Beyond the Felt is a series of 13 poker documentaries that were shot in 2003-2005, aired in the UK about 2005, and recently appeared on YouTube. I think some of them are worth watching, and my favorites are below.
Episode 10: Daniel Negreanu
Episode 7: Antonio Esfandiari
Episode 2: 2003 WSOP, featuring Dutch Boyd
Episode 3: 2003 Showdown at the Sands, featuring Daniel Negreanu
Episode 8: Women in Poker, featuring Jen Harman, some Karina Jett, and a little bit of Evelyn Ng.
It's hard to describe the episodes since each covers multiple subjects, but some hints about the other ones are below.
Episode 1: "Meet the Players"
Episode 4: The old road gamblers like Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim juxtaposed with The Crew.
Episode 5: Money management; Joe Bartholdi leaving The Crew after blowing a large portion of their bankroll.
Episode 6: Phil Hellmuth
Episode 9: Phil Laak
Episode 11: Psychology, like reading people and tilt; Jen Harman on Andy Beal vs. The Corporation.
Episode 12: Will they ever get out of poker? reading players; how the game's image has improved; online poker.
Episode 13: How they learned the game; cash vs. tourneys; staking.
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Saturday, November 28, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Poker on TV Update And Newsbites
The NHL Charity Shootout airs on ESPN Classic the next four Tuesdays at 10 PM.
In the Fold Equity episode of Lie to Me the team heads to Las Vegas to search for a missing World Series of Poker finalist. It airs next Monday on Fox at 9 PM.
The next new show will be a fabulous Poker After Dark cash game lineup on December 7.
This week's newsbites:
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In the Fold Equity episode of Lie to Me the team heads to Las Vegas to search for a missing World Series of Poker finalist. It airs next Monday on Fox at 9 PM.
The next new show will be a fabulous Poker After Dark cash game lineup on December 7.
This week's newsbites:
- They cracked down on prop betting during the filming of High Stakes Poker season 6.
- More information about the players on High Stakes Poker season 6, including the additions of Phil Laak, Phil Galfond, and Jason Mercier, plus various players blogging about their experiences.
- Poker After Dark updates: details of the drama at the taping emerged, Gus Hansen talked about how he fared, and they'll start airing the episodes at the beginning of next year.
- Poker 2Nite news: the initial run is 13 weeks, Sebok and Huff did an interview about the show, I was bored with it, and PokerNews.com opined on whether it will survive or not (a split decision).
- WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack stepped down. There are no plans to replace him, leaving Harrah's Interactive Entertainment CEO Mitch Garber (formerly PartyGaming's CEO) in charge. Harrah's will soon open an online gambling site (no US players allowed).
- The World Poker Tour people talked more about their plans (I wouldn't expect any changes to the TV side).
- Shuffle Up and Deal updates: Mike Sexton, Chad Brown, and Brandi Williams are on the team for this poker-themed game show, and 13 episodes have been ordered to air on MyNetworkTV.
- I found a couple more good articles about 2 Months 2 Million.
- Shark Out of Water is an 18 minute poker film with cameos by Phil Hellmuth and Brad Booth. You can order the DVD for $10.
- I found out what Kimberly Lansing is up to now: doing the Moviefone Minute.
- More technology to automate poker TV production: Gaming Partners International's RFID chips and counters.
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Monday, November 23, 2009
Poker’s time in the sun may have come and gone, if recent ratings are any indication
Steve Friess had an interesting editorial on Las Vegas Weekly. The highlights:
If there were ever a year when the World Series of Poker should have enjoyed a renewed boost, it was 2009. The stars had aligned in every conceivable way, and grandiose predictions seemed warranted.
“This is going to be the most-watched Final Table in history,” legend Phil Hellmuth predicted to me before it took place in two spurts on November 7 and 9.
And I believed him. It certainly made sense. Alas, he was wrong.
.... virtually nobody bothered to report the outcome that actually mattered. TV ratings for the two-hour Final Table broadcast on ESPN on November 10 were actually down from the 2008 broadcast. (Ed.: see our ratings article)
.... Skeptical journalists have long been taking note of poker’s relative weakness versus its white-hot years, 2003-2006, when poker TV shows were all the rage and Internet poker blossomed into one of the universe’s all-time most profitable enterprises. In 2006, when 8,773 players entered the World Series of Poker’s Main Event and the top prize hit $12 million, there seemed nothing that could slow the game’s stampede into the hearts and minds of American popular culture.
