Customer Reviews

2004 World Series of Poker

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although, I must admit that I too obtained these DVDs for less cash than what is listed here. Yet, even if I had not, I must emphatically note that the 2004 WSOP is perhaps the most educational poker video ever made. You can learn more from the pocket cams than you can from 16 hours of a lecture from a major pro. To put it simply, watching is learning. It's amazing how many scenarios I later recall when I play in games online. An example came the other day when part of me wanted to slow play a 10 high flopped flush, but I quickly thought better of it after remembering a player who lost due to letting a guy with the Ace of his suit receive a free card. Situations like that happen again and again. For this reason, unlike other DVDs, this is one you'll want to own and not only rent.

This year there are 10 episodes from the Main Event which are included. In every way, this DVD is a substantial improvement upon the 2003 edition. Also included are other events such as Pot Limit Omaha and the Kansas City lowball tourney. Although, my favorite component is Greg Raymer's lengthy play-by-play analysis of the final table. I watched that special feature twice. Fossilman is a splendid champion and a bastion of sportsmanship amidst a crew of sore losers and paranoiacs. In this segment, he meticulously goes through individual hands and reveals the nature behind many of the decisions his competitors made. We learn that Harrington's final all-in was not such a bad move, and actually something he believed would allow him to earn enough money to stay in the game. Further, it is revealed that Matt Dean shared his final table strategy with his friends, and one of these "friends" actually went around telling people about the maneuvers Matt would be making. News of his "play loose once a few people were knocked out" plans eventually reached Raymer who made use of the inside information when he could. What fan of Greg Raymer's does not still wince when reflecting on the disrespect Josh Arieh threw his way after he was knocked out? It was an awful way to treat the big man. However, here again, Raymer is a big man. He exhales sportsmanship and honor. He points out that Arieh's words were spat out in the heat of the moment, and that Arieh later apologized for the things he said. He makes clear that Josh is actually a good person and nowhere near the piranha we saw on the felt in May of 2004. I believe that Raymer's analysis of Arieh is correct as it has also been verified by Daniel Negreanu. Frankly, I cannot think of a better poker related purchase than these DVDs. It's right up there with Small Stakes Hold'em, and Dan Harrington's two books from last year. It is a must buy.

compared to the 2003 w.s.o.p dvd 2 disc set, this is a big leap forward, but still not as good as it could be. there's a strange quality to these w.s.o.p dvd's. it happened with the 2003 dvd, and again with the 2004 dvd. i find the early stages of the tournament to be a bit less interesting (naturally) and it's hard for ESPN to know who's going to be the big mover. but the latter episodes you can feel the tension building to a crescendo. by the time you get to the final table it's pretty tense viewing. i love that aspect. i also liked the tournament of champions episode too (it was pretty badly edited comapred to the one that aired on cable tv here in australia, it must have been for time constraints, but it looked pretty half assed).
i also read that ESPN really misrepresented Josh Arieh throughout the whole tournament, making him out to be the "villain", clearly making him the player all viewers wanted to hate. some of the things he said and did were pretty indefensible, but many players (raymer, negreanu, lindgren) have leapt to his defense and said that ESPN chose some footage of josh that served their purpose, but left out a lot of his aggressive, ballsy incredible plays. apparently lindgen when he got knocked out , suggested to ESPN to keep the camera on josh , that he would be the big story from this tournament. raymer really was a gracious champion i thought, who handled a lot of tough situations, and played great poker , and i especially loved the matusow - raymer confrontations. much as you hate matusow's behaviour, it makes for good viewing. i'm looking forward to similar footage of the 2005 w.s.o.p where matusow got 9th. (haven't seen any of the 2005 episdoes yet).

some criticisms are that ESPN shows too many all in confrontations in a row, some actual post flop play would be nice. i know at some point a lot of the players keep going all - in to build up their stack, but as far as the viewing audience, it's not as intriguing as watching them bluff, check-raise, and try many other deceptions to win their pots.
10 episodes for the 2004 dvd was an improvement on the 7 episodes from the 2003 dvd, and i'm guessing they should put in at least 15 episodes for the 2005 dvd and make it a 4 disc set, with more footage of other events. (a good episode to include would be the episode where john robert bellande finished 3rd to doug lee and jennifer harman. man was he an entertainer).
as a viewer i can't help but think "if i were in charge of making these dvd's i'd make them 8 disc sets, with footage galore, and they'd go on for 20 plus hours", but i know there are many constraints and the editing process must be hell, and they can't film everything interesting that happens.
my suggestion is that maybe they could concentrate a little less on the early stages, but once it gets to the final 20 - 30 players, they should really expand that footage more, because that's when most viewers (and aspiring poker champions) want to know what situations arise, and how these players handled them. we want to know what mistakes were made, and what the great moves were too. sometimes by editing too much, you miss those crucial momentum shifts. it kind of sucks seeing a player's chip stack being $245,000 at the completion of one hand, and at the beginning of the next hand, he's on $90,000.
showing everyone's pocket cards would also be a big plus, rather than just those people that decide to play the hand. this is where the wpt has a big plus over the w.s.o.p coverage. i like seeing what cards players deem to be unplayable in certain situations and in ceratin position, but the ESPN coverage doesn't allow that luxury. it would add a lot, a subtle but crucial change that surely wouldn't be too difficult to incorporate into the existing camerawork and footage.

