NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship (NHPC) - Questions For Pros

[freekobe]

As many of you may know, the NHPC is being filmed this weekend at the Golden Nugget in Vegas. I am pretty connected to the production team for the NHPC and will have a good deal of input for all of the player interviews, both before and after the show.

Obviously, I have come up with many of my own questions to ask the pros. I am looking for 2+2's input.

Almost every big name will be there: Negreanu, Lindgren, Lederer, Raymer, Brunson, Ivey, etc.

You can view the list of players here (http://www.headsuppokerchamp.com/player_bios.html) to see who was invited and accepted the offer.

I would like to hear your input and see what kinds of questions you'd like asked of the pros.

Please suggest relevant questions - this is not a joke and I will seriously consider using good questions posted on this thread. Thanks in advance.

[MonkeeMan]

Ask Jerry Buss how he got invited. Do this early on. I'm serious.

Ask the Matador why he wasn't invited. Then head for the hills. I'm joking.

edit: BTW, that is one impressive roster. I'm serious.

[youngin20]

Yeah...forget Jerry Buss, cause I think he can actually read the board. How the hell did JAMES WOODS get invited? Jerry Buss has at least made a TV final table. This is absurd.

[youngin20]

Spirit Rock in the house.

[ky70]

That's the most impressive "short list" of players I've ever seen...I can't wait until it airs

[tylerdurden]

WTF, no Dutch Boyd???


/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Nottom]

Obviously, I'd like to see some serious poker questions about how different heads-up is compared to a full or even shorthanded game or how important position is in a heads-up match, but I don't expect much along those lines.

Looking at the blinds structure for this event however makes this seem like it could be much better than I was expecting. The fact that the blinds stop relatively low should allow for some pretty good poker.

[ClaytonN]

What Nottom said

Also, I want to hear how they prepared for the event, and what their thoughts are on the celebrity players in this event, and what kind of talent they have.

[ClaytonN]

You could also jokingly ask Ivey how this event got him away from the biggest side game in the local area /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[sexypanda]

Ask which player they would least like to be matched up against. I'd like to see who these pros respect (maybe fear).

[freekobe]

Appreciate all the response so far, and also glad to see that most everyone "approves" of the list of people we're going to have on the show. There really aren't very many names missing from that list. Of course, people will disagree as to who should or should not have been invited. That's fair.

I like the Ivey question, though I'm not sure I could face an Ivey stare down if I actually asked it...

[ClaytonN]

No, dude, you have to ask that. He'll smile and give you some sort of answer, but that's a good question.

People need to know that Ivey plays in games where the swings are larger than what first place gets /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[tpir90036]

Ask Mr. Orenstein about his "invention":

"Orenstein first made his name as a toy inventor. Now, he is most well known for having invented the camera that allows television viewers to see the cards of poker players as they play a hand."

He invented the idea of a small camera to put in the table? Genius. If you use something that someone else invented in a new way did you still "invent" it? Rhetorical question. Don't bother telling me why I am wrong.

[SpeakEasy]

Who would you least like to face heads-up, and why?

Who would you MOST like to face heads-up, and why?

Do you practice heads-up play? If so, where?

Which do you like better, full table or short/heads-up play?

Who would win a heads-up drinking contest, Layne or Men?

[lighterjobs]

[ QUOTE ]
WTF, no Dutch Boyd???


/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

it starts this weekend. there's no way he could have put up an auction and gotten all of his payments before the tournament started.

[MonkeeMan]

[ QUOTE ]
Ask which player they would least like to be matched up against. I'd like to see who these pros respect (maybe fear).

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats good.

Along the same lines, who do they think (beside themself) will win or should be the favorite to win.

[Army Eye]

Other than the absence of Erik Sagstrom, a spectacular field.

What exactly will we be seeing on each of the four episodes? Snippets of every match? Just one or two matches shown in detail?

[PokrLikeItsProse]

Ask the losers to predict how well the person that beat them will do in future matches.

Ask them how it compares to being heads up at the final table when you've been playing with someone for a while.

Ask them about prior experience with heads-up play, highlights, lowlights. I'm sure you can get an interesting anecdote out of this from some players.

[peter t 9]

when will it be on t.v. ?

[jeffraider]

That's a ridiculous list of players! There were 3 names I didn't know.