Poker overlords like to note that Congress put the kibosh on poker’s growth by passing a law in the fall of 2006 severely restricting the ability of most Americans to easily put money into their online poker accounts. This certainly is true and did result in a dramatic drop the following year in WSOP Main Event entrants. In fact, in the three years since, that figure has yet to top even 7,000.
That’s all well and good, but that does not explain the waning interest in watching poker on TV, and it is only via TV that tournament poker can become anything more than a peripheral part of mainstream American culture. Why would one’s inability to play online reduce one’s interest in following the pros? If poker wants to be compared to the big sports leagues, don’t they know that the vast majority of people who watch the NFL or NBA don’t actually play football or basketball? Most people watch sports to see other people do things they can’t do or can’t do that well.
The ratings stall is particularly stunning given the radical lengths to which the World Series of Poker and ESPN have gone to reverse a ratings decline that first became evident in 2006 and 2007. “Radical” is the only word that can describe the decision in 2008 to bifurcate this tournament, to play the bulk of it in July but pause play once the nine finalists emerge and wait until November to play out the rest.
This was a decision undertaken solely to increase TV viewership.
.... The trouble now is, 2009 should have been a banner year for this event and its TV show. Network TV viewership is up, reflecting that Americans want to be entertained and distracted from the ponderous, endless health-care debate. And, as WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack rightly noted, the Final Table contenders this go-around were directly out of central casting.
.... this piece is about the limits of poker’s prominence, and a ratings stagnation, given these favorable conditions, gives us a sense of where those limits are.
.... the WSOP folks would be wise to stop predicting or striving for a resumption of the unnatural poker boom of the earlier part of this decade. That was a great run of luck, but it’s over now.
ESPN executives still talk about "mainstreaming" poker. But are there any ESPN viewers left who haven't seen poker yet? Believing that poker will go on growing indefinitely is a pipe dream... which means it's time for ESPN to start treating poker like it's a real sport (whether it is or not is irrelevant). The days of creating poker shows for people uninterested in poker, as has been done, should be over. That strategy has just minimized the number of converts and return viewers. What price a serious poker broadcast?
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If there were ever a year when the World Series of Poker should have enjoyed a renewed boost, it was 2009. The stars had aligned in every conceivable way, and grandiose predictions seemed warranted.
“This is going to be the most-watched Final Table in history,” legend Phil Hellmuth predicted to me before it took place in two spurts on November 7 and 9.
And I believed him. It certainly made sense. Alas, he was wrong.
.... virtually nobody bothered to report the outcome that actually mattered. TV ratings for the two-hour Final Table broadcast on ESPN on November 10 were actually down from the 2008 broadcast. (Ed.: see our ratings article)
.... Skeptical journalists have long been taking note of poker’s relative weakness versus its white-hot years, 2003-2006, when poker TV shows were all the rage and Internet poker blossomed into one of the universe’s all-time most profitable enterprises. In 2006, when 8,773 players entered the World Series of Poker’s Main Event and the top prize hit $12 million, there seemed nothing that could slow the game’s stampede into the hearts and minds of American popular culture.
Poker overlords like to note that Congress put the kibosh on poker’s growth by passing a law in the fall of 2006 severely restricting the ability of most Americans to easily put money into their online poker accounts. This certainly is true and did result in a dramatic drop the following year in WSOP Main Event entrants. In fact, in the three years since, that figure has yet to top even 7,000.
That’s all well and good, but that does not explain the waning interest in watching poker on TV, and it is only via TV that tournament poker can become anything more than a peripheral part of mainstream American culture. Why would one’s inability to play online reduce one’s interest in following the pros? If poker wants to be compared to the big sports leagues, don’t they know that the vast majority of people who watch the NFL or NBA don’t actually play football or basketball? Most people watch sports to see other people do things they can’t do or can’t do that well.
The ratings stall is particularly stunning given the radical lengths to which the World Series of Poker and ESPN have gone to reverse a ratings decline that first became evident in 2006 and 2007. “Radical” is the only word that can describe the decision in 2008 to bifurcate this tournament, to play the bulk of it in July but pause play once the nine finalists emerge and wait until November to play out the rest.