This 2004 WSOP DVD covers the event very well. The 10 ESPN episodes slowly take you through the bluffs and bad beats. This was a big improvement over the 2003 WSOP DVD. Also, it comes with an entire extra DVD of additional features. The 2003 WSOP DVD had about 5 minutes of extra features, it was pretty bad in that regard.

In addition to the ten episodes of ESPN coverage, you get the following Bonus features with this DVD:

Tournament of Champions (About 80 min)
Top ten moments from the 2004 WSOP (7 min)
Greg Raymer final table commentary (46 min)
$1000 buy-in Texas hold'em event (18 min)
$2000 buy-in Pot Limit hold'em event (18 min)
Kansas City lowball (45 min)
Stu Ungar feature (8 min)
Greg Raymer all-access (2 min)
Greg Raymer Bio (8 min)
Beyond the felt: Poker Talk (6 min)

I have seen all the televised poker DVDs and this one is the second only to the WPT second season DVD set. All of the extra features on this DVD is a real bonus as well. If you like to play poker or just like to watch, this would be a good DVD to add to your DVD library.

Whether or not you like this DVD depends on how you like the way that ESPN portrays the greatest event in the game.

Somebody is selling at $40 in the used & new (may have changed) - check the ESPN site, the price is $20.

I despise gougers.

once again espn has given us a great set of the 2004 world series of poker. the beginning to end of the series is just great and so much better when you don't have any ad breaks. it goes beside my copies of 2003 series,and the world poker tour season two.

i cant say anything of the dvds but i have seen many world series of poker events and let me say you this even if im only a highly skilled cash game no limit hold em player and have not so much tournament experience the world series is a must see were you see the best players playing the best tournament poker. i mean you can watch world poker tour or what say show on tv in germany european poker tour and uk open but they level of play isnt even have as good as in the world series you see many semi skilled players doing fairly good plays but they are all simpletons compared to the world series of poker and the player take it more seriously anyways.i mean sure i would not pay 300 dollar for but if you can get it cheaply its a must buy

ps can anyone tell me how to change my handle to i love neda hajizadeh?

The WSOP DVD's are just like watching it on ESPN, except without the commercials. Very Satisfied.

What has NOT been mentioned in any review I've read so far is that all but the bonus never before seen episode of the Kansas City Lowball game has been edited.I'm talking about actual taped footage that was previously shown on ESPN(or TSN here in Canada).About 10 seconds before EACH commercial break has been removed for this dvd release from each of the ten Main Event episodes.Including a Phil Hellmuth tirade and some little things like in the final episode hearing Lon say "It's David vs. Goliath" and many more edits that should have never occurred.

Also about 30 minutes worth of actual hands have been removed from the Tournament of Champions Tv episode(I compared it with the Tv version I had taped beforehand).Which included many BIG hands that were on the Tv version but NOT on this DVD.All the other non Main Event episodes that were edited have been mentioned before in other reviews so I was prepared for them.

I have the latest version of this DVD without the audio sync problems of the Greg Raymer Final Table commentary(that was present in some of the earlier versions),so the version I have has NO chapter points that you can quickly jump to as it incorrectly states on the DVD box(at least you can enter in a specific time to jump to,as you can with any DVD,so it's no big problem).

Overall,it's still an enjoyable DVD which also includes Mike Sexton getting all choked up in the extra Stu Ungar short,though I would have liked to see more of Stu actually playing than just the few clips they showed.Please ESPN no more editing for the DVDs,especially from the Main Event episodes!!!!Shuffle up and view.

the WSOP is always good to watch. the "NUTS" features are included but my favorite is the Tournament of champions on the bonus features section. Phil Helmet is always fun to watch explode but Annie Duke pulls the greatest push to "tilt" I ever seen. The best move I ever seen to destroy a player.