The third episode of the Fox Sports Net show “Poker2Nite” is in the books and co-host and UB sponsored pro Joe Sebok’s recent posts on Twitter indicate that the series is starting to get in a groove. Admittedly, Sebok is a bit of a biased source, so we here at Poker News Daily decided to scour the internet for other reactions in order to gauge how people like the program, which is hosted by Sebok and Scott Huff and also features actress Dana Workman and Absolute Poker’s Lacey Jones.
If Twitter and the major poker forums are any indication, several people have not had the chance to see the show because of its somewhat erratic scheduling. Since Fox Sports Net has different schedules for each of its regional stations, the 11:00pm ET Wednesday time slot posted on the show’s website is not always when it airs in certain parts of the country. Viewers eager to watch the show are not completely out of luck if the program does not air in the area or they don’t have cable. UB.com posts each of the episodes on its website shortly after they air and, so far, the first two have each netted around 3,000 online views.
While many poker players polled had not had a chance to watch the show, several notable names sent congratulations to Sebok and company on the new program. CardPlayer Player of the Year contender Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin noted the marked improvements in the show between the first and second episodes on his Twitter account (@basebaldy): “@Poker2Nite showing improvement already in the 2nd episode! Watch for it on FSN on Wednesday nights.”
Alex Outhred echoed those sentiments on his Twitter feed (@alexpokerguy), congratulating those involved with a “good start y’all.” Posters on the poker forum TwoPlusTwo also received the show with enthusiasm, but their optimism was a little more tepid. Comments generally implied that the group had low expectations and were pleasantly surprised. The poster “FreakShow” offered his take on the first episode: “Huff was awesome…Sebok looked a little rigid/nervous (like he was very focused on sitting up straight).” Several posters agreed that their biggest problem with the first episode was the general uneasiness of Sebok as a host.
The longtime poker commentator agreed with those assessments of his performance and commented on it on his own Twitter account (@JoeSebok). Shortly after the first episode aired, Sebok wrote, “final @Poker2Nite thought: certainly painful to see myself tense and nervous on tv. luckily that’s easiest thing to fix tho. ty everyone! :).”
Since then, he seems to be working on relaxing, but the comments on TwoPlusTwo have grown increasingly critical. Poster “LOLNHDONKWP” was particularly unimpressed by Sebok’s analysis of the record-setting online poker hand between Isildur1 and Patrik Antonius: “Awful ‘analysis’ by Joe Sebok. Only thing he got right was that Isildur was 45% to win the hand. He neglected to consider what he has already committed to the hand so it was amazingly standard getting the rest on flop, with 4 cards to make the stone cold nuts.”
Critics aside, the general sentiment about the show appears to be that it is good for poker, so most people are sending their best wishes to the show’s cast and crew as they continue their initial 13 episode run.