This was a decision undertaken solely to increase TV viewership.
.... The trouble now is, 2009 should have been a banner year for this event and its TV show. Network TV viewership is up, reflecting that Americans want to be entertained and distracted from the ponderous, endless health-care debate. And, as WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack rightly noted, the Final Table contenders this go-around were directly out of central casting.
.... this piece is about the limits of poker’s prominence, and a ratings stagnation, given these favorable conditions, gives us a sense of where those limits are.
.... the WSOP folks would be wise to stop predicting or striving for a resumption of the unnatural poker boom of the earlier part of this decade. That was a great run of luck, but it’s over now.
ESPN executives still talk about "mainstreaming" poker. But are there any ESPN viewers left who haven't seen poker yet? Believing that poker will go on growing indefinitely is a pipe dream... which means it's time for ESPN to start treating poker like it's a real sport (whether it is or not is irrelevant). The days of creating poker shows for people uninterested in poker, as has been done, should be over. That strategy has just minimized the number of converts and return viewers. What price a serious poker broadcast?
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Saturday, November 21, 2009
Live Streaming Poker With Hole Cards Sunday: Partouche Poker Tour Final
The Partouche Poker Tour Final streams live with hole cards and English commentary Sunday from 8 AM. First prize is one million Euros ($1,486,000). The chipleader and most well-known player is Michael Tureniec (player bios).
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Video Profile of a Professional Poker Player
This is a 7-minute video profile of Yan Chen, a poker pro who plays online and at the Commerce Casino.
That's Billy Baxter saying "As good as they come." Freddy Deeb is at Chen's table as well.
There are a couple more interesting videos at Videos About Online Poker Stars.
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That's Billy Baxter saying "As good as they come." Freddy Deeb is at Chen's table as well.
There are a couple more interesting videos at Videos About Online Poker Stars.
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Monday, November 16, 2009
Joe Cada on Letterman Tuesday
Joe Cada will be on the Late Show with David Letterman Tuesday at 11:35 PM on CBS.
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Friday, November 13, 2009
Poker on TV Update And Newsbites: Poker 2Nite and Face the Ace
There's another episode of Face the Ace at 3 PM Saturday on NBC.
The new poker news show Poker 2Nite starts airing at 11 PM Wednesday on Fox Sports Net. Fox Sports Net is a collection of regional channels, so you'll need to search a programming guide to find the day and time it airs in your area, which may change from week to week.
Other upcoming shows: Million Dollar Challenge airs two Sundays from now, the 22nd, at 4:30 PM on Fox; and NHL Charity Shootout starts airing Tuesday the 24th at 10 PM on ESPN Classic.
This week's newsbites:
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The new poker news show Poker 2Nite starts airing at 11 PM Wednesday on Fox Sports Net. Fox Sports Net is a collection of regional channels, so you'll need to search a programming guide to find the day and time it airs in your area, which may change from week to week.
Other upcoming shows: Million Dollar Challenge airs two Sundays from now, the 22nd, at 4:30 PM on Fox; and NHL Charity Shootout starts airing Tuesday the 24th at 10 PM on ESPN Classic.
This week's newsbites:
- Logos are allowed High Stakes Poker for the first time in season 6, as you can see in a recent video.
- Greg Raymer says that he's invited to play on High Stakes Poker each season and explains why he doesn't play (not bankrolled for it).
- There was some drama at the recent Poker After Dark taping (spoiler).
- Brief TV appearances: Daniel Negreanu bought an appearance on the next season of Entourage for charity. Erik Seidel appeared on the last episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm (picture), reportedly from a charity auction. Yevgeniy Timoshenko plays a few hands of cards on an upcoming Millionaire Matchmaker (he's not the millionaire).
- $12 million has been raised so far to turn the book Life on Tilt: Confessions of a Poker Dad into a movie, with Shannon Elizabeth committed to the project.
- Vanessa Rousso will be a judge on a new E! show called Bank of Hollywood, where the judges choose who to donate their own money to.
- Tom "durrrr" Dwan, newly signed Team Full Tilt member, will film a live version of his challenge to air on UK TV.
