Poker After Dark - Queen. Ace

  NBC's Poker After Dark is a great show for a number of reasons. The format brings six big name players each week to the table, and very little editing goes into the production of the show. That means there are a lot of hands that are just "check, check, check", which does not make for high drama, but it does more accurately reflect what goes on in a poker game.  This week the field was narrowed down to Jen Harman, Patrik Antonius, and Phil Ivey, who had just been felted by Jen. Now that it was heads up action we would get to see how these two world class players managed their end game strategy.  Patrik started things off with a nice raise to $9,000 - a fairly standard raise, as the blinds were $1,500 and $3,000. He made the raise with: ... and Jen called with: ... likely hoping to spike a flush on the Flop.  That did not happen, however, as the Flop came: ... Both players checked and it was on the Turn: ... Jen could have lead out here, but chose to check, as did Patrik behind her. When the River came: ... once more it was check, check, and then the showdown. "Queen," said Jen, flipping over her card. "Ace," said Patrik, doing the same, and then dragged the pot. This hand just goes to show you that the pro games are very much like any other games.