Adam, I thought it was pretty good for the first show under your direction. Seems like when you get your wings under you the show will continue strong and could even have the potential to be better than ever. Your nerves only seem apparent when delivering the stars plug, the interviews were fine imo.

Weirdly enough, I would like to see longer drawn out intros for all the guests. Your attention to detail is of course your strength, but sometimes it can build rapport with a little meandering up front.

Marco of course is a true experienced professional and think he is a great selection for the first co-host. Looking forward to the line up for the next couple months.

Over all I enjoyed it, actually more than I thought. I have a routine for listening to the show. I travel ever other Mon. I download the show on Wed.- Thur. So every night Wed.- Sun. night I would listen to ~ 15 minutes of the show and it would put me to sleep. Then when I travel on Mondays I would actually listen to the entire show.

The main thing that is bothering me right now is I haven't had a good nights sleep since Wed. What I have heard though I will enjoy the travel tomorrow.

I thought the show was good. Yes it wasn't the same as it would be with MJ but that was always going to be the case. I have not listened to Marco before but I got the impression that he was conscious of the fact he may get some backlash and early on seemed a little uncomfortable. Also he did try and make some jokes that were just awful ;-) and seemed to ease into it as the show went on.

I don't know of this has been mentioned above as I skimmed most of them but was the Slansky minute a repeat - I swear I have heard it before.

One of, if not the first time I ever found myself struggling to get through a pokercast episode. It was always going to be strange without Mike and unfortunately will likely never be as good; doesn't mean it still can't be a very good show though.

Not a big fan of Marco in the co-host role to be honest. I respect his knowledge of the industry and he is obviously well versed on a multitude of topics; I just didn't enjoy listening to him in the podcast format. Example: his 'interaction' with the first guest was painful to listen to at times.

Will keep listening as one 'bad' show is certainly not a death knell for the pokercasts future.

Whats Scott Huff at these days? Someone like him could make a great lead for the show. Haralabob would likely never do it full time, but a few guest appearances a year would be great. Bart Hanson and Joe Stapleton are also likely worth exploring as well.

I'm pretty sure that a lot of people listening to the show do not have English as a first language. Marco speaks slower than MJ. MJ is a genius, but he speaks a little bit too quickly. So I really enjoyed listening to Marco.

For me Bart Hanson is my favorite host, but Marco is awesome and may perform better than Bart.

Anyway, I want to tell you that this week podcast was like a breath of fresh air.
For heaven's sake, please do ignore Joe Stapleton. May the force be with you.

Why not Stapleton ? I used to really enjoy the show he made with Gsmith and sebok. I have to agree with what others have said so far, I have been a big fan of the show forever and this one was just painful to listen to. Nothing against Marco, he probably ran bad that this week's topics were so heavy and "boring". I am willing to give him another shot in an episode with lighter topics.

English is not my first language and I still would get 100% of what MJ said FWIW, his debit and tone were perfect. As someone mentioned earlier, I think the key is to have someone that is a real buddy of Adam, the chemistry between Adam and Marco just wasnt there.

Listen to the pokercast every week and look forward to it's release on. Wednesday (UK). Have to say I really didn't take to Marco, it wasn't so much about chemistry which is bound to take time, just mainly that I felt he spoke way too much, seemed to put a joke in at every opportunity (maybe nerves) which wasn't funny and mostly just didn't give Adam any room. For me a guest co-host should be behind Adam a bit or at least even. Marco just seemed very sure of himself and his humour and that was tilting to listen to. Have to say if the shows were like this one, I wouldn't be listening again and that's a shame after it being such a part of my weekly listening for years.

Basically just wanna hear more of Adam and didn't like Marco at all as a co host.

Also want to acknowledge how hard this transition is and that I couldn't do a better job but also wanted to offer my feedback.

P.S. I'd go with Stapes too!

lol sample size

it's one show. give it a little while to all blend together. Keep up the great work guys!