- Call the Floorman is a new poker-themed game show being shopped to TV channels for possible syndication.
- Christina Lindley is working on the script for a TV series about online poker players.
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Thursday, November 12, 2009
Poker Table Automatically Generates Video And Onscreen Graphics
From Hobbyist Beats Hollywood At TV Poker Technology last year:
In three months of his spare time a hobbyist built a combination of poker table and software that beats most professional TV poker systems. It uses RFID chips and cameras to televise the game in real time, with hole cards and winning probabilities.
I was excited at the prospect of cheaper production of poker TV shows, perhaps with more information onscreen. Now the hobbyist, Andrew Milner, has upped the ante with touchscreens replacing cards and chips.
You can buy your own at VideoPokerTable.net.
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In three months of his spare time a hobbyist built a combination of poker table and software that beats most professional TV poker systems. It uses RFID chips and cameras to televise the game in real time, with hole cards and winning probabilities.
I was excited at the prospect of cheaper production of poker TV shows, perhaps with more information onscreen. Now the hobbyist, Andrew Milner, has upped the ante with touchscreens replacing cards and chips.
You can buy your own at VideoPokerTable.net.
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High Stakes Poker Taping Day 1 Video: Interviews With Kara Scott, Mori Eskandani
Kristy Arnett interviewed Kara Scott and Mori Eskandani.
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WSOP Final Table Ratings Down 7%
The WSOP Main Event final table had 2,199,000 viewers, down 7% from 2008's 2,364,000 viewers, but still substantially higher than the pre-November Nine 1,552,000 viewers in 2007. I find the decline surprising given that Phil Ivey made the final table and the players got more publicity than they did last year (e.g. Steve Begleiter in Time). On the other hand, there was one more day this year for people to hear the results before the final table aired.
ESPN's statement:
The telecast earned a 1.8 household coverage rating in an average of 1,806,113 households, a slight decrease from the 1.9 rating earned for the 2008 finale.
ESPN’s 15-week schedule of World Series of Poker coverage in 2009 included 31 telecasts averaging a 1.0 rating, even with last year. However, averages for households (1,024,901) and viewership (1,228,008) increased nine and seven percent, respectively, from 2008, and the important Male 25-54 demographic saw a 13 percent jump from 2008.
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ESPN's statement:
The telecast earned a 1.8 household coverage rating in an average of 1,806,113 households, a slight decrease from the 1.9 rating earned for the 2008 finale.
ESPN’s 15-week schedule of World Series of Poker coverage in 2009 included 31 telecasts averaging a 1.0 rating, even with last year. However, averages for households (1,024,901) and viewership (1,228,008) increased nine and seven percent, respectively, from 2008, and the important Male 25-54 demographic saw a 13 percent jump from 2008.
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High Stakes Poker Season 6 Lineups
High Stakes Poker season 6 is taping from the 11th to the 13th. We'll update this post as the lineups are known.
Day 1:
Tom Dwan will be going on little sleep, because he's been busy losing millions to unknown new online player Isildur1 in the big games on Full Tilt over the last few days. From their chat:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Jason Mercier played an unknown day. There are also other replacement players that haven't been revealed, though we've been promised that some of them have never played on High Stakes Poker before. Dwan, Ivey, and Negreanu played all three days.
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Day 1:
- Phil Hellmuth
- Tom Dwan
- Phil Ivey
- Daniel Negreanu
- Gus Hansen
- Antonio Esfandiari
- Dario Minieri
- Andreas Hoivold
Tom Dwan will be going on little sleep, because he's been busy losing millions to unknown new online player Isildur1 in the big games on Full Tilt over the last few days. From their chat:
Isildur1: dunno how much longer i can play,High Stakes Poker will actually be a step down from the online games they've been playing ($400/800 blinds vs. $500/1000), but they buy in deeper ($200,000 minimum) at High Stakes Poker.
durrrr: 8hrs
durrrr: =)
Isildur1: lol
Isildur1: nah im so tired
durrrr: im gonna be awake for 30hrs straight
Isildur1: arnt u ?
Isildur1: ur like machine lol
durrrr: least u can do is 8
durrrr: ya
durrrr: i have this amazing drug
durrrr: called coffee
durrrr: works wonders
....
Isildur1: getting tired
durrrr: lets play until i have to play highstakes
durrrr: need to leave in 8hrs for that
durrrr: and then cant play 3days
Isildur1: how lonmg is that ?
Isildur1: how many more hours ?
durrrr: 7-8
durrrr: and then cant play for 3day
durrrr: s
durrrr: maybe 1-2hrs at night
Day 2:
- Tom "durrrr" Dwan
- Phil Ivey
- Daniel Negreanu
- Patrik Antonius
- Barry Greenstein
- Dennis Phillips
- Lex Veldhuis
- Andrew "good2cu" Robl
Day 3:
- Phil Ivey
- Tom "durrrr" Dwan
- Daniel Negreanu
- Doyle Brunson
- Mike Matusow
- Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier
- David Benyamine
- Eli Elezra
Jason Mercier played an unknown day. There are also other replacement players that haven't been revealed, though we've been promised that some of them have never played on High Stakes Poker before. Dwan, Ivey, and Negreanu played all three days.
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Poker After Dark Lineups From Latest Taping
The latest Poker After Dark taping finished November 7. 13 weeks were taped, six weeks of cash games (two from each lineup) and seven of single-table tournaments. Two weeks of the previous taping have yet to air. The lineups are:
$50,000 Buy-in Cash Game:
$100,000 Buy-in Cash Game:
$50,000 Buy-in Cash Game:
- Brandon Adams
- Todd Brunson
- Chris Ferguson
- Mike Matusow
- Antonio Esfandiari
- Phil Hellmuth
- Dennis Phillips
- David "Viffer" Peat
$100,000 Buy-in Cash Game:
- Phil Hellmuth
- Doyle Brunson
- Tom "durrrr" Dwan
- Phil Laak
- Eli Elezra
- Gus Hansen
- Tom "durrrr" Dwan
- Patrik Antonius
- Eli Elezra
- Allan Meltzer
- Gabe Kaplan
- David "Viffer" Peat
- Annette Obrestad
- Mike Matusow
- Phil Hellmuth
- Phil Laak
- Erick Lindgren
- Antonio Esfandiari
- Ali Nejad
- Joe Sebok
- Kara Scott
- Mark Gregorich
- Howard Lederer
- Gabe Kaplan
- Erica Schoenberg
- Jean-Robert Bellande
- Annie Duke
- Mike Matusow
- Karina Jett
- David Grey
- Erick Lindgren
- James Akenhead
- Antonio Esfandiari
- Mike Matusow
- David Williams
- Brad Booth
- Bruce Buffer
- Erick Lindgren
- Randy Couture
- Howard Lederer
- Dan Henderson
- Patrik Antonius
- Andy Bloch
- Annie Duke
- Phil Gordon
- Howard Lederer
- Chris Ferguson
- Jennifer Harman
- Phil Hellmuth
- Chris Ferguson
- 4 online qualifiers
Poker 2Nite: Poker News Show To Air On Fox Sports Net
Joe Sebok (poker player, founder of PokerRoad.com, and son of Barry Greenstein) announced:
We... will be launching a new poker-based news show that will air on FoxSports television (!) nationally every week. It's called "Poker 2Nite" and we are going to try and bring as much of the PokerRoad sensibility to the show as we possibly can. We shoot the first show on 11/17, with episodes to air Wednesdays at 11pm starting the next day, the 18th, and then being rebroadcast throughout the weekend.
The initial run of the show is 13 episodes.
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We... will be launching a new poker-based news show that will air on FoxSports television (!) nationally every week. It's called "Poker 2Nite" and we are going to try and bring as much of the PokerRoad sensibility to the show as we possibly can. We shoot the first show on 11/17, with episodes to air Wednesdays at 11pm starting the next day, the 18th, and then being rebroadcast throughout the weekend.
The initial run of the show is 13 episodes.
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PartyGaming Reveals Plans For World Poker Tour
PartyGaming revealed some of their plans for the newly-acquired World Poker Tour:
Our plans also include using the ClubWPT subscription platform to leverage our 12 million-strong US player database via a Party-branded website and the launch of a European WPT-branded poker and casino site. We are excited about the opportunities that WPT, a proven marketing channel for the Group, will create for PartyGaming, particularly if the US regulates and licenses online gaming.
