Rank the TV Poker Commentators?

[ACG2x]

I haven't seen enough of a few to comment on whether I like them or not, but for the ones I have-

- Lon McEahren & Norman Chad
I agree. I like these guys. Lon used to be a slug in the older WSOP broadcasts and never said much but he's gotten a lot better. He compliments Chad nicely. Agreed on Chad actually knowing the game. Sure he might not be able to hang with Lederer, Brunson and co. but the guy knows the game of HE. His ex-wife jokes get to be a little much as does his constant bitching about the online and younger players whenever they do...well...anything.

Example-

(Online player re-raises all-in, unfortunately his opponent has the nuts)
Chad: "And there you see, the online player's are not used to this kind of environment and his overly aggressive play finally burned him. You play that way long enough and you see what happens, he is outta here."

(Daniel Negreanu does the same thing, same situation, same everything)
Chad: "Wow, tough luck for Daniel Negreanu, the first decent hand he's picked up today and his opponent turned the nuts. A tough way to exit for Kid Poker"

2)- Phil Gordon and Dave Foley
I try not to watch Celebrity Poker Showdown (the play makes my head hurt) but it was hilarious to listen to Gordon blast them when they made stupid plays. Stuff like "Chris (Kattan) has nothing...so of course he calls" or "I'm not sure what ____ was trying to accomplish there". It seems like he almost couldn't wait to invite them to a side game with him right after they were knocked out.

3)- Mike Sexton & Vince Van Patten
Both get on my nerves at times, but I forgive Sexton. I think he's just doing what the WPT brass tells him to. For example, when he announces all-in's like it's pro wrestling and the players are in a cage match. "LOOK AT THIS VINCE, DANNY NGUYEN HAS MOVED ALL IN WITH THE QUEEN DEUCE OF HEARTS FOR EIGHT HUNDRED SEVENTY...THOUSAND!!! WOW!!!" However, if you're looking for a knowledgable poker announcer, Sexton is your guy. I also think WPT brass is telling him to not berate the players too much for stupid decisions, which is fine because he's there to call the action. Agreed you can't help but like VVP because at times he sounds so stupid it's funny. "Oh and Josh Arieh has picked up the speed limit/the mid life crisis/the double 5's/the fifty five/the pocket 5's". As Reali would say on Around The Horn - 'We GET the POINT'. Overall, I enjoy them.

4)- Gabe Kaplan
No, he definitely is not funny, but he sure thinks he is. Kaplan knows his stuff but carries his 'jokes' on WAY too long. Anyone else notice this? When Kaplan is making a witty comment about someone, for example the stain on Brunson's collar that one HSP show, he talked for damn near five minutes about it. And yes, AJ Benza should stick to his E! show (the one where he closed with "Fame...ain't it a bitch").

5)- Mark Seif and Matt Corboy
I forget these guys are there a lot of the time since to me they add nothing to PPT broadcasts.

[Trainwreck]

IMHO TV Poker commentary is fluff and too much of it is POST production, so Bart and Dave are #1.

-Tw

[CaseS87]

overall, bart and dave are the clearcut winners... anyone who dissagrees is wrong.

on TV, the dream team would be i think lon for play by play and gabe for color. that would be awesome.

[Eponymous]

[ QUOTE ]
As far as Chad goes, what are ya'll talking about? Constant ex wife jokes? Maybe like 1 an episode he's just touching home base. I don't want expert commentary, it's nice but I don't need it. Now that I understand the game a little better I want to be entertained, no one does this better than Chad. I've laughed so hard chocolate milk came out my nose at some of the stuff he says. He always on, so maybe that's what everyone finds annoying but I love it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. I have always thought Norman Chad was hilarious. I used to read him when he was a sportswriter for a national daily sports rag called The National back in 1990. He was a riot, and he made the ex-wife jokes even back then. It's just a little something for continuity. He also was great when he used to join Kornheiser on PTI. He and Kaplan could be good together just like Norm and Tony are. His humor is a little more dry with another quick-witted guy to play off of.

[Megenoita]

Just offering my 2 cents...Gabe Kaplan is by far the #1 commentator. His partner sucks, but he's by far the best. Barry Greenstein said he's the best player of all the celebrities, and his commentating is evidence of that--he's spot on almost every single time. He's insightful, extremely funny, and I can't imagine a better announcer.

Second to me is Norman Chad, as annoying as he is, and many of his corny jokes. He has the occasional hilarious joke and his commentary is usually good (not outstanding).

[AtTheMovies]

gabe kaplan - he's the best! a poker-playing comedian? what's not to love?

chris rose & HL - chris rose doesn't offer much. he doesn't pretend to either. he's a total noob and howard helps him along. lederer [censored] rules.

sexton & VVP - this one can be switched with norm & lon. sexton and his results-oriented [censored], his constant calling a raise a "reraise," and assorted junk annoys me. vince is just so stupid i can't help but like him. i saw an old, old wpt espiode a while back and he literally said the exact same phrase about the exact same hand a minimum of 6 times.

norm & lon - same old thing. "and the river is a meaningless five!" .. ok. norm and his divorce jokes are old but don't bother me really. definitely hit-or-miss.

the phils & dave - i rank them this low only because the show they do can't be taken seriously. hellmuth and gordon are obviously good at poker and analyzing what others are doing. i prefer the way gordon does it, though.* special place in my heart for dave, since im a huge KITH fan.

seif & corboy - ugh. i kinda cringed even when typing this. anyone know what race mark seif is? must be some arab blood in there.

konik & tompkins - absolutely dreadful. horrific. nothing against barry at all but konik.. wow. stick to writing books about weird prop bets.

*referring to CPS. hellmuth's commentary for the 2005 wsop ME was just too awesome.

[MCS]

[ QUOTE ]
To be brief, I've never heard analysis better than that of Howard Lederer and Michael Konik.

[/ QUOTE ]

Lederer, yes. He's clearly the best.

Konik irritates the hell out of me though. He seems to think no one should ever call an all-in for any reason. He also assumes that there's a huge gap in skill between TV pros and everyone else.

Of course, I already disliked him from the part in his book where he declares that expected utility is a fraudulent concept, and his laughable appearance on the World Series of Blackjack where he kept attempting to read the dealer.

[suzzer99]

All I know is nothing irritates me more than when Mike Sexton says "Pair over pair, that's the worst situation you can have before the flop in no-limit holdem". Um not quite Mike, KK vs K2 where they share a suit is the worst you can do.

I can understand making this making this mistake once. But he keeps saying it, episode after episode, and apparently no one ever corrects him after the show. Terrible.

[SEABEAST]

Michael Konik is SO HORRIBLE!

The footage from Monte Carlo Millions and Aussie Millions was some of the better tournament footage in recent memory, great structures, lots of pros, 6 handed tables... Only problem was this retard dribbling crap over the top, incorrectly analysing basically everything... sitting there patronising people like Erik123, while he himself probably couldn't beat $200 NL... Grrrr! And that smug look he has on his face at the start of each episode when they introduce him as "world renowned poker author..." What a douche.