Trials of a Poker Apprentice: PPT is a winner

If you were fortunate, you remembered to watch the Professional Poker Tour sneak preview this past Saturday on the Travel Channel. If not, you'll have to wait until sometime this summer.

My impressions were overwhelmingly positive. It is a bit different from what you may be accustomed to after watching the World Poker Tour or World Series of Poker coverage on ESPN. But, while I enjoy both of those shows, the PPT could very well become my second favorite, behind only High Stakes Poker on GSN.

The broadcast team of Matt Corboy and poker pro Mark Seif are more subtle than their counterparts on the WPT. You won't hear them yelling after a particularly nasty card sends someone home on the river. Their analysis is also a lot meatier, providing useful insight as to why a player might have made a particular play. However, they're not shy about criticizing a dumb play, either.

Best of all, the episodes are not just the final six. We actually get to see the very beginning of the tournament. They've divided the entire tournament into "quarters," showing the earlier rounds in four two-hour episodes. That is then followed by the traditional six-person final table.

Saturday's broadcast was the first quarter of the Foxwoods PPT event, and it was a pretty good one. I particularly enjoyed getting a chance to see one of the true legends of the game, Amarillo Slim, play.

Speaking of slim, GSN will be airing a special about him this Sunday night as part of their "Legends of the Game" series.