Poker After Dark - Putting on the Brakes

  The World Poker Tour has done a lot for poker, but as aggression is an important trait of the show, it has done a lot of damage to many a player's bankroll as well. It is interesting to watch a show that is almost the opposite of the WPT, like the NBC late night poker show Poker After Dark, which is ironically hosted by former WPT employee Shana Hiatt.  In this particular week six of the dozen living players holding five or more World Series of Poker bracelets were brought to the table to play each other - Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, T.J. Cloutier, Chris Ferguson, Layne Flack, and Erik Seidel. This hand saw four of them playing when TJ started things off by limping under the gun with: ... Phil was next with: ... also limping. Chris completed his small blind to the big blind with: ... and Erik checked his option with: ... The flop came: ... giving two players a pair. Chris was now under the gun, and he checked, as did Erik. TJ took this to mean his nines were good (they were) and bet out $800. Phil and Chris folded but Erik, who also had nines but with a worse kicker, called.  Now that call was enough to slow down TJ, and when the turn came: ... he just checked, as did Erik. The river came: ... And if it was the WPT, these two would likely come out firing at the pot. Instead, the two pros checked it down, an Erik nodded as he shipped the pot to TJ's ace kicker.