Good to be back!

After a little more than a month away from the office, it's great to finally be back blogging. My surgery went very well and my recovery is still progressing, but I am healthy enough to return to work, so here I am. I want to again thank everyone who sent me well-wishes, and to those of you who had fun at my expense with breast-implant jokes, etc., I won't forget it. Thanks to Mike Fasso for filling in for me and keeping the Ante Up! machine cranking along.

So, what better way to return to the blog than with a Poker on TV post? Tonight there will be a lot of new poker to take in, starting with the World Poker Tour making its debut on GSN at 9 p.m. ET. Phil Ivey makes his seventh WPT final table, but can he finally close the deal at the Mirage?

Also, Poker After Dark returns after a few weeks of reruns. It's being billed as "Jam-Up Week" because these players like to play loose and let the chips fly. I'm not so sure I agree with that after watching all of these guys play for years on television, but this week's tournament may change that. From left: David "Mr. Bling" Williams (who definitely jams it up), Howard "Mr. FTP" Lederer (who has NEVER been accused of throwing the chips around), Mike "The Mouth" Matusow (Sure, he blows up a lot, but he doesn't really jam it up THAT much), Barry "Bear" Greenstein (He's just superior and throws them around when he needs to), Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari (He mixes it up, but I wouldn't call him a Jam-Up player) and Eli "Queen-Deuce? Raise it up!" Elezra (Now HE likes to jam the pot!). I suppose these episodes may change how I feel if they play loose for large pots, but generally, these guys don't gamble it up THAT much. And something interesting happens early on that bumps the prize pool to a $140,000 winner-take-all match, so stay tuned.

Finally, I think the Best Damn Poker Show will wrap up tonight on FSN, but I could be wrong judging by the way they've dragged it out this far. At least I hope it ends tonight. It should run at the same time as the WPT at 9 so be sure to TiVo one and watch the other if you're interested.

-- Chris

Photo courtesy of NBC

Comments

[Joe24Pa]

Welcome back. Well the names have all changed since you hung around... Barbarino, Horshack, Epstein, Fasso...Fasso?!?!

Welcome back, Chris.

[Chris Cosenza]

LOL! Thanks Joe.

[aces88ss]

Chris, we missed ya...

Too late now for the nation to catch on TV, but the wife just screamed for me to come to the bedroom (sadly, not for the obvious reason), "DANCING WITH THE STARS" had Penn Jillette (author of "How to Cheat Your Friends at Poker" AND Shannon Elizabeth (2nd place NBC heads up Challenge last season).

TV Poker completists missed out.

[Erwin Blonk]

To quote Q from Star Trek (after Picard thought he'd never return):
"Au contraire mon capitane, HE'S BACK!!!" (enter mariachi band)

(for all the non-Trekkies, the scene is from "Q, who?")

[AlanStewart]

I thought the Elezra/Matusow hand was bigger than that first one ... to quote the Professor, "WOW!"

[Berliner77]

I think all of Ante Up Nation should pitch in 5 bucks a piece to buy Chris a new chair for the studio.

[Chi-Guy]

NBC has a right to market their shows howthey want to! Even if that mean saying that the "professor" is going to jam pots.

Yeah, that doesn't sound right to me either with that mix. We'll see what happens. I am sad to say, I am going to miss AIPS again, although since I will be sitting at a poker table at the MGM Grand, I am not that sorry.

By the way, I learned that the MGM pays you $2 per hour for sitting at their tables if you sign up for a card. Hmmmmm. Sit down, play for 5 hours, order a sandwich, play for 5 hours, order a sandwich, play for 5 hours, order a sandwich. Go to bed full, drunk, and $185 richer. Not a bad day.

Brian