Editor's pick

WPT Bad Boys of Poker I

Review

The first thing you have to ask yourself when watching the World Poker Tour's Bad Boys of Poker DVD is whether the six players around the table are actually bad boys.

For starters, there's Mark Richards, a bank teller from Illinois who hadn't played stakes greater than $1/$2 prior to meeting with the badass pros at the 2003 event. He won his seat online and comes across as nothing short of sweet when his trembling hands count out raises.

Then there's Paul Darden. He wears stylish clothing and on the cover of the DVD he sports a do-rag and some expensive-looking shades, if that counts. Though he grew up in the ghetto of New Haven, Conn., Darden professes he was always a good kid and his days grinding at Seven-Card Stud games at Foxwoods and in Atlantic City don't really support a bad-boy rep.

Antonio Esfandiari may have a reputation for being a ladies' man but let's be real here - his poker nickname is "The Magician." Magic tricks and yuppie glasses? Not so bad-boy. His best buddy Phil Laak isn't much of a troublemaker either, unless black sheep these days are cinching up their hoodies and running around like ADD children off their Ritalin.

Gus Hansen could qualify for a ladykillers-of-poker special but it is only in his card strategy that Hansen is a true rebel. In fact, the only honest-to-goodness bad boy of poker featured in the invitational tournament is David "Devilfish" Ulliott, who was in prison for a spell after a stint as a safecracker and who has also been arrested for public fighting and armed robbery.

When it comes right down to it, the bad-boys tournament - like all WPT events really - is a marketing gimmick geared more for entertainment purposes and less to learning from some of the masters of the game.

That's not to say there isn't some interesting strategy to be found on the two-hour DVD. The most memorable hand comes when Gus Hansen calls Antonio Esfandiari's all-in shove with 10-8 to the Magician's pocket sevens. Esfandiari is incredulous and WPT hosts Vince Van Patten and Mike Sexton are left scratching their heads when Hansen flips up his cards.

Despite the surprise, turns out it's not such a donkey move: If Hansen put the Magician on a small pair and called with what he believed were two overcards the call is really more of a coin flip situation. Maybe it's crazy for a player to risk his tournament life on 50-50 odds but Hansen has built his reputation on being a gambler and perhaps this is why the WPT labels him a bad boy.

The DVD is not a bad watch considering the caliber of strong players such as Hansen and Ulliott but as is always the case with WPT events the viewer must put up with Van Patten's extraneous use of every poker term in the book, Sexton's unbridled enthusiasm for each call and the simulated heart-thumping music that accompanies each player to the tank, regardless of whether it is a big pot or not.

Truth be told it's difficult to stay motivated watching the inaugural Bad Boys of Poker DVD. The prize pool is so small - just $25,000 for the winner - it is insignificant to players like Hansen, who can make many times that in a night of online poker. One has to wonder if the players are truly at their best or even taking the event seriously with so few dollars on the line.

But unless you are a newbie to the game and think that all poker is played WPT-style (that is, the action is always tense and exciting and that players at the table will jump up from their seats, do push-ups and try to rub one anothers' heads between hands) this Bad Boys of Poker program is bound to meet your expectations. That is, unless you're expecting to see some real badasses at the table.

Details:

• $17.99