Review of Poker After Dark

Early Tuesday morning premiered the first episode of NBC's Poker After. My first impressions were not great. I'll divide my comments into pros's and con's

Pros's
1. Shana Hiatt still looks great.
2. Show runs daily so more poker to watch for junkies like me.
3. Since running daily they air a ton of hands.
4. We get to hear table banter
5. Top talent secured for the event
6. Structure seems good with players starting with 20k in chips and blinds at 100/200. This should provide for some play unlike Fox Sports Poker Superstars event which is a ridiculous all-in fest.

Con's
1. Lack of poker commentating: Contrary to some I do like to hear "expert" commentary to some degree. I like the fact we can listen to the players but at least with this first group, the banter got to be very annoying. Also to the casual poker fan, they may not understand all the inside talk between the players. I understood most of it since I am a degenerate.
2. Completely boring imo. Maybe due to the blinds being low and no big pots played yet but the show lacked any sort of excitement. I don't need all-ins but some great poker playing would have been appreciated.
3. The inclusion of Sean "Sheiky" Sheikan: This guy is not a superstar and if it wasn't for a great 2005 WSOP ME finish, no one would know who he is. He bombed on GSN's High Stakes Poker and his game and record is not that spectacular at least in tournament play. Aside from this he is a total tool or at least comes across that way. You can say what you want about Matusow and Hellmuth and I'd probably agree with you but Sheikan is just a plain jerk imo while those other two are just immature blowhards.
4. Maybe due to every channel having poker on these days but this event so far just seems contrived and fake. Feels like players are just there to promote there on-line websites and be on tv instead of actually wanting to play serious poker.

I know this is just the first episode but these are my initial impressions. Of course it won't stop me from watching but they need to do something or I believe their ratings won't be great. Now being at 2:00am, you don't need good ratings and this probably costs next to nothing to produce for NBC but they can do a better job. Truthfully, the only brightspot for me in the first episode was seeing Gus Hansen play. I seriously could watch that guy play poker all day long.