In The Well...............MessyJay

BigCityBanker

Guys I know the mods usually start these threads but Jesse May (forum lurker and infrequent poster amongst other things) has kindly agreed to be the subject of the latest installment of In the Well.

At this point laff normally inserts some warnings and the like :rolleyes: but im sure we have no requirement for them and that we will show Jesse the courtesy and respect he deserves.

Here are my questions..

What is your best moment in poker?
What is your most memorable piece of commentary?
Which big name pro impresses you the most/least?
Who is the most underrated player you know?

Lafortezza

Do you play online? Games and stakes?




:rolleyes:

sendic

do you play much? live/online? stakes?

funniest thing youve seen/heard at a poker table?

jbravado

Brilliant.

Jesses' book is my favourite book written on poker-must have read it around ten times.

Whats your worst ever moment in poker?
Do you ever regret starting to play?
What do you think you would have done career wise if it wasnt for poker?

MrPillowTalk

Firstly I'd like to thank you for your involvement in Late Night Poker, without that show I wouldnt ever have started playing.

1) Will the "poker show" yourself and Padraig did ever be reborn? I thought it was hillarious.

2) I know you play online a bit, do you ever play live these days, and do you want to be playing the circuit events?

3) Following on from 2, your enthusiasm when talking about the game is infectious so I imagine this probably isn't the case, but is your involvement in poker purely a journalistic twist of fate? what got you started down this particular path?

4) What do you think of the current state of poker, do you think its peaked?

5) Favourite poker story?

Thanks in advance for doing the well.

Messyjay

What is your best moment in poker?

Too many to pick from. Some that spring to mind.

Sneaking into the rooftop buffet at Binion's at the WSOP age 18.

Following Scott, Julian, and Shipley at the 2002 WSOP. We stayed up all night every night during that main event and the final table itself was mayhem. Padraig got the entire crowd singing some French football chant every time Scott won a pot. It was a truly great main event.

Any night playing 3-6 Hold'em at the Stardust during the summer of 1990. What a crowd of characters.


What is your most memorable piece of commentary?

There was one celebrity poker with the major who slept with Princess Diana. I rewrote the verses to "Modern Major General" from Pirates of Penzance to poker themes and sung one every time he was in a hand. Don't think any made the cut.

Padraig and I commentated on a 888 heat where a guy who had never played before absolutely tortured a table, including Donnacha Odea in one of the most remarkable series of hands ever seen. Ive never laughed so hard.

Which big name pro impresses you the most/least?

This is like the seasons. Players go in and out of style.

Who is the most underrated player you know?

Haven' seen him play in a while, but I'd still probably plump for John Hennigan. He deserves to be a hero. Some stories about Johnny World read like Stu Ungar. When he was a kid in Philadelphia, they called him Flakes, and he was considered one of the best 9-ball players on the east coast. He discovered poker when it was legalized in Atlantic City and things took off from there. he's had some bad luck and has plenty of demons, but his nerve is very sound.

ollyk1

Cheers for doing this Jesse.

My questions are a little voyeuristic but as it's unlikely I'll get too many opportunities to get answers elsewhere I'll ask anyway and you can always tell me to f**k off.

Q1 Who is the biggest pr1ck on the professional scene? Example of why?

Q2 How common is it for deals to be done in respect of tv poker shows behnd the scenes?

Q3 Biggest welcher on the pro scene?

Q4 Do poker shows (HSP and the Full tilt for example) glamourising the poker scene have any responsibility for people going busto playing outside their BR??




P.S. I'd like to second the comments above re the poker show. Please bring it back. Absolute class.

Cuban Son

When Late Night Poker started back in 1999, did you think it would have the impact it had or did you see it as a bit of a non-runner?

Who is 'Micky Dane'?

The player that most impressed me from that series was Hemish Shah, and he was probably one of the reasons I started playing, he just seemed like a different class, who from that show most impressed you?

And who would have been your biggest infulence in the game?

nicnicnic

where did you buy that lovely pink jacket you wore at this years Irish Open


will you play Padraig's charity event this year


You obviously have a great affiliation with Irish Poker and Irish players apart from Andy who is really an old timer and Marty who is nearly an old timer why do you think no young/poker-boom era Irish player has broken through to the top level



btw N1 for being in the well

Messyjay

jbravado wrote:

Brilliant.

Jesses' book is my favourite book written on poker-must have read it around ten times.

Whats your worst ever moment in poker?
Do you ever regret starting to play?
What do you think you would have done career wise if it wasnt for poker?

I remember a time in 1997. The internet hadn't started yet and I was living about four hours away from Foxwoods in Woodstock, New York. I had spent three years going from having a good bankroll to having 12 credit cards maxed out. I had recently gotten stiffed in a local game. I drove down to Mohegan Sun and played for 24 hours straight ending up going on complete tilt and lost a ton. I was feeling like the game had passed me by. I drove home.

Messyjay

ollyk1 wrote:

Cheers for doing this Jesse.

My questions are a little voyeuristic but as it's unlikely I'll get too many opportunities to get answers elsewhere I'll ask anyway and you can always tell me to f**k off.

Q1 Who is the biggest pr1ck on the professional scene? Example of why?

Q2 How common is it for deals to be done in respect of tv poker shows behnd the scenes?

Q3 Biggest welcher on the pro scene?

Q4 Do poker shows (HSP and the Full tilt for example) glamourising the poker scene have any responsibility for people going busto playing outside their BR??




