Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament – Season One
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C Episodes: C+
Well, this might be a stretch, but could card playing and
other such semi-sports be the original reality TV? The idea that you are watching people play a winner-take-all game
that is for real money is not the fun affair of TV game shows since the
1950s. Poker is that fun game that
always seems somehow underhanded and dirty, which is part of its appeal. You can have skill and even count into the
cards, but you also have to use instinct and subtle body gestures to trick an
opponent on top of that. The Poker
Superstars Invitational Tournament is one such program now surfacing as
part of a new wave of such programming.
The twist here is that the eight players here are
supposedly the best in the world, including Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, T.J.
Cloutier, Barry Greenstein, Gus Hansen, Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey and Chip
Reese. Even if you do not know much about
the game, it is obvious that they are likely as good as the program claims,
showing some interesting skills at the Texas Hold-‘em version of Poker. The question is, at 42+ minutes a show and a
longer finale, can you handle 630 minutes of this? The replayability is going to be for those who want to study and
learn the game. It may not be for
everyone, but the show will have some kind of audience and this 4-DVD set makes
it easier to access in any event.
The 1.33 X 1 image is recently videotaped in the NTSC
format and seems fine, when in many spots, there is blocky digititis in scenes
where there should not be. This is
annoying when it does happen and that is too often. The Dolby Digital 2.0 is simple stereo at best and has no
surround information, being the audio taped as they pros played. Extras include The Hand Is Quicker Than
The Eye segment in several parts, showing the kinds of card tricks Poker
For Dummies. You also get player
interviews and a stills section, but that is it. The extra footage runs 50 minutes.
- Nicholas Sheffo
