“Underground Poker” Driven By Esfandiari and Laak, Shows Promise

As a part of a three-hour block of entertainment, cable television’s Discovery Channel premiered a night of television called “All In All Night.” While the other two programs were adequate, the premiere of “Underground Poker,” featuring poker professionals Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak, showed the best promise of the three.

The premise behind “Underground Poker” was that Esfandiari and Laak, eschewing their normal tournament poker grind, would head to “underground” (re:  borderline or outright illegal cash games outside of a casino) poker games. Through the usage of their connections in the city, the duo would take part in different games throughout the town. The first episode of “Underground Poker” sent Esfandiari and Laak to New Orleans and provided plenty of interesting moments.

First off, to say that Esfandiari and Laak are entertaining would be a huge understatement. Bantering back and forth like a couple that has been married for 50 years, both men drew the viewer into their personalities. Esfandiari, with several eye-rolls, gave his view on Laak’s feel that “the universe” would be right if he were able to get a nice win under his belt (it was revealed early on that Laak had taken a six-figure hit in a cash game in Los Angeles). Laak, for his part, jabbed at his partner for his lack of adventure about entering into some questionable areas for cash games (one of the funnier moments was Laak calling Esfandiari the “Persian Princess” for this fear). With the personalities set, the players actually set out on their hunt for a good game.

Using a lead from a local named Chef Mike, Esfandiari and Laak end up in a not-so-welcoming bar cash game. Esfandiari chooses to sit out (and schmooze with the local ladies) while Laak steps up and, within a short time, has taken about $750 off the players. Sensing a bit of animosity from the locals, Esfandiari instructs Laak to lose back some of the money. Laak does this to the point he only walks away with $24 from his efforts.

While that was a nice opening, Esfandiari and Laak next hook up with another friend identified as ‘505’ (allegedly because he has faced 505 felonies and gotten off of all charges). ‘505’ leads them to a higher stakes game, with Esfandiari and Laak bringing along a local attorney who is also looking for some action. After Esfandiari is outdrawn by one of the players in the game to lose a sizeable pot (Esfandiari’s pocket Aces being outdrawn by his opponent’s pocket nines), the attorney promises to take them to “the biggest game in town.”

The last stop, in a mansion in the Big Easy, provided a bit of a different pace for Esfandiari and Laak. Instead of playing Texas Hold’em (as had been played at the other two stops), the guys enter into a Pot Limit Omaha game and face some stiff competition. Along with the attorney, fellow pro Peter ‘Pete the Greek’ Vilandos (a multiple World Series of Poker bracelet winner) is a part of the game as well as some other local talent. The game is for high stakes and, although Laak doesn’t seem to get far above his starting stack, Esfandiari takes down a $22,000 pot as the premiere episode comes to a close.

There were several strong aspects of the show. The poker action throughout the hour-long program was entertaining enough to have stood on its own and the local color brought by the different players (from varying backgrounds) helped to make “Underground Poker” look good and, as such, make Esfandiari and Laak look good as well. There were several strategic snippets dropped in by the twosome that would keep the interest of the recreational player involved in the series and, finally, any show that deviates from Texas Hold’em to show other disciplines of the game is entertaining.

With this said, there were some drawbacks. It seemed as if the cash games were “too” pristine; I’m not suggesting that Esfandiari and Laak go into a game where a gunfight will break out but, other than some bawdy banter, that is about as rough as it got. Some of the program seemed a little scripted (although Esfandiari and Laak have said it wasn’t), especially when Esfandiari was almost commentating on Laak’s first foray into the local bar. Lastly, the cards weren’t always displayed for the viewer to see the conclusion, but that may be more in the problems of filming than in the players themselves.

Overall, “Underground Poker” showed the most promise of the “All In All Night” block on the Discovery Channel. The best thing about the first program, “Hustling the House,” was security expert Sal ‘The Hitman’ Piacente, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of cheating and scams and showed the viewer just how Three Card Monte works (would have definitely liked to have seen more of him in the program). The other program “Casino Secrets” wasn’t all that secretive about just what casinos do to separate you from your money. Further episodes of all the programs – but especially “Underground Poker” – are needed to see if the Discovery Channel’s “All In All Night” is a winning hand or a bust from the start.