P.S. I'd like to second the comments above re the poker show. Please bring it back. Absolute class.

Not a fan of public slagging matches. People gotta eat.

I think deals are much less common than they used to be in big tournaments. It used to just be common sense that deals would be done at every stage. I think Lee Jones injected a lot of common sense into poker deals at Poker Stars with the idea that a certain percentage must be left on the table for the winner.

I'd prefer not to see deals done in TV tournaments, but until Poker Players have some sort of guaranteed tour salary and the added money becomes significant, it's their money.

I think tournament poker has a responsibility for sending people skint more than the TV shows. Although there is a disease of pride need to be on TV that sends a lot of poker players skint. Managing a bankroll is a completely different skill set to playing poker. Some people get very confused in thinking that success at one has any relation to success at the other.

If you currently have to make a living at poker you'd always choose to be a better bankroll manager than a player. This is changing more and more as time goes on and hopefully for the games sake the two will cease to be intertwined at some point. Michael Owen would be looked at in a very different light if he had to make all his money from betting on his game performances.

Messyjay

lafortezza wrote:

Do you play online? Games and stakes?




:rolleyes:

I play online much more than I would confess to, and much less than I would if left to my own devices. I'm an ancient piece of driftwood who still enjoys limit Hold'em because that was my first connection to poker way back when and where I put my first hours in. I'm not that bothered about stakes except I hate playing with people who are much better than me. Consequently, I am usually forced to play rather low.

Messyjay

A couple more questions somebody recently sent me for a magazine interview. I think he thought I was taking the pis. I wasn't. Everything I wrote is true.

When did you get into poker? What's your background with the game up to the
present day, and what are you working on next?

I first went to Las Vegas at age 16 with a pinstripe suit, duck shoes, oversized sunglasses, a corncob pipe, and a beard, trying to look on the young side of 54. It worked, and I was able to play enough poker to lose my first bankroll to a man from Texas with a hat. I dropped out of college to either become a professional poker player or achieve enlightenment through Zen. I spent three days in my closet contemplating the inevitability of death and decided I would far rather be on a Greyhound Bus to Las Vegas than study philosophy. I played poker in Las Vegas, New Orleans, Atlantic City, Connecticut, and Europe until enough people learned the game well enough that I had absolutely no chance of ever winning again. In desperation, I used the last of my bankroll to buy-in to the first ever televised poker tournament in Cardiff, Late Night Poker I. I disgraced myself so thoroughly with my play that I had no choice but to volunteer to do the commentary
for free. Things went from there. When I'm not doing commentary these days, most of my thoughts involve how to get large puppets more involved in televised poker.

How long did you spend as a poker player? What was the scene like back then?

I played poker professionally for about five years. Back then very few people knew how to play the game. I once heard a fellow professional describe it as standing under a window out of which money was being thrown holding a basket. Unfortunately for me, I never had a very large basket, but I did often manage to find windows underneath which no one else was standing.

What's the most you ever won in a tournament?

I've never been much of a tournament player. One time in Poughkeepsie, New York, I played in a private cash game at which I won every single chip on the table. I was given half of my buy-in back and a yellow piece of paper. I later on traded the piece of paper for a hamburger, a ride home, and a promise never to return to Poughkeepsie.

what's the most you lost in a single hand...?

The most I ever lost is everything I had, everything I could borrow, and whatever the pawn shop would give me for my binoculars and walkman.

What has been the most lucrative tournament you've commentated on, and who
won?

The first Poker Million on the Isle of Man will always be my favorite tournament, and John Duthie put on a poker performance that I doubt will ever be equalled while winning 1 million pounds.

How many people played in the first ever World Series? How did it begin?

The first World Series began as an elaborate ruse to get Jimmy the Greek to work off his gambling debts. There was seventeen people there, only eleven of whom would pose for the picture being that they were not currently wanted by the police.

What are the odds of making a Royal Flush with 5 cards? Have you ever
commentated on a Royal Flush? Or had one yourself? If so, when/how?

When I used to play at the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, if you got dealt a royal flush you received a framed certificate signed by the poker room manager. I had been playing seventeen hours and was stuck to my gills when dealt a royla flush in Omaha hi lo. There was one other player in the pot and we split it when he turned up a low. Two hours later I made a royal flush in Hold'em against a player who was all-in for the amount of the big blind. They brought me two framed certificates to the table at which point I had been playing twenty-one hours straight and was losing more money than I ever had at one time. I've still got the certificates.

Messyjay

Liam Flood introduced me to his tailor. Seriously.

I can't imagine anything that would keep me away from the Simon charity event. I try and find reasons to go to any event in Ireland, but the charity event is truly one of the best events of the year. For starters, the money raised is actually all for charity, something I've found rare in charity events. Secondly, the people involved are all involved simply for the sake of the charity, something even rarer in charity events.

I think young Irish players have broken through. I'm not sure where the top level is, but I'm sure that young Irish players are there. The young Irish guys are bringing an exceptionally strong team around Europe right now and I expect someone to go on a big run any day. It could be any of fifty people. As far as Las Vegas, is there any chance that perhaps they are having a bit too much fun and a bit too little business?

Ste05

Fair play for doing this Jesse.

How does Phil Hellmuth act away from the camera's and would you have any kind of friendly relationship with him, I know you needle him alot in commentary and on your shows, and I was just wondering if he takes it all as just being part of the "Phil Hellmuth show". Similarly with any other similar players.

