I Bet You
2006-12-26 15:33:26
By:
Gene Bromberg
Reality shows are all the rage these days and televised
poker certainly falls into that category. It's unscripted, you don't know who's going to win, and someone who was just a face in the crowd one day can become a celebrity overnight. And like the reality genre as a whole there have been some great
poker shows, some not-so-great, and some that never should've seen the light of day.
In my opinion the best
poker show on these days is GSN's
High Stakes Poker, which is a cash game featuring some of the best players in the world. Two of the stars of that show were Phil "The Unabomber" Laak (who busted Mike Matusow in a memorable hand) and Team
UltimateBet's Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, who handled some ghastly beats with commendable equanimity. Esfandiari and Laak, who are best friends, are also two of the most recognizable faces in poker. And now they've decided to try their hand at reality television away from the felt.
I Bet You will feature Esfandiari and Laak wandering around this great country of ours making prop bets against each other in outrageous situations. It's described as a "game show-slash-buddy comedy". They'll be wagering not only their own money, but their own dignity and pride. Some of the bests they'll make include:
- Surfing - Phil and Antonio take surfing lessons from instructors and bet on who can become the better surfer
- Dancing - Phil and Antonio meet with theater/stage dance instructors and learn a dance routine that they will have to perform in front of judges and bet on who is the better performer
- Roller Derby � Phil and Antonio team up with the Angel's City Derby Girls, a group of professional roller derby athletes and bet on who's a better at the sport, and who can take a better beating
That last one also involves the possibilty of comical and semi-serious injury to the two gamblers, which should help boost the ratings.
There will also be smaller side bets during the show, with Phil and Antonio trying to best the other in such activities as trying to hit exactly .08 on a breathalyzer test, giving Barney the dinosaur a piggy-back ride, and teaching two random people to
play poker and having them play heads-up.
I remember watching a
World Poker Tour episode where Laak and Esfandiari talked about a bet where the loser had to pay for the winner's fish tacos for an entire year. The wagers have moved a bit higher thanks to their success over the years, and if you want to what life is like for two crazy gamblers, check out
I Bet You when it airs.
Permalink:
http://www.ultimatebet.com/poker-blog-post/I-Bet-You/1575
