I quite liked it. When the original HSP aired Tom Dwan wasn"t even old enough to enjoy himself in Vegas but it was still a good show. It was a good mix of pros and mega-rich businessmen and it worked quite well. Viffer"s always good for busting up cozy poker cliques anyway if you can stand to look at the man.
It seems like it"s just reverted back to it"s original concept. Sounds like a lot of people wrote this off before it even aired when they heard no FT pros and no Gabe, but if you decide you won"t like something before you give it a chance you"ll probably find a way of not liking it. If you like this format of TV poker it"s worth sticking with it.
I like Norm McDonald too I"ve always thought he was a funny guy. I don"t think it matters he"s not as poker savvy as Gabe, most people can understand the action, so a commentator just need to fill the silences when the players aren"t talking and be witty too unlike the PAD guy. I liked his line about Doyle sucking out on cancer, "I believe it was runner runner."
I think the Tom Dwan influence killed the shows to a large extent. Everyone just too scared of playing back at it. I think this is more entertaining. Barry Greenstein doesn"t need to be there mind.