[Sluss]

NBC Broadcast Schedule:

May 1 12:00 - 1:00pm ET
May 8 12:00 - 1:00pm ET
May 15 12:00 - 1:00pm ET
May 22 1:00 - 3:00pm ET

Please tell me this isn't all of it. /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[freekobe]

There's a possibility the amount of tv programming will be increased. That schedule, posted above, is tentative.

The format will be similar to what you've seen on tv already, with a few differences. There will be "featured" tables, and those tables will get more tv time than other tables. But, when there's a big hand at a "non-featured" table, expect NBC to cover it and put it on the broadcast.

The initial matchups will be determined by lottery on Friday night, so it is impossible to know what will be featured. Regardless of how the matchups go, with this field, it will be hard to pick the top two or three matchups.

[Lottery Larry]

Will this be single-elimination preliminary matches?

[freekobe]

Preliminary matches (everything other than the final) will be single elimination. With TC 20,000 and blinds starting at 50/100, the result should not be a crapshoot. The stacks are pretty deep and the blinds don't increase too rapidly. The final will be 2 out of 3.

[wray]

One request is to put all of it on a set of DVD's and sell it for about 100 bucks. I'll be first in line to buy it.

[ttleistdci]

[ QUOTE ]
One request is to put all of it on a set of DVD's and sell it for about 100 bucks. I'll be first in line to buy it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll second that request, but no way would I pay $100 for 5 hours of TV coverage.

[wray]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
One request is to put all of it on a set of DVD's and sell it for about 100 bucks. I'll be first in line to buy it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll second that request, but no way would I pay $100 for 5 hours of TV coverage.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ya I agree....Could you imagine if they had 100 hours of this on DVD? I keep waiting for the WSOP to have a TOTALLY unedited deal like this. I understand initially at the WSOP there are hundreds of tables that don't have the cameras on em though.

But if each one of those heads up matches took a couple hours....WOW that would be a lot of poker my wife would have to sweat with me.

[jeffraider]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
One request is to put all of it on a set of DVD's and sell it for about 100 bucks. I'll be first in line to buy it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll second that request, but no way would I pay $100 for 5 hours of TV coverage.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think he meant every hand of every match, in which case I'd definitely shell out lots of cash to get it.

[jaybee_70]

Insane roster, only 4 hours of coverage? The question you should be asking is why isn't the coverage at least doubled.

Joe

[jaybee_70]

Could you imagine trying to seed this field? In fact, maybe seeding the field would make some of the bigger Pros take it more seriously.

Joe

[jaybee_70]

Maybe a better way to phrase the question would be. . .Compared to the stakes you normally play, how much is prestige a consideration in playing this tournament?

Joe

[TStoneMBD]

put the entire tournament on dvd or at least like 100 hours as someone mentioned, and i will shell out a couple hundred bucks.

make sure to talk to orenstein about the camera invention, as he doesnt get enough recognition and deserves national exposure.

who will be the commentator of this event? i hope that you got 2 competant players to do it instead of a sexton/patton combo.

id love to see scotty nguyen commentate along with one of the first top pros to get eliminated, daniel negreanu in particular. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[freekobe]

I don't feel comfortable posting who is announcing, but it's two guys, one of whom many people on this board respect. A name from the past plus a "play-by-play" guy who has some poker experience and is very good.

[freekobe]

NBC had nothing to do with the lines....just thought they may be of interest to the forum.

Bodog.com NHPC lines (http://www.bodog.com/sports-betting/poker.jsp)

[duker41]

How the hell is Fischman 12/1 and better (or equal) bet to most of the guys right behind him?

Also, is there a way you could release a NCAA type bracket to us (w/o results) so we can create our little fun bracket pools?

[Kevmath]

They won't know the matchups until Friday night.

Kevin...

[wray]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
One request is to put all of it on a set of DVD's and sell it for about 100 bucks. I'll be first in line to buy it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll second that request, but no way would I pay $100 for 5 hours of TV coverage.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think he meant every hand of every match, in which case I'd definitely shell out lots of cash to get it.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's exactly what I meant. I might even be willing to pay a couple hundred. I wonder if a professional poker player could use that expense as a tax deduction?

[freekobe]

Unfortunately, this year, the format doesn't lend itself to a distribution of brackets prior to the start of play. My guess is that in future years, brackets will come out early and people can fill them out just like the NCAAs.

FWIW, brackets will be published in major publications prior to airing on TV in May. Most people watching won't know the results as they don't frequent 2+2 or other poker forums, so for them, it will be fun to check out the pairings.

