Who Are the Best Poker Commentators?

[J.C. Gloves]

I've seen/heard all of em and here is the ranks:

1-Bart Hanson/David Tuchman (They owned '06, hell they owned every1, really hope they get to TV someday)

2-Gabe Kaplan/AJ Benza (Gabe is solid enuff w/ insight into the thought process of the players, and AJ is tolerable. He doesn't interrupt @ inopportune times)

3-Howard Lederer (Knowledgable)

4-Ali Nejad/Phil Gordon (Good flow and PG really inserts his opinion a lot. I don't tend to agree w/ him a lot but its good to hear an opinion sometimes....SOMETIMES not all the times Jeez)

5-ESPN crew (Meh...they don't bother me, the coverage is much better than the commentary)

6-WPT/PPT crew (Sigh... Actually I didn't think Seif/Corboy were that bad, but they sounded so similar that you didn't really kno who was doing the play-by-play and who was doing the color. Less there 1-liner jokes, they were decent)

7-Chad Brown (I really don't like Chad Brown's commentary but he's more bearable than...)

8-FSN crew (*GAGS*)

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PPL who deserve call-backs:
1)Barry Greenstein- Everything Barry says is gold. He is just SO on the level that we are all in tune to. Plus he's one of the best players in the world.
2)Erick Lindgren- I really enjoyed that time he was in the booth during the PokerNetcast Heads-Up. He really had a good approach that I think a lotta ppl liked.
3)Vanessa Rousso- During the $50k Horse Event @ the WSOP she was doing some color commentary on Bluff's coverage on SIRIUS that I really enjoyed. Her thought process is very detailed and thought provoking. I don't enjoy her as much on those UPC tourneys. Post-production BLOWS.
4)Kenna James- Ditto^
5)Dan Harrington- He's okay, sort of on that Barry G. level but not quite. Very adequate for tournament broadcasts.
6)Jeff Madsen- I need to hear more of him to make a further interpretation

[JoeBlazer55]

I've always thought Mike Sexton was the best. I love listening to him.

No one's mentioned the tournament they show on the INHD channel. It's a tournament at Caesar's, I forget the name but it's a series of single table tourneys and the winner from each moves on the the finals. The announcers on there are terrible. Oli Nejad and two other dorks. Anyone else seen this?

[eljizzle]

I like Matt Vasgersian's commentary...he doesn't pretend to know what he is talking about and just calls it like he sees it.

[Self Made]

Best: Phil Gordon
Runner up: Adam Shoenfeld.
Also good: Lederer, Greenstein.
I didn't listen to Bartuch, so I have no opinion on them.

Worst: Norman Chad
Runner up: Ali Nejad

[Degenerasian]

Norm/Lon are probably the best
I'd say the HSP announcers but AJ Benza sucks

[Big Tuna]

I like Norm and Lon, although they could do with eliminating a few of the ex-wife/marraige-is-hell jokes every episode. It might not be the most insightful commentary on the game itself, but I watch the WSOP more as entertainment than as serious poker and their commentary is pretty entertaining.

[Self Made]

I was just listening to Greg Raymer do some EPT analysis, and I'd add him to the list. He's really good. Just says what he likes and doesn't like about their plays. But the guy he's paired with brings him down... I'll have to pay attention next time to get that guy's name.

[J.C. Gloves]

Forgot to add the Heartland Poker Tour crew. On my list they fall between 7 & 8. Leaning towards being tied w/ Chad Brown but they are a lil on the corny side so...I do think they are efficient tho.

[Trestle]

Bart Hanson and David Tuchman nobody could touch them. When the game got slow at least they kept it interesting. The thing with them is they didnt have editing to work with they had do to everything live.

A really close second would goto Gabe Kaplin now if they would just shoot AZ Benza out of a cannon it would be great.

[Dima2000123]

What's wrong with Benza?