1.Howard Lederer
2.Phil Gordon
3.Gabe Kaplan
4.Phil Hellmuth

The absolute worst, who no one has mentioned yet (maybe nobody else watches?) are the NPL commentators. Ali Nejad and two other guys who look semi retarded. They don't know anything about pot odds, hand values, position, etc., and they constantly get calls wrong i.e. saying that J-10 against A-A can only win with two jacks, two tens or a straight. I don't think they have ever heard of two pairs.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

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i would take bart and dave over all those people except maybe kaplan.

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Word.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

for that poll you really need to split gabe & aj

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

My single favorite announcer is Kaplan. A "dream team" for me would be Kaplan and Chad.

A runner up dream team would be Howard Lederer and Mike Sexton (though I know many will disagree with this one).

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

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I love Gabe because he has the right mix of humor, seriousness, and always offers insightful commentary.

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My thoughts exactly.
This guy is both funny and an insightful poker commentator.
Number one by far.


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Gabe is easily tops of the bunch. If he would stop pushing some of his jokes too far, he could be even better. Mike Sexton seems cool, so does Phil Gordon (from the PPV).

The WSOP commentary is the most useless dribble ever peddled before a poker audience. With all that film footage to work with ~ the [censored] they put up is the "best" and the commentary is the "funniest"? Holy crap they should let Mikey the Chimp commentate since they wont let him play poker. They don't even freakin show/state the blinds or bet sizes half the time.

WPT could be better if they layed off the hyperbole ~ "we're witnessing some masterful play here folks!"

Gabe and HSP ftw

I'd like to see/hear Padraig ~ that would be refreshing

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

Easily Gabe Kaplan. Hes pretty much one of the only poker annoucers who actually tells you what he believes the player is thinking at each decision...and for the most part hes probably right.

Norman and Lon, are easy to listen to but their commentary is pointless and doesn't provide any insight into the game.

The worst i've seen is definetly Mike Sexton, his voice is awful, and hes definetly not audience friendly.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

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My single favorite announcer is Kaplan. A "dream team" for me would be Kaplan and Chad.

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Never pair the first-stringer with the understudy.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

I might get flamed for this, but I absolutely loved the team of Seif and Corboy. They reminded me of WWE announcers - funny because they're so over the top about something really trivial. True, they added no real poker analysis, but then again, neither does Norman Chad.

Phil Gordon did a fantastic job on the WSOP PPV. I hope ESPN does one again next year for the final table.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

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I am so going to get flamed for this, but I absolutely loved the team of Seif and Corboy.

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FYP

Edit: Welcome to the forums!

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

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I might get flamed for this, but I absolutely loved the team of Seif and Corboy. They reminded me of WWE announcers - funny because they're so over the top about something really trivial. True, they added no real poker analysis, but then again, neither does Norman Chad.

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!@#$% you.........ah, what the hell, I don't really care anymore either. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

haha...word indeed

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

Kaplan can do jokes and give good analysis. Chad is mainly just jokes, so the best team would be a Kaplan/Gordon or Kaplan/McEachern.

Re: Rank the TV Poker Commentators?
 

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1.Howard Lederer
2.Phil Gordon
3.Gabe Kaplan
4.Phil Hellmuth

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