[Kevmath]

Will the headsuppokerchamp.com site have the brackets up this weekend, or will they try and embargo the results?

Kevin...

[Paul Phillips]

Ask them who would win every match if it weren't for luck.

[wray]

[ QUOTE ]
Ask them who would win every match if it weren't for luck.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was thinking about that while he got his share of the rolls during the "By the Book" tourney. I was sitting there wondering what was going through his mind while he was getting some luck there. Does he actually think he's the only one allowed to get lucky?

[freekobe]

Paul, I look forward to asking you that very question. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

In essence, the question is just "who is the most skilled player" disguised in a different form. I think people are definitely interested in hearing the pros answer that question. I'll see what I can do. We've heard Hellmuth's answer to that question on one of the WSOP broadcasts, so no need to ask him again.

[freekobe]

Not sure about the web site. I don't think NBC is going to post the results on the site but not certain of that.

I think the brackets (w/o results) will be posted either this weekend or sometime early next week.

[Dead]

I bet we won't get to see Sklansky's matches.

[TransientR]

Great idea, and I think all the TV poker producers should consider it. There is a market out there for unedited play of top pros in action.

Frank

[ttleistdci]

[ QUOTE ]
Not sure about the web site. I don't think NBC is going to post the results on the site but not certain of that.


[/ QUOTE ]

NBC won't post updates or winners on their site. That would take away some of the viewers in May.
Just like you won't see anything at all about the WSOP on ESPN till months afterwards.

[Paul Phillips]

[ QUOTE ]
In essence, the question is just "who is the most skilled player" disguised in a different form.

[/ QUOTE ]

I do not agree. It's more like asking who would win at chess if the pieces were made of fruit and it was played in a dimensional distortion field, with a rulebook composed of the odd page numbers of the parcheesi rulebook and the even page numbers of the diplomacy rulebook.

You cannot remove luck from poker any more than you can remove the king and queen from chess. The operation may have been a success but the patient is dead. If there is no luck, the game is not poker.

[ QUOTE ]
I think people are definitely interested in hearing the pros answer that question. I'll see what I can do. We've heard Hellmuth's answer to that question on one of the WSOP broadcasts, so no need to ask him again.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the majority of pros understand that the question does not scan in that form. The guys who fantasize about removing luck from the game must think that poker ought be a "laydown contest" or "soul-staring contest" or some other mini-game at which they believe they excel. Too bad for them, it's not.

[Army Eye]

[ QUOTE ]
NBC had nothing to do with the lines....just thought they may be of interest to the forum.

Bodog.com NHPC lines (http://www.bodog.com/sports-betting/poker.jsp)

[/ QUOTE ]

Interesting odds. Of course, any of the 64 can easily win this, aside from a few dead money players, but to me there's one player who is far and away the best play given these odds. Anyone want to give their opinion before I reveal?

[freekobe]

Hmmm....I want to understand but I'm not sure I do.

To me, poker is skill and luck. Put another way, if the same 64 players played the NHPC 1,000 times (or some meaningful # of times), would you agree that the "most skilled" player would win the most number of times (or have the highest weighted finish)?

If you don't agree, and that's possible, then there must be some element to poker other than skill and luck. Playing a meaningful number of tournaments would seem to isolate the skill from the luck, or at least reduce luck to a negligible amount.

I completely agree that you cannot remove the luck from poker. But over the course of time, luck becomes less of a factor in overall performance, no?

I hope if by some chance you get asked that question that you don't just reference viewers to the site /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[MaxPower]

I was the only undefeated player in the 2+2 Heads-up poker league. How come I wasn't invited?

Ask them that?

[grant]

Freekobe,

Don't get him started!! /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I think NBC would probably love to have the final table be:

Wager vs. Moneymaker!! what ratings!

[Paul Phillips]

[ QUOTE ]
Interesting odds. Of course, any of the 64 can easily win this, aside from a few dead money players, but to me there's one player who is far and away the best play given these odds. Anyone want to give their opinion before I reveal?

[/ QUOTE ]

No bet has a chance of being "far and away the best play" without being at or near the longest odds offered. Looking at the players who are 55-1 or worse, the following players (at least) don't belong in the bottom quintile: Hennigan, M. Tran, T. Brunson, Bibb.