Do you think the US ban on on-line Poker will be lifted anytime soon.

Can you regail us with the craziest prop bet you have been involved in/ witnessed or heard about. Maybe one that isn't as widely known as it should/ could be (e.g. breast implants, etc.) obviously feel free to leave out names if necessary.

Did you ever play with Stu Unger, and if so, how would you rate him against the current luminaries of the Live/TV game and the current internet crop of phenoms (obviously this one is hard to quantify, but humour me possibly)

What other internet forums do you read, 2+2, Pocket5's, BlondePoker, Hendonmob, etc. and which one is your favourite besides boards obviously.

I'm sure there's loads of other questions but that'll do it for now.

brianmc

Messyjay wrote:

When I'm not doing commentary these days, most of my thoughts involve how to get large puppets more involved in televised poker.

Muppets or pinnochio style puppets?

Playing or commentating?

Thanks for doing this by the way. Despite my lack of questions I love reading these.



S: That George Burns is a great singer!
W: Well so am I, Statler!
S: What?!
W: Sure! Hey, you wanna hear me sing?
S: Only if you sing tenor.
W: Tenor?
S: Ten or eleven miles away!

Flipper

Hey Jesse, thanks for doing this.

1) If the poker industry collapsed tomorrow, what would you most likely end up doing?
2) Did you and your wife meet through poker?
3) What do you think of the american commentators: Vince Van Patten, Gabe Kaplan, Mike Sexton, A. J. Benza, Norman Chad and Lon McEachern?
4) What do you think of this years' poker million final line up?
5) What has been your most embarrassing poker moment?

FWIW, I always enjoyed meeting you at the bar at any event and you really are a great laugh... And you can skull the booze with the best of 'em!

Take care,

Flipper

nicnicnic

Messyjay wrote:

I think young Irish players have broken through. I'm not sure where the top level is, but I'm sure that young Irish players are there. The young Irish guys are bringing an exceptionally strong team around Europe right now and I expect someone to go on a big run any day. It could be any of fifty people. As far as Las Vegas, is there any chance that perhaps they are having a bit too much fun and a bit too little business?

I think your being a bit of a politician here Jessy, the ETP Barcelona kicks off today and I cant think of one player from Ireland in the field who started playing in the last four years (boom era), or under 30.

As for partying in Vegas I agree to an extent you only have to do a survey of nationalities at the hooker bar in the Rio at 4 am during the WSOP to prove this. However I'm not a great follower of the meditation and fruit brigade, I feel if you got it then you got it hangover or not

Messyjay

nicnicnic wrote:

I think your being a bit of a politician here Jessy, the ETP Barcelona kicks off today and I cant think of one player from Ireland in the field who started playing in the last four years (boom era), or under 30.

As for partying in Vegas I agree to an extent you only have to do a survey of nationalities at the hooker bar in the Rio at 4 am during the WSOP to prove this. However I'm not a great follower of the meditation and fruit brigade, I feel if you got it then you got it hangover or not

hmmm.... 7000 Euros is a lot of money, especially when you think about ten EPT events out of which if there was a market for a random world class player over/under how much they will cash out for during the EPT season what would it be? Not an index bet, but a over/under through one season.

My point is you are playing in the EPT circuit if
1. you have a sponsorship/backing deal
2. you won a satellite
3. you made a huge tournament result in the last year
4. you are on a really good cash game run

There are no professional tournament players. That statement may take flack. The current setup of professional poker doesn't allow for it.

Of the four categories mentioned, which one would you want to be, and what relation do these categories have to who the breakthrough players are? We are still so far from having an accurate method of knowing who the really best poker players are. How is quality defined? My guess is many young Irish players would be right up there.

nicnicnic

Messyjay wrote:

hmmm.... 7000 Euros is a lot of money, especially when you think about ten EPT events out of which if there was a market for a random world class player over/under how much they will cash out for during the EPT season what would it be? Not an index bet, but a over/under through one season.

My point is you are playing in the EPT circuit if
1. you have a sponsorship/backing deal
2. you won a satellite
3. you made a huge tournament result in the last year
4. you are on a really good cash game run

There are no professional tournament players. That statement may take flack. The current setup of professional poker doesn't allow for it.

Of the four categories mentioned, which one would you want to be, and what relation do these categories have to who the breakthrough players are? .

fair point and question I think I'd go for category one unless the tournament touch was really huge, I had a decent result this year in the Irish Open(you backed me at 66/1 in running, sorry I couldn't bring home the bacon for you and me) and wouldn't even consider forking out €8k for etp entry's.

Nicky

sumoward

nicnicnic wrote:

I
However I'm not a great follower of the meditation and fruit brigade

QFT

carfax

Messyjay wrote:

Padraig got the entire crowd singing some French football chant every time Scott won a pot. It was a truly great main event.

Allez Scott Allez......Allez Scott Allez......It was one of the best atmospheres I can remember at a final table with Padraig absolutely berating Phil Helmuth whilst he was being interviewed in front of TV cameras.

Jesse, why the affinity with Irish poker? Is it just through your friendship with Padraig? I know you've answered this before saying that your first trip over here included Noel Furlong to your left and Alan Betson to your right but is there anything more to it?

Irish poker owes a lot to you for the way you promote it around the world.

Stephen Mc Lean.

