The Ultimate Donkey Challenge

I debated for a while about posting this one. Then I talked with Muk for a while and we were deadlocked on whether or not this really qualified as a donkey moment. So I sat down and started to think about what the Donkey Manifesto is all about. And I thought some more. Finally I was unable to come up with anything, so I figured quantity is better than quality, so a post it shall be! I do warn you that this post is on the borderline for what is considered donk material, since one of the donkeys in this post is a well-respected and very popular poker professional. But hey, I never said anyone was immune from a post!

I watched an episode of the Ultimate Poker Challenge last night on my DVR (Donkey Video Recorder). It's not the greatest poker show on television, but it's certainly not the worst. Daniel Negreanu was one of the commentators (along with Chad Brown), and a few players were there that I like, so I decided to at least have it on in the background while I donked off some money on various sites.

In the beginning introductions, a player clearly called and "labeled" as Dan Hart was introduced as the short stack. Almost right away he got into a big hand against Max Haticoli. However, his name on the on-screen graphics was clearly "Don." I figured OK, someone made a mistake, and didn't think anything of it, even though Negreanu called him "Dan" and Chad Brown called him "Don."

A number of hands went by, and all seemed normal. Then it happened. It was one of those TV moments that has you staring at the screen saying "ummm, what?" I'll try and lay this out as easy as I can here.

Max moves in pre-flop with Q6o. Jim "Minneapolis" Meehan re-raises with 99, obviously trying to shut out the rest of the field to get heads up with Max. Dan Hart on the short stack calls with AKo. So far, nothing is out of the ordinary. Then the graphic came up:

"Don" AK
Jim 99
Max Q6

During the entire hand, Negreanu was calling out "Dan" this and "Dan" that. Then the flop comes up, which is clearly Q76, and the announcers and Max go nuts. Negreanu is yelling "it's a Queen, it's a Queen!" and Max is running around the room, no doubt trying to get away from the hideous sun glasses wrapped around his head.

Here's where it gets funny. Negreanu announces that "Dan" needs any A or K, and Jim needs "any of the 2 9's." So I look at it again, and pause it. For those of you not too swift with poker, Max flopped 2 pair, Q's and 6's, and "Dan" now needs to catch 2 running cards to win. If he catches a single A or K on the turn, he only has a single pair, and is behind Max's two pair. Yet Negreanu says clearly the wrong thing, twice.

The turn is dealt, and it's a 4. Now "Dan" is drawing dead, yet Negreanu clearly says that he can hit an A or a K, and Chad Brown states that he has 6 outs left to try and win. The river is a 2 and that's that.

I would give the announcers the benefit of the doubt here, but hey, let's face it, that's not what we're all about. We're about donkey moments, regardless of who they happen to and who is involved!

Morphy