'Bet Raise Fold' isn't a bad watch if you're a poker fan as there's certainly pieces I enjoyed. However there's a big portion that was old hat, stuff I already knew which meant sitting thru a history lesson once again while the makers build the game up to be this wonderful creation. That is until they actually got down to taking about the main topic - 2011's Black Friday - which seemed to be the point. That moment doesn't come until the halfway point which is weird when you make it the focus of your documentary.

Soundbites from poker pros, voices of the game, but the biggest portion goes to three people's journeys. Danielle Anderson, Tony Dunst & Martin Bradstreet. As the primary focus is online, you get to see the lifestyle, then damage done and feel the effects for Tony & Danielle. Bradstreet is immune because he lives in Canada where it didn't affect him. If the thought is going thru your head of why is he even here it's a sentiment that I had already run into. The doc assumes you know nothing and talks Paradise Poker, Partypoker, Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker and a host of other facts about the online game's history.

What I most appreciated about 'Bet Raise Fold' is it didn't shy away from downbeat moments. The way the game has affected their lives both positively & negatively (Black Friday aside). It's common for docs about poker to present a winning fantasy without the much needed other side. It also shines the light on some faces that should never be forgiven in their part of a scam and highlights some people that maybe got off too lightly in the court of public opinion.

Bet Raise Fold has about 5 to 10 minutes of information amidst its 100 minute run-time, nor is it entertaining.

I never watched "The World Poker Tour." I thought it was very overdone, talking about things that don't matter and there was little actual play involved. "High Stakes Poker," now that was a show. Outside of that, talking of player's lifestyle's and home life has no interest to me, which is a large portion of this. There's no sorry in poker also, that's someone else's hard-earned money in the first place, nor are they people I even know. How Black Friday came to be is worthy of a documentary being made, but most of it's just uninteresting. It didn't really give any finality on the punishment either.