Fatboydim

Jesse are you in Barca? I'm out already see other thread. but If you're out here PM me and we'll meet up.

DeVore

Thanks for doing this Jesse....

My questions:

1. What is it about Irish poker that (obviously) appeals to you so much??

2. I commented with you on the Irish Open this year and the stuff the producer simply couldnt use was the funniest (at one point Jessy deliberately swore like a sailor because it annoyed the producer and ruined the hand). Have there been hands that couldnt be used because they were un-broadcastable?

3. (the serious question) What are you thoughts on the WSOP and where it is going from here vis-a-vis the commericialisation of it.

DeV.

rag2gar

Interesting reading, thanks a bunch Jesse.

With your current contact woith Matchroom, were you disapointed that you had to bypass possible commentary jobs for key events like the William Hill GP II and the EPT's?

Is there any one major cause or infuence that has seen poker players triumph of fail when on the horizon of the big time that you have seen?

How do you handle the long stints of dull poker action that goes unnoticed on the tv, how do you keep your self always entertained and excited when theres sometimes very little to talk about?

The constant professional and hero commentator of Murray Walker proportions, how does it feel to be dubbed "the voice of poker"?

Requiem4adream

1. Favourite drink ? 1a. Favourite pint?
2. Favourite movie? 2b. Favourite actress?
3. Favourite band?

If you won a huge event for life changing money would you quit commentary work or keep doing it? reasons?

Glowingmind

How much of Shut Up And Deal is biographical?

Thanks for doing this.

Messyjay

Cuban Son wrote:

When Late Night Poker started back in 1999, did you think it would have the impact it had or did you see it as a bit of a non-runner?

Who is 'Micky Dane'?

The player that most impressed me from that series was Hemish Shah, and he was probably one of the reasons I started playing, he just seemed like a different class, who from that show most impressed you?

And who would have been your biggest infulence in the game?

We knew Late Night Poker was huge from the off. When I got invited it was all about hope. It sounded like something you had to be a part of. It honestly was something around my last 1500 pounds that I coughed up to play. I had very little experience playing no limit hold'em and almost no tournament experience and the idea of a one table satellite was completely foreign. to be fair it was pretty much the same with everybody else. There was a magical bonding experience at that tournament between the players. Your typical tv tournament today has a wife a girlfriend and a backer in the green room. Maybe. The first couple series of Late Night Poker were stuffed to the gills. The scene at the bar after the Devilfish won series #1 was a great moment of camraderie. And really, nobody in that first series knew each other. There was no Hendon Mob. The people I knew at that first series were Surindar, who I thought was a god as I'd seen him torture Phil Hellmuth 5 years previously in Atlantic City, Chip Winton, who I knew a bit from America and Amsterdam, Nic Szeremeta who'd invited me, and that might have been it. Sometimes now you see a great tournament and wonder if it will be as good on tv. then, with no experience, all we knew is that it was a great tournament. if you go back and watch the first series you will realize that it wasn't spectacular play. what it was was great editing, intensity, and drama. thats why it was great tv.


Hamish was a different class. he was just entering a phase of complete and utter domination when he died. I'm not even sure if NLH was his game, he was thrashing the PLO games around Europe. The bracelet he won in Limit Hold'em was completely crazy as well, as he could barely walk having just come down with the sickness which would take his life and had been completely ill leading up to the final. You never know what would have happened, but he was so ruthless with his poker management skills that you have to imagine he would be in the thick of it if he were still playing today.

Messyjay

carfax wrote:

Allez Scott Allez......Allez Scott Allez......It was one of the best atmospheres I can remember at a final table with Padraig absolutely berating Phil Helmuth whilst he was being interviewed in front of TV cameras.

Jesse, why the affinity with Irish poker? Is it just through your friendship with Padraig? I know you've answered this before saying that your first trip over here included Noel Furlong to your left and Alan Betson to your right but is there anything more to it?

Irish poker owes a lot to you for the way you promote it around the world.

Stephen Mc Lean.

Stephen, now I remember you were there. You must have been 12. I have some vague memory of you getting 3 handed in a one table satellite with two guys trying to chop you up and you slaughtered them. Yes, great year.

The whole thing about Irish poker is just a natural thing for me. The first thing I bought into is the history that was relayed to me from long times spent with Liam Flood. Liam did a lot of looking out for me when I needed some help during those lean times of the first few seasons of LNP. The history of Irish poker fits naturally into the psyche of the Irish poker player. I'm sure we can all appreciate how nice it is to meet someone at the bar and know that you are not going to hear a littany of bad beat stories. My love of Irish poker has more than anything to do with the philosophy of how most Irish approach the game. Serious about the game but not serious about the result. Respectful of other players. Honorable. You'd be quite happy to bring them home for dinner and introduce them to your wife. Even Aidan Bennett, who could be as crazy a soul as you'd ever encountered, is as nice a guy as you'd ever meet. The Irish bar at the WSOP was for years the only place to be. That was the only place in Vegas that you could really enjoy hanging out, for me from 2000 all the way through 2004. Everybody spilt through there at all times day and night.

Messyjay

Requiem4adream wrote:

1. Favourite drink ? 1a. Favourite pint?
2. Favourite movie? 2b. Favourite actress?
3. Favourite band?

If you won a huge event for life changing money would you quit commentary work or keep doing it? reasons?

1. Favourite drink ?

White Russian is the perfect Vegas drink - you can go for days

1a. Favourite pint?