I thought this show episode fine for what it was. Yes, it had an entirely different pace than all previous versions but that's because MJ ran it. His frenetic style of speech filled in every gap, and he moved on to the next topic rather quickly.

Remember, MJ and Adam were effectively like a play-by-play and color analyst. MJ introduced topics, Adam inserted his expertise about those topics. This was the same dynamic that Huff had with Haralabos on BPS, that Huff had with his media panelist on The Poker Beat, that Andrew Feldman has with Lance Bradley on ESPN's Poker Edge, or that Mark Gahagan has with Chris Grove (and previously Matt Kaufman) on The Rabbit Hunt. You also have/had it on Mike & Mike, Mark And Brian, Opie & Anthony, and so on. Very standard.

If the plan is for Adam to continue driving the show, then you're not really interested in finding a second host, you're looking for an expert commentator. Adam will keep the show moving, make transitions from topic to topic or segment to segment, and he will get even better at it as he gets more experienced. (As is, he did quite well at this given that it was his first show in this role.) At that point, pair him with people with whom he'd have an instant call-and-response chemistry, and we'll get a show we can all settle into.

However, if we're suggesting candidates to replace MJ and allow Adam to return to the co-host role...

Scott Huff lives in New York with his wife and son. He works on the production staffs of various Broadway plays. Personally, I think if he wanted to work as a podcast host, he would still be doing it. You have a better chance getting Russ Hamilton as a guest.

Joe Stapleton is based in London, mostly because that's where his work with PokerStars is. For him to host the show, he would need to be flown in to Vancouver every week. If only his employer would allow that, or pay for his travel. Oh, no wait, they do it all the time. I'd love for this to happen.

Another possibility, as crazy as it sounds (and not everyone here will like it) would be Ali Nejad. Same idea -- you'd have to fly him in every week to do a show, but that guy gets flown everywhere as it is. Those who only know him from his NBC work may not realize it, but he would at least restore the show back to its previous pace. Maybe not the same feel, but definitely a similar speed.

Anyway, I gotta agree with the post above me. We've had one show of what was already a transitional period. If this had been a brand-new poker show, and not a new era of an established one, I'd snap-subscribe to what I've heard so far. At some point, the PokerCast will settle into something more consistent and sustained.

Adam, big props! I remember this one episode on the rounders show, where you were flying solo and it was the most cringeworthy thing to listen to... ever... :P Now, you felt so comfortable and like a true pro behind the mike. I'm sure you're not going to eff it up.

There were a few times where I thought Marco should just let the interviewee finish his damn sentence. For example, would have loved to hear more about Vinny talk about playing poker, strategy, more NYC private club stories, etc. rather than let him speculate about the effect of online gambling on the state of East Coast poker. In poker it is always about the personalities and personal anecdotes more than the structure (legal situation), it's what drives people to the game. Black Friday was so impactful, not because of the legal situation, but because many of our lives were flipped upside down. Like, I loved how he talked down the thing about traders being good poker players and vice versa and talked about the whole environment of the trading floor.

Good luck going forward from a loyal fan. I barely play poker anymore, but the 2p2 Pokercast is one I always listen to first!

I just love the content
I think Adam wasn't totally comfortable yet, but hey, first show.

Oh, and I found the Chris Christie joke to be quite funny. Apologizing for making the joke less so.

I think Adam did very well and will surely get more into the rhythm of being the host of the show.

As for Marco, I really like that he has been a port of poker media for such a long time and obviously knows what he is talking about. His voice is a plus as well! Also he clearly has his own style of conducting interviews (charming but direct) which I respect and have no problem with.

Now, I am not convinced of the chemistry between the two. First of all the banter seemed a bit forced and mostly they seem to be quite similair in their style of thinking. For me MJ has always been the one who had "naively" strong opinions and Adam took the role of the "skeptic" (not overly!) who added other factors that might play into a topic. This led to natural discussions and not forced ones. Now that Ive heard Marco, we really have a skeptic on board! Dont get me wrong, I personally think the same way as Marco when it comes to speculating and drawing conclusions but combined with Adams also more realistic approach it makes for less entertaining discussions. I cant believe I just said that being a skeptic myself...

