Anyone else find that watching poker on TV helps their game?

Like the WSOP or the WPT or other shows where the players' hole cards are shown. Somehow it just really improves my feel for the game, moreso than reading a book on poker or talking about poker.

i enjoy watching it, but i wouldnt say it improves my game as they only show action hands so you miss a lot of what is happening. It is only helpful if you play with the people on tv regularly so can pick up tells of the tv. That is why i learn a lot from watching high stakes poker

I find this rarely,if ever helps my game.Now that I play I find these shows very entertaining though.One possible way it could help is if I made it to a WPT final table and have some info on the pros.

Books and playing have helped me more than anything.One other way these shows helps me is when people with a lot of money watch them.Then they go to my poker site,deposit,then try to act like daniel negreenau at the final table.

If anything, I'd say it's counter productive, but that's because my game of choice is FL. Also, I play at low levels, so ig I tried the bluffs that the pro's try, the calling stations that I typically play against would call me down every time, and I'd lose a packet!

I have found that since the TV explosion in Poker, that it has helped me alot. Watching the games have made many people feel they can win. Limit Holdem is a very different game then No Limit. Yet rarely is a limit game shown. Raising with AK will not win you a hand in Limit.

I have come up with a new insult to use at the table. After a truly bad play, you can look at a player and say, "You have cable, don't you."

I enjoy watching poker on TV, not because it helps me play though. What it can do is respark my interest when I am in a bit of a funk. It also gives me confidence in my game when I watch a great player like Scotty Nguyen get snapped off in two hands becuase of a bad read. That really reinforces the fact to me that you take a shot with what you got (reads) and sometimes no matter how good you are it doesn't work out for you.

Most poker shows only show all-in and big pot type hands, there's not a lot you can learn from that.

I highly recommend Poker After Dark though. A 6-handed SNG style tournament with roughly 4 hours of footage every week. These shows include "boring" hands and there's very little commentary.
That's poker television at its best, and you can learn from it, too.

very true, especially the negrauno, laak, hellmuth, sheikan, matusow, esfandiari table from 1 of hte seasons. Such a funny table to watch that one, was awsome, best poker show ever that table was

Yeah it helps my game, but not because I use the moves that are shown on TV but because my opponents try to use them on me. This is why FL is harder, IMHO, to learn correctly and profit, because your opponents are only making small mistakes while a donk who stacks of three times in a row to your obvious set trying to get fancy with a FD in NL can make your day.

WPT shows every hand also, even the boring ones where one player bets everyone folds.

Um, have to rethink poker onTV. I think it should be kept to the table.

sounds a bit boring, dont know if i want to watch hundreds of hands. The poker million is a 6 person sitngo in the uk (first place prize being 1 mllion hence the name) but there are loads of 6 person heats where only hte winner goes through. They show about 50% of hands on there which is about 50-70 hands on average which is good i find

I have watched poker on television. I have seen what most of the pros consider a good hand, even though there are bluffs from time to time. I will try to catch the after dark poker and see a more realistic game.

This may be true(not for sure,but is possible)but,They only show the final tables.The end game is much different from the way most people start.