Usually whatever the person next to me is having

2. Favourite movie?

Broadway Danny Rose/ Groundhog Day / The Cincinatti Kid

2b. Favourite actress?
The French Woman in Unbearable Lightness of Being is her name Juliette Binoche? Mariel Hemingway in Manhattan - Marilu Henner in Taxi

3. Favourite band?

Bob Dylan - though he's had many bands, no one else comes close

If you won a huge event for life changing money would you quit commentary work or keep doing it? reasons? I have no idea. I'd probably sit at home for a while. Who can say why we do anything? There's no question that for a long time all the commentary I did I would have done for free, and sometimes did. I'd like to think I would keep doing all the same things I do now, but the reality is that I'd probably stop drinking coffee, hire a team of psychologists, and expirement in brief bouts with strong hallucinogenic drugs.

It'd be nice to take a stab at setting up a professional poker tour along the right lines, but that would take more than one life changing sum of money.

bops

Hi Jessy!

Do you ever get to play live in Copenhagen? If so, would you recommend anywhere (besides Casino Copenhagen)


OK - your at an FT, your the BB with an average stack (say 15 BB's) - there's a couple of limpers and the SB completes...you look down at 88 - what do you do?

Cheers

Bops!

5starpool

I really enjoy your offbeat humour and your WSOP off the wall coverage, whether it be internet tv show or just internet site with interviews etc. Do you have an online journal/blog or site that you keep regularly updated? Do you have a slot on any of these internet poker radion shows? If not, were you ever offered a regular slot, or would you ever consider doing one?

Cheers for doing this. You are to poker what Sid Waddell is to darts, and that is a big compliment

ocallagh

Hi Jesse, thanks for doing this.

What is your favourite style of TV Poker? LNP, Matchroom 6-max, Ladbrokes Millions (ie: show all hands), WSOP, HSP, EPT etc?

Do you think TV Poker has fully evolved? I get sick of watching WSOP events where Ak and 99 do battle for the 18th time... but I suppose that's what your average Challenge or Bravo viewer wants! As the public learn more about the game do you think the standard of TV Poker will improve?

Since you went to Vegas that first time, how many times have you been back?

Do you play much poker at the moment?

What are the odds the winner of the Simon Charity event will be sober?

Lazare

Messyjay wrote:

A couple more questions somebody recently sent me for a magazine interview. I think he thought I was taking the pis. I wasn't. Everything I wrote is true.

When did you get into poker? What's your background with the game up to the
present day, and what are you working on next?

I first went to Las Vegas at age 16 with a pinstripe suit, duck shoes, oversized sunglasses, a corncob pipe, and a beard, trying to look on the young side of 54. It worked, and I was able to play enough poker to lose my first bankroll to a man from Texas with a hat. I dropped out of college to either become a professional poker player or achieve enlightenment through Zen. I spent three days in my closet contemplating the inevitability of death and decided I would far rather be on a Greyhound Bus to Las Vegas than study philosophy. I played poker in Las Vegas, New Orleans, Atlantic City, Connecticut, and Europe until enough people learned the game well enough that I had absolutely no chance of ever winning again. In desperation, I used the last of my bankroll to buy-in to the first ever televised poker tournament in Cardiff, Late Night Poker I. I disgraced myself so thoroughly with my play that I had no choice but to volunteer to do the commentary
for free. Things went from there. When I'm not doing commentary these days, most of my thoughts involve how to get large puppets more involved in televised poker.

How long did you spend as a poker player? What was the scene like back then?

I played poker professionally for about five years. Back then very few people knew how to play the game. I once heard a fellow professional describe it as standing under a window out of which money was being thrown holding a basket. Unfortunately for me, I never had a very large basket, but I did often manage to find windows underneath which no one else was standing.

What's the most you ever won in a tournament?

I've never been much of a tournament player. One time in Poughkeepsie, New York, I played in a private cash game at which I won every single chip on the table. I was given half of my buy-in back and a yellow piece of paper. I later on traded the piece of paper for a hamburger, a ride home, and a promise never to return to Poughkeepsie.

what's the most you lost in a single hand...?

The most I ever lost is everything I had, everything I could borrow, and whatever the pawn shop would give me for my binoculars and walkman.

What has been the most lucrative tournament you've commentated on, and who
won?

The first Poker Million on the Isle of Man will always be my favorite tournament, and John Duthie put on a poker performance that I doubt will ever be equalled while winning 1 million pounds.

How many people played in the first ever World Series? How did it begin?

The first World Series began as an elaborate ruse to get Jimmy the Greek to work off his gambling debts. There was seventeen people there, only eleven of whom would pose for the picture being that they were not currently wanted by the police.

What are the odds of making a Royal Flush with 5 cards? Have you ever
commentated on a Royal Flush? Or had one yourself? If so, when/how?

When I used to play at the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, if you got dealt a royal flush you received a framed certificate signed by the poker room manager. I had been playing seventeen hours and was stuck to my gills when dealt a royla flush in Omaha hi lo. There was one other player in the pot and we split it when he turned up a low. Two hours later I made a royal flush in Hold'em against a player who was all-in for the amount of the big blind. They brought me two framed certificates to the table at which point I had been playing twenty-one hours straight and was losing more money than I ever had at one time. I've still got the certificates.

This post is just gold.
You seem to have the same clever wit as Padhraig, no wonder you're such good mates.

