PLOker after Dark

It\’s PLO week on Poker after Dark, and thus the first new televised poker I\’ve been excited to watch (on first run) in forever. Though I\’m sure someone had to play a 4-card hand on ESPN in 2004, I can\’t remember any PLO on TV since learning the definition of a \”wrap\” … and certainly not since the Pokerati game began introducing low-stakes players in Vegas to PLO (with run-it-twice!) a year-an-a-half ago.

(L to R) Adams, Antonius, Ivey, Dwan, Hastings, Galfond

Hard to believe televising a short-handed cash game session of the second most popular poker game in the world — the one that has produced the biggest online pots in history — would prove \”revolutionary\” … but really, it is kinda historic; and that says something about the limits of creative innovation in the online poker infomercial biz.

But kudos to PAD for at least taking a peak outside the \’06-\’09 box to embrace variance. Though I wouldn\’t contend pot-limit Omaha and four-color decks are what will reinvigorate poker on TV … for a semi-regular PLO player who doesn\’t necessarily dream of playing the game for $100k buy-ins but just wants to beat my friends once a week at 1/2, hearing about a different sector of hand possibilities almost feels fresh … and it\’s always good-fun to see extra cards on the table: