On Wednesday, “Underground Poker” featuring Phil Laak (pictured) and Antonio Esfandiari aired on the Discovery Channel. If you’ve never heard of the show before, check out our official preview. This article is a recap of the one-hour pilot, which aired at 10:00pm Eastern Time in case you missed it.

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The opening credits featured Esfandiari telling the audience, “Everything you see on this show is 100% real. No mock-ups, no makeup, no nothing. We’re going to show you how the pros make money outside the casino.”

The setting for the pilot was New Orleans, with Laak coming off a six-figure pummeling in Los Angeles. Laak and Esfandiari met a chef named “Spikey Mike,” who said the games in the “Big Easy” were slow after two guys were busted marking cards with ultraviolet ink. He said he knew of a smaller game in a bad neighborhood and, despite the risks, Laak agreed to play.

The players’ faces in the underground game, as well as the building’s exterior, were shown on camera and the crew was allowed to film the game itself. Speaking of the first game, at one point, Laak was dealt K-K in a $750 pot and went all-in, leading Esfandiari(pictured), who was chatting it up with two women on the rail, to say, “For a game this small, that’s huge.”

A tense moment saw the person to Laak’s direct left stand up and yell, “How much money do you need before you leave town” in a rather angry voice reminiscent of really bad acting in a Lifetime made-for-TV movie. Laak jokingly responded, “Maybe a little bit more.” Later, Laak told Esfandiari that he was up $700 and Esfandiari advised him to lose a couple hundred back before quitting the game.

Flash-forward to Bourbon Street, the pulse of New Orleans, where Esfandiari and Laak met a man called “505,” nicknamed so because at one point he was charged with 505 felony counts. 505 said Laak and Esfandiari could come to a game he’s involved in if they brought a fish and Laak agreed, ultimately meeting with a lawyer who said he was in.

The game was in a building where you entered through the basement and went down an elevator, but despite the dingy atmosphere and staunch security, cameras were allowed. In that game, Esfandiari picked up two aces and shoved with $4,000 in the pot headed to the river, but his opponent had a set.

The lawyer then referred Esfandiari and Laak to a wealthy man in the boondocks whose yard had glass bottles hanging from the trees with bones in them, which he attributed to his belief in voodoo. Scary. That game featured Pete “The Greek” Vilandos (pictured), who was mostly seen laughing hysterically and came off looking like a Batman villain. He has three WSOP bracelets.

The buy-in was $10,000 and the game was PLO. Laak was dealt 7-J-J-8, but folded with $30,000 in the middle, leading “The Greek” to show a bluff and, once again, laugh like a crazy person. As Esfandiari put it, “I think the universe just took a big dump on Phil.”

Later in the game, Esfandiari was dealt the second highest straight and two pair versus the aforementioned lawyer with $22,000 in the pot. The lawyer ended up with a straight of his own, but Esfandiari improved to a boat to win the hand.

There are no future episodes of “Underground Poker” planned at this time. We’ll keep you posted on whether the Discovery Channel picks up the show.

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