Cheers Jesse, excellent reading.

Bandara

Just logged in to say thanks for doing this Jesse.

A brilliant read so far and more to come.

kaizersoze1980

Jesse during your commentry on this years IO you referred to Nicky Power as a popular Cork player?

In general how many mistruths do you try and peddle in one particular sentence?

lol.. good job, keep it up.

kakak1

kaizersoze1980 wrote:

referred to Nicky Power as a popular Cork player?

well he was 50% right with the Cork bit

Hectorjelly

What poker programs, (if any) do you watch at the moment? What do you think of them?

kincsem

Jesse,

Do you think the major festival events are now being priced out of range for average local players? I think the Dublin EPT events are all now €1k minimum (which might make the charity event the only affordable event).

Can a professional make a living without sponsorship ? Can you name a pro who does not wear logos ?

Messyjay

Ste05 wrote:

Fair play for doing this Jesse.

How does Phil Hellmuth act away from the camera's and would you have any kind of friendly relationship with him, I know you needle him alot in commentary and on your shows, and I was just wondering if he takes it all as just being part of the "Phil Hellmuth show". Similarly with any other similar players.

Do you think the US ban on on-line Poker will be lifted anytime soon.

Can you regail us with the craziest prop bet you have been involved in/ witnessed or heard about. Maybe one that isn't as widely known as it should/ could be (e.g. breast implants, etc.) obviously feel free to leave out names if necessary.

Did you ever play with Stu Unger, and if so, how would you rate him against the current luminaries of the Live/TV game and the current internet crop of phenoms (obviously this one is hard to quantify, but humour me possibly)

What other internet forums do you read, 2+2, Pocket5's, BlondePoker, Hendonmob, etc. and which one is your favourite besides boards obviously.

I'm sure there's loads of other questions but that'll do it for now.

Phil's a funny egg. I've gone full circle since I first met him in 1990 in Madison Wisconsin. Of course he doesn't remember it. Hero to zero to hero again. At the heart of it, Phil is someone who is a nice guy and has a big heart and a big ego. He also has the absolute worst social awareness of perhaps anybody I've ever met. He has absolutely no inner sense of how he is being perceived socially by what comes out of his mouth. It's really funny when you combine this with his other skill, which is that Phil is the best in the world such that noone may ever touch him when it comes to his ability to tell if someone is weak or strong as soon as they open their mouth and say something. It doesn't matter what you say to Phil, if you open your mouth he knows if your hand is weak or strong.

So he combines an uncanny ability to read people when they are talking with a buffoon's ineptness at social graces. That's why he is the way he is.

Personally, I have done a 180 on Phil recently and find that I actually enjoy being around him. I'm not sure if he's changed or something else has. I get a big kick out of him. But going back, I can find many examples from years past where I think he was out of line. He's a complex poker figure.

US Ban on Poker. I think during the next four months something very dramatic will happen with the US ban on poker due to the attorney general being replaced in the US. Among the many things Gonzalez was known for messing up, there has been a huge amount of pressure put on him to enforce the banking laws and he has resisted for reasons unknown to me. It is more likely that the new attorney general will be decisive one way or the other. If the banking laws are enforced, it is good for business because Pokerstars and Fulltilt will effectively start to go out of business. (Its nothing against PS or FT, just that they have an unfair market advantage which keeps the market in a state of uncertainty). And if they are actively ignored, other firms might take this as confirmation that they can reenter the markets. Either way, at this stage change is good.

Two funny prop bets involving John Hennigan. Several years ago, he took up golf. After having played a few times he entered into a prop bet that within 6 months he could break a certain score at a certain course on a certain day. Can't remember the particulars, but I think it was 80 and the bet was for seven figures or such. Now Hennigan is a phenomenally talented athelete in that he was one of the best nine ball shooters in the country at age 18, one of those guys who just has aptitude galore. After making the bet, he moved to California, hired a golf coach, and got to work. Halfway through his training, he fell, broke his ankle, and had to forfeit the bet. It was pretty bad luck.

An even funnier prop bet involving Hennigan occurred about 10 or 11 years ago, when Tiger Woods was just turning pro. Up to this point, no one had ever been favored in a golf tournament at a shorter price than 8-1. Hennigan made a standing bet for 3 years laying 7-2 every time Tiger Woods teed up the ball. Immediately after striking this bet, Tiger went on the run for which he is now famous. It was ugly. Hennigan settled half way through because he was so tilted up he couldn't even play poker. Every time he sat down, he'd look up and there was Tiger again.

Messyjay

brianmc wrote:

Muppets or pinnochio style puppets?

Playing or commentating?

Thanks for doing this by the way. Despite my lack of questions I love reading these.



S: That George Burns is a great singer!
W: Well so am I, Statler!
S: What?!
W: Sure! Hey, you wanna hear me sing?
S: Only if you sing tenor.
W: Tenor?
S: Ten or eleven miles away!

Muppets. It's all about Muppets. We have been floating this idea around for some time about the Gamboleers, a band of muppets in the incarnations of old poker players. One would be the spitting image of Benny Binion, Johnny Moss, Mickey Appleman, etc. etc. The back story is that a gonzo type youngster muppet in a suit finds these guys in a busted out bar or cardroom in the backwaters and convinces them to go back on the road now that the poker explosion has happened. He gets a beat up old bus and the Gamboleers hit the road. It's part talk show part muppet show as the Gamboleers travel the world in search of action.

