Lucky Dog Poker by Russ Scott

E-mails about televised poker and Ol' LuckyDog's experience against probable cheaters in an online stud tournament highlight readers' inquiries this week.

Q: When will we be able to see new episodes of "High Stakes Poker" on the Game Show Network? It's one of my favorite shows. — Susan G., no hometown given.

A: Although the announcement seemed to come late, Poker PROductions confirmed recently that it will begin recording 13 episodes on Nov. 11 at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. The shows will air starting early in the new year.

The show has been a hit with viewers for several reasons, Susan, especially the required huge cash buy-ins. Players must sit down with at least $200,000. The maximum buy-in is $500,000, but players can add $500,000 more once their stack falls below that level. Pots can get enormous.

Another draw is that some of the game's most popular players are regulars at the table and the chatter usually is pretty interesting.

Also, unlike normal tournament play, "High Stakes Poker" allows action that's a bit fast and loose with some rules. For example, heads-up opponents can agree to "run the board twice" when one of them is all-in. To win the full pot, one player must win both times — otherwise the chips are split.

Here's a quick update on other TV-poker developments:

— NBC's "Face the Ace" spiced up its second episode aired earlier this month with more interesting banter between the qualifying amateur and the big-name "Full Tilt Poker" pros, a much more involved studio audience and a greater role on-screen for tournament director Ali Nejad. Look for continued upgrades on the next episode Oct. 31 at 5 p.m. EDT.

Not so likely to happen, though, is a qualifier winning three straight matches to claim the top prize of $1 million.

To take that third step, the qualifier must risk all of the $200,000 won in the second match! Yikes! Would you do it?

— A new poker show on FOX, the "PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge," has a similar premise. Online qualifiers must survive preliminary heads-up matches for an ultimate shot at $1 million. One big wrinkle: Poker pro Daniel Negreanu coaches the qualifier in the early matches, then is the player's heads-up opponent in the finale.

The first recording sessions are this week in Las Vegas, with air dates starting Oct. 11 and 18 at 4 p.m. EDT. Free qualifying events continue daily at PokerStars.net until Nov. 25.

Q: I would agree 100 percent those two players put you in a squeeze in that online stud tournament you wrote about in recently. Do you think they'll wise up and actually work on their game so they don't have to cheat to win? — Marisa T. in Burlington, Iowa.

A: I hope so, Marisa, but doubt it. After the hand, when I saw that one opponent was raising at every opportunity with no pair and no draw while his buddy had pocket aces, I knew immediately they were colluding to trap me in a big pot.

I appreciate your optimism that "some good will come from this" because I reported it to security officials at the online poker site. They promised an investigation, but a month has gone by and I haven't heard anything.

Among other comments I received:

— "That is a bummer about your tourney. It is sad the two players don't know how to play fair. Congrats on making it to the final table despite what happened." — Jamie in Rock Springs, Wyo.

— "When you've logged as many table hours as you have both live and online, you definitely have to trust your reads. You're probably correct on both counts: You were cheated, and there's not going to be enough real evidence to prove it." — Ken L. in Pennington, N.J.

Thanks for your responses, everyone.

E-mail your poker questions and comments to russ@luckydogpoker.com for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.

COPYRIGHT 2009 RUSS SCOTT

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