Aussie Aussie Aussie
Published November 8, 2009I think you’re right when you state that Joe Hachem’s accent is quite irritating. But I also think Hachem is one of the best Main Event winners from the past ten years. If you’re still not convinced on this point, have a look at the following fragment (hand is played after 10 minutes):
No I think this is a very strong play from Hachem, if you consider the extreme tight image of ‘the Nitty Professor’, Howard Lederer. First of all I like his play preflop, just calling with Jacks, a move I also often make. The same action follows on the flop, with Hachem just calling Lederer’s bet on an all spade board. The play from Lederer is horrible on the flop: he checks first and follows that up with an obvious feelerraise. Hachem notices this and has the guts to make a nice reraise here, making Howard throw away his flush. I think Lederer won’t appear in any season of HSP anymore.
Ruling a table
Published September 22, 2009Last time I showed you one of the best single plays I’d ever seen on television. This time I ‘ve one of the greatest ‘on a roll’ sessions from a single player who’s sitting down and playing with the pros, from Eli Elezra on Poker After Dark.
Eli is ruling the table for about half an hour long in this show, starting after about five minutes in the fragment below, where he busts Lederer’s toppair by spiking a set of fours on the turn. Btw, it’s funny to see how the players (and Elezra and Brunson in specific) are trying to start a round of live straddles each time and Howard Lederer being the only one who constantly resists 
After that hand , Eli wins about 80% of the following hands, which you can see in the fragment right here, where the episode continues. What Eli does very well is not showing his big hands (because he’s hitting reasonably good), but showing his bluff with the 86 of diamonds for example. The consternation on the face of Howard Lederer is priceless
Sidebets 2.0
Published April 27, 2009I was watching the episodes of PAD again and another conversation arised about sidebets. Now it didn’t concern one of the players sitting on the exclusive table, but the visiting Phil Hellmuth!
So Phil and Chad Brown (introduced by Phil as the following: ‘so you’re going out with Vanessa Rousso’^^) are passing by to have a little talk with Shana Hiatt and give their comments on the action. Then Howard asks if Phil ever lost a bowling ball:
LOL so Phil betted 20k (which also is the buy-in of the winner takes all tournament) on himself to win every Poker After Dark he appeared on . Phil for President!
Howard Lederer gets pwned!
Published April 24, 2009I enjoyed watching some episodes of Season 2 of Poker After Dark today . Main reason for watching those ones was the appearance of one of my heroes on the shorthanded tournament table: Gabe Kaplan. Of course every poker fanatic knows him for his commentary on High Stakes Poker, but Gabe likes to play for himself too.
Suddenly a table discussion rises about the brilliant movie The Big Lebowksi. Gabe decides to make a bet with Howard Lederer on the release date of the movie ^^ (starts about at 5’45″):
So Lederer is waaaaaaaaay off here! First he says Vanessa Rousso was only eight when the movie came out but I thought he just made a reasonably good joke there, considering the sense of humour of Mr. Lederer. But then he seriously thinks it was released in 1992 . And he even dares to laugh at Gabe’s heroic bet offer: a bowling ball!
H: What would I do with a new bowling ball?
G:Play hockey?
Gabe Kaplan is a hero!!