That's the gist of it. But the actuality is that we realized that a muppet could ask poker players questions that normal interviewers can't. Thy can ask the pointed questions of guys like Phil Ivey and the Devilfish that other people just can't say. and how much fun would it be to see Negreanu interviewed by a muppet?

Messyjay

Flipper wrote:

Hey Jesse, thanks for doing this.

1) If the poker industry collapsed tomorrow, what would you most likely end up doing?
2) Did you and your wife meet through poker?
3) What do you think of the american commentators: Vince Van Patten, Gabe Kaplan, Mike Sexton, A. J. Benza, Norman Chad and Lon McEachern?
4) What do you think of this years' poker million final line up?
5) What has been your most embarrassing poker moment?

FWIW, I always enjoyed meeting you at the bar at any event and you really are a great laugh... And you can skull the booze with the best of 'em!

Take care,

Flipper

hey Flipper.

Most people who have been in this industry a while are good grafters. Surviving the swings means everybody has to graft at some time or another. I'm not sure if I could still do it.

My wife Mickey and I met on a kibbutz in Israel. She was in charge of cleaning the dining room and I was in charge of chopping carrots. I had gone to a work camp in Denmark to get away from poker after suffering my biggest losing month immediately followed by my biggest winning one. wanted to think things over. met a woman in Denmark who was going to Israel by the land route and I decided to join her. We fought like cats and dogs and split up when we got to Israel, which is where i met Mickey. She followed a successful photography career on her own before starting to take pictures of poker players.

The only comments I have about the American commentators is that the most valuable thing I was ever taught about commentary is by Martin Turner, the sky director, who always stresses the importance of roles in commentary. One person's the expert and one guy's driving the bus and the less those roles mix the better. It really doesn't matter what gets said. The problem with most commentary teams is that everybody wants to be the expert and everybody wants to drive the bus.


It would be apolitic to be specific about this years poker million final lineup because it hasn't aired yet, but suffice it to say that this is the best televised final lineup in European poker history. I think this shows the potential advantages to made for TV tournaments ie. shorter fields, non-open events. What was done this year rather than other years is that the ratio of internet qualifiers to pros was 1-2 rather than 3-1. It is such a big difference. I'm all for internet qualifiers, I just think it's much better drama if an unknown wins a big event by having to beat the big names rather than have to create drama out of a whole bunch of players who are previously unknown. The story of the underdog is a great one, but it needs to be tempered. they only allow like 4 amateurs in the whole of the british Open.

Messyjay

rag2gar wrote:

Interesting reading, thanks a bunch Jesse.

With your current contact woith Matchroom, were you disapointed that you had to bypass possible commentary jobs for key events like the William Hill GP II and the EPT's?

Is there any one major cause or infuence that has seen poker players triumph of fail when on the horizon of the big time that you have seen?

How do you handle the long stints of dull poker action that goes unnoticed on the tv, how do you keep your self always entertained and excited when theres sometimes very little to talk about?

The constant professional and hero commentator of Murray Walker proportions, how does it feel to be dubbed "the voice of poker"?

My contract with Matchroom has been a great thing. Sooner or later you have to join a team and Matchroom is the team that I want to be on as far as producing poker goes. Up until a couple of years ago, the idea was produce poker shows no matter, just getting something on was enough. But now things are changing, both for the players and for tv viewers.

It's not random shows that are the future of poker, but defined tours that will survive. Right now, loosely, you have the WSOP/Harrahs tour, the EPT, the WPT, the APAT (which I know nothing about), and Matchroom (who has only started to gel into a tour regarding consistency of players.) For me, Matchroom has made the most strides and looks to make the most strides in the future in terms of Inclusiveness, value for the player, and TV innovation. The future has to be able to include logos of all competing brands, and restrict player fields. The future must include added money to prize pools. The future must expirement with television formats to keep the audience interested and also try and showcase great poker. For me it's Matchroom.

I do like the EPT. I believe the EPT has oodles of potential and the next two years will be make or break for it. Make in my mind is that they start to restrict fields and add to prize pools. Break is that it becomes too much of a Pokerstars only adventure. Its a tough balance. One thing the EPT has going for it is that John Duthie is good for poker.

One thing about my Matchroom contract is that I am not shut out of events that are not Matchroom produced. Matchroom is just exclusively managing my schedule, which is a huge relief for me as I have never been any good at that.

As far as the dull stints, if you're not enjoying the game I guess you shouldn't be there. At the worst of times it's the best job you can have. The rest of times I just like being there. If I get bored, my first thought is there is something wrong with the tournament, because there's no reason to get bored watching good poker. I'm a sicky, I like it.

Of course, if there is going to be what looks like a long stretch, the best recipe is Padraig in the box. We often forget there's a game going on we are having so much fun. He truly has a great perspective on the game. I learn a tremendous amount from him at the same time.

RoundTower

Hi Jesse,
you mention that "it's much better drama if an unknown wins a big event by having to beat the big names". Obviously some of the "big names" are very talented poker players. But what role do you think the media plays in creating superstars out of mediocre players?

Messyjay

RoundTower wrote:

Hi Jesse,
you mention that "it's much better drama if an unknown wins a big event by having to beat the big names". Obviously some of the "big names" are very talented poker players. But what role do you think the media plays in creating superstars out of mediocre players?

