HSP is a very good poker show - different from ESPNs populist (but still great) coverage of the World Series, HSP is a chance to settle in and see some of the world's best players playing for cash.
Personally I like the pace it is much more like real live games: quite slow, thoughtful, and you do get a chance to understand plays from out of position, how to trap with small pairs, float betting and other plays that can be tricky.
Of course, it is also entertaining - but HSP fells more serious than a lot of poker shows and it should be praised on that basis alone.
As we approach a new season in 2011 it will interesting to see if Norm MacDonald can do as good a job as Gabe Kaplan - that change as well as the introduction of 3D may be too populist for the core audience but might still leave the casual viewer uninformed.
I hope that this show and Poker After Dark continue - they do provide poker fans with some very solid poker to fill the rest of the year when the WSOP, the National Heads-Up and the PCA aren't underway.
Re-edit: Norm is doing a fine job; still miss Gabe though (is he alright?)
Personally I like the pace it is much more like real live games: quite slow, thoughtful, and you do get a chance to understand plays from out of position, how to trap with small pairs, float betting and other plays that can be tricky.
Of course, it is also entertaining - but HSP fells more serious than a lot of poker shows and it should be praised on that basis alone.
As we approach a new season in 2011 it will interesting to see if Norm MacDonald can do as good a job as Gabe Kaplan - that change as well as the introduction of 3D may be too populist for the core audience but might still leave the casual viewer uninformed.
I hope that this show and Poker After Dark continue - they do provide poker fans with some very solid poker to fill the rest of the year when the WSOP, the National Heads-Up and the PCA aren't underway.
Re-edit: Norm is doing a fine job; still miss Gabe though (is he alright?)