If you're thinking of someone who is listed better than 55-1 then you're wrong, unless this is a trick question. There's no way anyone offers as much overlay (or more likely, as little underlay) at 45-1 or worse as Bibb or Elezra at 75-1.

[Paul Phillips]

[ QUOTE ]
To me, poker is skill and luck.

[/ QUOTE ]

What you said earlier that I contested is that my question "who would win every match if it weren't for luck" is the same as "who is the most skilled player." These are not the same question. My point in unasking this question is: the skill in poker is in trying to manipulate the odds in your favor -- the "luck", if you like. If there is no luck then there is no skill to apply. There is, in fact, no game.

My specific expression of it was (as you inferred) intended to make fun of hellmuth, and it loses that quality if you translate it to another form. "Who is the most skilled player" is a fine and sensible question so I'm pretty sure it's not equivalent to the nonsensical "who would win every time if there were no luck involved."

[freekobe]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
To me, poker is skill and luck.

[/ QUOTE ]

My point in unasking this question is: the skill in poker is in trying to manipulate the odds in your favor -- the "luck", if you like. If there is no luck then there is no skill to apply. There is, in fact, no game.



[/ QUOTE ]

No sarcasm here - this makes perfect sense. I guess I just got lost in your logic in a previous post. The manipulation of luck as the skill in poker is extremely well-said.

[jaybee_70]

Impressive young Jedi. But seriously, that is very impressive.
Maybe in the future after seeding and such they can have an Amateur/lesser known pro qualify through a win and get in sub tourney.

Joe

[Army Eye]

[ QUOTE ]


No bet has a chance of being "far and away the best play" without being at or near the longest odds offered. Looking at the players who are 55-1 or worse, the following players (at least) don't belong in the bottom quintile: Hennigan, M. Tran, T. Brunson, Bibb.

If you're thinking of someone who is listed better than 55-1 then you're wrong, unless this is a trick question. There's no way anyone offers as much overlay (or more likely, as little underlay) at 45-1 or worse as Bibb or Elezra at 75-1.

[/ QUOTE ]

No far picking so many. /images/graemlins/smile.gif Todd Brunson is who I had in mind. Thought maybe 'far and away' was a bit strong as, like you note, there are other world-class players like Hennigan and Elezra lurking down there.

I love Todd at 55-1 though. One of the world's best players and a murderer in heads-up play. (from my admittedly very second and third-hand knowledge)

[burningyen]

Please try to convince your bosses to give this something like Wimbledon-type coverage. Would a petition help?

As far as questions go:

"What do you think of your bracket? Do you think we should use a seeding system the next time we hold this tournament?"

Ask the winner of each match which of his/her 2 likely next opponents he/she would rather face, and why.

"How much of your play against [so-and-so] will be dictated by your feel of how he/she is playing today, and how much will be dictated by what you already know about him/her? Without giving away trade secrets, how do you beat [so-and-so]?"

"What's your beef with Phil Hellmuth?"

[kutuz_off]

You could tell them their odds from bodog.com and ask what they think about that.

[freekobe]

[ QUOTE ]
Please try to convince your bosses to give this something like Wimbledon-type coverage. Would a petition help?



[/ QUOTE ]

If the event gets good ratings and the players enjoy the format, you can expect coverage to increase in future years. Remember, poker wasn't on a non-cable television station until recently. These things take time, but if the interest is there and the players like the format/exposure, I suspect this will become a major event. I certainly hope that happens.

Appreciate your questions - they're all good, though I'll probably hold off on the "Phil" question

[MonkeeMan]

Whoa Nellie! Sorry to beat a dead horse, but John Hennigan 55/1, Jerry Buss 55/1 /images/graemlins/confused.gif

This is a HU championship right? Am I the only one who saw Lane Flack just run all over Buss's carcass HU on WPT?

[3rdEye]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


No bet has a chance of being "far and away the best play" without being at or near the longest odds offered. Looking at the players who are 55-1 or worse, the following players (at least) don't belong in the bottom quintile: Hennigan, M. Tran, T. Brunson, Bibb.

If you're thinking of someone who is listed better than 55-1 then you're wrong, unless this is a trick question. There's no way anyone offers as much overlay (or more likely, as little underlay) at 45-1 or worse as Bibb or Elezra at 75-1.

[/ QUOTE ]

No far picking so many. /images/graemlins/smile.gif Todd Brunson is who I had in mind. Thought maybe 'far and away' was a bit strong as, like you note, there are other world-class players like Hennigan and Elezra lurking down there.

