[jojobinks]

they returned after a long break this last week and surprise! no more gavin smith, joe sebok, or scott huff.

they've been replaced with some other guys.

what did y'all think? i'll withhold comment for now, b/c i'm still working through their first week.

[Button Potato]

Gavin and Greenstein's kid will be missed. They are hilarious at the tables and they are hilarious behind the microphones. I know a lot of the criticism stemmed from too many inside jokes but so far they have been the best Circuit broadcasting team. Huff is no great loss IMHO.

[scottwire]

I finally had a chance to listen to them all.

The first episode really got me freaked out because it just so did not live up to the slamastica-ness of Huff, Sebok and Smith.

The second episode had Doyle so at least even if the hosts sucked, at least Doyle would make it interesting. Still hoping the hosts find their groove because it still wasn't great yet, but at least they had fun with all the bad comments they were getting.

Thank goodness for Negreanu. I think his lightheartedness about everything helped the hosts feel more relaxed. Negreanu is just fun and too bad he couldn't be a permanent host. He's got a lot of good little gems about strategy too. His presence in the 3rd and 4th episodes definitely kicked it up a notch.

The one thing that I loved about Gavin and Joe were that they had opposite styles of playing so the strategy segments were great. You got to see where they agreed and disagreed and a lot of their insight in hand of the day as well as guest's hands stories really helped my game a lot. It seems like the new pro guy (can't remember his name now) is a relatively tight player and seems to just throw out Harrington book basics.

Overall it has big shoes to fill and they still have a way to go, but the Circuit is still much better than the majority of poker podcasts out there and as long as they have quality guests, it will be worth listening to. I can't wait for Sebok or Smith to come back as guests

[TheMightyJim2k]

I absolutely love the old circuit and have probably listened to all of the shows at least twice, so needless to say I was a little disappointed when I heard the first return show.

The host is well....awful. David Singer is an great poker player, but a terrible radio guest and host. Belsky is actually not too bad, but he's no Huff (I actually really liked Huff). As others have mentioned Sebok and Smith were a great team and really cut loose on the show because they were friends before hand. Scott was also really comfortable with them, and despite his many claims that he was a donkey he definitely knew more poker than just about any other poker radio show hosts. Luce doesn't even seem to know some of the obvious stuff, but I'm hoping maybe it is just nerves.

I will say this the show drastically improved between the first episode with the new group and the final table preview show. Having Negreanu, Johnny Bax, and Hachem was a tremendous help as they are all great guests who really mix it up. Luce actually started to loosen up a little on the final episode, but his rhythm is still awful. Singer, well.....hmm I think the best we can hope for is that he gets bored with the show and opens that spot up for a pro with a few interesting things to say.

The show has lost it's spontaneity and fun. Early on this was provided by the insane but interesting Matusow and the friendships he had with the various guests, then it later came from the rapport between Huff, Sebok, and Smith and their hilarious string of inside jokes and impressions. Now the show is struggling but at least it is better than Bluff Poker Radio (makes me want to claw my eyes out) whose host knows how to play NL tourney's about as well as my mom.

I'm sticking with the show for now and hoping things turn around, but it has been a pretty big dissapointment so far.

[TheMightyJim2k]

listening to some old The Circuit episodes today, back when Joe and Gavin first joined Scott. The show was soooo good, and soooo entertaining. I miss those guys. (sigh) Konan Luce, Belsky, and Singer really do suck in comparison.

[SpeakEasy]

I will download and listen on my Vegas trip next week. As a poker player, there's nothing better than the anticipation associated with flying to Vegas to play poker and listening to players talk poker on the way.

Except being in Vegas and playing poker.