Of course the banter between them will improve if they really get along well outside of the show but I would agree with the opinion that we need a more average Joe kinda guy besides Adam.

100%

what do you mean? IIRC he didn't say "um", "eh", or "sorry" at all!

Hey guys
First off I am quite appreciative that Adam continues to give listeners several hours of entertainment that we get for free every week.

I don't think many people would give the time you and MJ gave to community over several years.

Re the change:I think back to Steve D's first few interviews and how painful they were, but now I am disappointed when it's someone else from Stars. With time the two of you will only get better together.

I do want to repeat a comment noted by others: overall and especially during interviews Marco had too much of the lead and Adam was too silent.

Marco is quite good and knowledgeable, but sharing the mic more makes for a better, more balanced show.

I have no doubt this will come with time.

JamPod


Sent from my Samsung using 2+2 Forums

People complaining about Marco's English are mental. He's the most articulate poker radio host I've ever heard and it's because he chooses his words carefully. Some people have a slower pace of speech and I don't think it has anything to do with Marco's Italian origins in his case.

Any show with Marco is going to slant towards the journalistic side and less to the comedic side. I wish he could become the permanent co-host but it doesn't look like that will be possible.

I've been a big fan on Marco's every since his Black Friday marathon and its a shame he doesn't have a regular podcast.

good job adam, will definitely continue to listen to the show. marco is also a good talker. just as other said it was a bit akward when lee was on. but on the other hand i never liked the way lee responds and highly prefer steve day.

keep it up! also bunner now officially back on the wheels of steel?

I have followed Adam and Mike since the Rounders days and listened to every Pokercast episode. I really appreciate the time and effort that goes into the program and hope it continues for the foreseeable future. With that said, if Marco became the permanent co-host, I think I would stop downloading every week to be honest.

He is just not my cup of tea in that role.

You've barely had a sip.

Not entirely true. I have listened to a number of quad Jacks broadcasts so I know what Marco brings to the table in this general format.

Doesn't make a good partner for Adam imo.

Same for me word for word. +1

here's my constructive criticism:

adam was fine but should take more of a lead role, especially in these beginning weeks...

marco has a great voice, and there's nothing wrong with his accent. what was hard to listen to was his domination of the interviews and his interruption when guests were speaking. perhaps he was trying too hard (or just a bit nervous) but "less is more" in this case. i don't doubt that marco can make some improvements, but if what we heard in this podcast was similar to how he conducted himself on QuadJacks, then i would also be very hesitant to keep listening to the PokerCast. honestly, Marco projects an attitude of a "know-it-all", and seems pompous and full of himself. i'm not saying that he is in actuality, but that is the attitude that is set forth.

in my view, Terrence Chan has proven himself to be a far superior co-host. not that he would actually be able to do it, but Terrence actually listens to Adam and has a back-and-forth that seems much more natural.

in any case, i'm fine with giving Marco a chance to improve, but let's definitely try out a few more co-hosts in the meantime.

I think Marco approached the interviews as more a journalist rather than an interviewer. It came out in both the Vinny Pahuja and Lee Jones segments. With some guests, obviously you need to dig deeper and ask follow-ups (i.e. Howard Lederer), but in most cases, the interviewer should be asking one question, allowing the interviewee to respond, and moving to the next question.

At one point the Pahuja interview, I think Marco asked him a question, he responded with his opinion, and Marco countered with his own opinion. I think the interesting part of having the guest is listening to his opinion, not the hosts. That's what makes a good interviewer is that he allows the guest to have the space to make his opinion, but it's not a debate between host and guest most times.

I enjoyed Marco as a cohost a lot more than I expected to. He does have a tendency to go on and step on an interviewee's answer, but he's not the only host of a show that does that. If he could dial it back just a little, I would have been 100% satisfied. Having said that, it took awhile before I bought into Mike as a host. I would definitely listen to an Adam/Marco podcast weekly.

Me at the epic ending of this one