I love Todd at 55-1 though. One of the world's best players and a murderer in heads-up play. (from my admittedly very second and third-hand knowledge)

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought J. Harman was considered one of the best at HU NLHE.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

Geez, BoDog must make a lot of money. These are pretty much all terrible bets, and the best of them aren't that good. And some of them are just pitiful. When I scrolled down, I saw the lines for the Bay 101 Shooting Stars tournament, and they've got 22 players who pay less than 20-1. Nobody in the world is better than a 20-1 favorite to win an event with 440 players. And the top of the list, Mike Mizrachi, wouldn't be a good bet at 5-1 even if he was a certified psychic. Nothing against Mike, as I've heard he's very good, but nobody is that good.

God himself ought to pay at least 50-1.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[Cheeseweasel]

Q: Do you use an equilibrium strategy to counter your opponent's strategy? Approximately what percentage of pros know how to use equilibrium strategy?

Q: Are you familiar with Alex Selby's optimal preflop headup strategy? If so, do you find it useful in headup and blinds play?

[Sponger15SB]

[ QUOTE ]
These are pretty much all terrible bets, and the best of them aren't that good. And some of them are just pitiful. When I scrolled down, I saw the lines for the Bay 101 Shooting Stars tournament, and they've got 22 players who pay less than 20-1. Nobody in the world is better than a 20-1 favorite to win an event with 440 players.

[/ QUOTE ]

They've got you at 15-1 which is horrible. If the line drops to like 18-1 I'm gonna throw down my last $1,000 on you though /images/graemlins/wink.gif.

[freekobe]

I am off to Vegas tonight. Appreciate everyone's suggestions. I hope to use many of the questions when I talk to the players in the tournament. I expect the tournament to be a success and hope everyone watches in May.

Thanks again.

[drewjustdrew]

[ QUOTE ]
Whoa Nellie! Sorry to beat a dead horse, but John Hennigan 55/1, Jerry Buss 55/1 /images/graemlins/confused.gif

This is a HU championship right? Am I the only one who saw Lane Flack just run all over Buss's carcass HU on WPT?

[/ QUOTE ]

Those odds are horrible considering Hennigan's proven skill and experience, but your example is equally horrible. Layne Flack had an enormous chip lead on Buss when they went heads up. You can't draw any conclusions from that. Even if they started HU with the same number of chips, you can't draw any conclusions based on one tournament experience.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

[ QUOTE ]
They've got you at 15-1 which is horrible. If the line drops to like 18-1 I'm gonna throw down my last $1,000 on you though /images/graemlins/wink.gif.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey, it's your money.

With 64 players of this quality, nobody is a good bet unless you're getting at least 40-1, and that's being conservative. It probably would really take at least 50-1, on the best player in the field, before you had +EV on the bet.

Now, if we already had the draw laid out, it would be different. In some cases, you would look at some of the good players, and see that their first match is a very easy (relatively speaking) opponent, and their second match is quite possibly going to also be easy, and you can bet on them at a lot less than 40-1 and be getting value. Here, where the bets go in prior to the draw, no way.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[Bulldog]

[ QUOTE ]
Whoa Nellie! Sorry to beat a dead horse, but John Hennigan 55/1, Jerry Buss 55/1 /images/graemlins/confused.gif

This is a HU championship right? Am I the only one who saw Lane Flack just run all over Buss's carcass HU on WPT?

[/ QUOTE ]

And Flack just said on Poker Royale that he sucks at heads-up. (Although I think some of those pros play a completely different style than normal when they play on that show, knowing the advertising might be worth more than the piddly prize pool.

[housenuts]

what's the best website with up to date info?

[Bulldog]

It's over! I won't spoil but if you go to CardPlayer (http://www.cardplayer.com) you'll find all the details.

[BUD]

how about making these guys seem human, and give a fair view for all of the players out there, by asking about there longest downswings. I would think it actually adds to the big players glamour, by showing determination and guts to stick through it, and it makes struggling new players see they struggled too. We always watch these guys make great plays and win $ so why not show the other side too?
sincerely
bud

[AceFace]

This is not ESPN, thank you.

[ononimo]

[ QUOTE ]
Ask them who would win every match if it weren't for luck.

[/ QUOTE ]

apparently, it was true this time around.

(tongue firmly in cheek)