Huge. I was trying to say this earlier when Nicnic posting about the top level. There is no top level, aside from the one created by different levels of media and tv. Just look at the World Heads Up championship on NBC which is 64 of the top players in the world and has absolutely no qualification guidelines whatsoever.

The problem I'm imagining many young Irish players are facing is the old cycle of poker. You go on a run, get a bunch of money together, feel like there is something that you are working towards, go on a bad run, end up back where you started and all you have to show for it is experience. You wonder what the hell am I doing it all for and shouldn't I have just ignored all the damn tv tournaments and just hogged the money? the answer is maybe. There's a huge hope that poker will develop into a sport so that there is a top level to work for that's beyond silly media guidelines. In absence of that, you kind of have to take care of yourself.

brianmc

Messyjay wrote:

Muppets. It's all about Muppets. We have been floating this idea around for some time about the Gamboleers, a band of muppets in the incarnations of old poker players. One would be the spitting image of Benny Binion, Johnny Moss, Mickey Appleman, etc. etc. The back story is that a gonzo type youngster muppet in a suit finds these guys in a busted out bar or cardroom in the backwaters and convinces them to go back on the road now that the poker explosion has happened. He gets a beat up old bus and the Gamboleers hit the road. It's part talk show part muppet show as the Gamboleers travel the world in search of action.

That's the gist of it. But the actuality is that we realized that a muppet could ask poker players questions that normal interviewers can't. Thy can ask the pointed questions of guys like Phil Ivey and the Devilfish that other people just can't say. and how much fun would it be to see Negreanu interviewed by a muppet?

It sounds revolutionary.

As further research I'd suggest familiarising yourself with Podge and Rodge

Mellor

brianmc wrote:

It sounds revolutionary.

As further research I'd suggest familiarising yourself with Podge and Rodge

First thing I thought of too.
sounds great, I'm guessing it wouldn't have to go through jim henson, seeing as Avenue Q didnt need to.

Messyjay

bops wrote:

Hi Jessy!

Do you ever get to play live in Copenhagen? If so, would you recommend anywhere (besides Casino Copenhagen)


OK - your at an FT, your the BB with an average stack (say 15 BB's) - there's a couple of limpers and the SB completes...you look down at 88 - what do you do?

Cheers

Bops!

I have played live almost not at all in Denmark. Theres a loose affiliation of clubs at http://www.pokerforbundet.dk/forside.php that have a good reputation. Malmo, sweden is also only a short ride away from Copenhagen center and there is a casino there which has a much livelier poker scene than Copenhagen. I'd be much more helpful when it comes to places to eat.

As far as your question goes, its pretty easy. If I'm relaxed I check. If I'm on tilt I push. If I'm in the WSOP main event I **** all over it and pretend I've misread my hand.

Messyjay

My affiliation to Irish Poker. Thought I'd post a quick story about one of my first tastes of Irish Poker, at the first Poker Million on the Isle of Man. I kind of arrived on the Isle of Man on a shoestring. I had agreed to do the commentary for 1000 pounds but I had to pay my own airfare and hotel and had to give fifteen percent to my agent and it was to be paid later by some sort of invoice system that business people used. I was beyond dead broke and in fact only managed to make it to the Isle of Man with a very dodgy credit card and the beginning of budget airfare from Amsterdam. I did, however, have a 500 guilder bill which Padraig had thrust into my hands at one point when I had run into him in Amsterdam the week before at some coffee shop completely unbidden. We hadn't met more than once before this, in Dublin maybe a month earlier where we had a night on the pis with Alan Betson. He was pissed out of his skull and took one look at me and gave me the bill and then disappeared off into the night. I was pretty sure he didn't know what he was doing and I saw him a day or two later and reminded him that he had for some reason lent me money and did he remember and he laughed. Of course he knew, and it was my first lesson in that Padraig always knows what he is doing, usually when you's swear he doesn't.

I had checked into some hotel a mile down the street from the casino in the Isle of Man and over there the night before the tournament began I ran into Padraig again who immediately took me over to a table in the coffeeshop where Noel Furlong was sitting with I think Liam Flood. Noel, he said, you're buying Jesse's book. I was carrying around with me some travel guidebooks that I'd written which were quite possibly the worst thing ever printed and were later burned to make space in the Publishers warehouse. Furlong didn't say a word but handed me twice the retail price of the book despite my protestations and that was it.

I spent that night in the care of Aidan Bennett at the bar which is one of the most memorable drinking sessions I've ever witnessed. It was the first time I met Rory Liffey but he'd left along with everyone else who was playing the next day except for myself, Aidan, Paul Phillips, and Andy Glazer, and Aidan was in sparkling form he kept telling Paul Phillips that he was born with a silver kick in his mouth and there was a point when the sensible thing that any person in their right mind would do was go to bed, and even though Andy Glazer was quite a big guy he did just that, but for some reason Paul Phillips refused to go to bed on the principle that he wasn't going to let Aidan make him. However Aidan was the wrong guy to get involved in a battle of attrition with and the upshot was that every night after that the bar was closed by 2am. I felt like I'd been adopted.

5starpool

What a bunch of nutcases to get involved with

Great story.

mrflash

I would just like to say that i met you in dublin at the ept last year and you are an absolute gentleman.
In my book you are the voice of poker in europe and are miles ahead of any other commentator i have come across.
and finally, the ept should sign you up, then they would have the best tournament coverage and the best commentator on poker. What a show that would be. Sack colin murray i say.