I think they overestimate the probability of online poker being regulated in the United States, how soon it might happen, and the chance that any regulatory system wouldn't be protectionist.
Adam Pliska, formerly World Poker Tour's General Counsel, is the new President.
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Our plans also include using the ClubWPT subscription platform to leverage our 12 million-strong US player database via a Party-branded website and the launch of a European WPT-branded poker and casino site. We are excited about the opportunities that WPT, a proven marketing channel for the Group, will create for PartyGaming, particularly if the US regulates and licenses online gaming.
I think they overestimate the probability of online poker being regulated in the United States, how soon it might happen, and the chance that any regulatory system wouldn't be protectionist.
Adam Pliska, formerly World Poker Tour's General Counsel, is the new President.
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Monday, November 09, 2009
ESPN's WSOP Monopoly Must End
As recently as 2007 ESPN aired 10 of 55 WSOP events, comprising HORSE, Omaha, Stud, and multiple forms of hold 'em. In 2008 they aired 7 of 55 events, including HORSE, Omaha, and multiple forms of hold 'em. This year they only broadcast two of 57 WSOP events, both no-limit hold 'em. ESPN simply isn't covering the WSOP any more. The solution is simple: end their monopoly on WSOP broadcasts. Let ESPN broadcast whatever it wants (the Main Event gets the highest ratings, and it's the only event they've broadcast every year), but let others bid to broadcast the other events.
Everyone would benefit from this solution. Harrah's would get more airtime for the WSOP. ESPN would get more people interested in watching the Main Event. Poker would garner new fans. We'd get to watch the events we want to see, like the $50K HORSE. Games other than no-limit hold 'em would gain in popularity. Remember the early years of the poker boom when every poker show explained hold 'em at the beginning (Celebrity Poker Showdown's explanation started with "it's a simple game really...")? People would learn other games from TV (PLO is regarded as most likely to succeed) just as they once learned hold 'em.
Companies like Windy City Poker Championship and Heartland Poker Tour produce competent broadcasts on a shoestring compared to what ESPN spends, and manage to make profits without even being on national channels. If they can do that, there's no doubt that every single WSOP event could be broadcast profitably on a national channel. There are plenty of national TV channels with young, male audiences that would be excellent venues for poker on TV. ESPN is the most popular one, of course, but Spike, G4, Versus, and many others fit the bill as well. If necessary, the shows could settle for late-night time slots like Poker After Dark did.
There's another reason that ESPN's WSOP monopoly should end: as I've written about extensively over the course of several years, I believe the company with the contract to broadcast our most important event is the worst major poker broadcaster. Not only would we likely get better WSOP broadcasts from companies other than ESPN, but we'd probably also see improvements at ESPN due to competition and the comparison with different broadcasting models.
ESPN's broadcasts this year were pretty much the same as always (other than the Ante Up For Africa event, which may have been a new low), so I won't provide a full review. A few things that I did notice this year, however, all frustrating:
Everyone would benefit from this solution. Harrah's would get more airtime for the WSOP. ESPN would get more people interested in watching the Main Event. Poker would garner new fans. We'd get to watch the events we want to see, like the $50K HORSE. Games other than no-limit hold 'em would gain in popularity. Remember the early years of the poker boom when every poker show explained hold 'em at the beginning (Celebrity Poker Showdown's explanation started with "it's a simple game really...")? People would learn other games from TV (PLO is regarded as most likely to succeed) just as they once learned hold 'em.
Companies like Windy City Poker Championship and Heartland Poker Tour produce competent broadcasts on a shoestring compared to what ESPN spends, and manage to make profits without even being on national channels. If they can do that, there's no doubt that every single WSOP event could be broadcast profitably on a national channel. There are plenty of national TV channels with young, male audiences that would be excellent venues for poker on TV. ESPN is the most popular one, of course, but Spike, G4, Versus, and many others fit the bill as well. If necessary, the shows could settle for late-night time slots like Poker After Dark did.
There's another reason that ESPN's WSOP monopoly should end: as I've written about extensively over the course of several years, I believe the company with the contract to broadcast our most important event is the worst major poker broadcaster. Not only would we likely get better WSOP broadcasts from companies other than ESPN, but we'd probably also see improvements at ESPN due to competition and the comparison with different broadcasting models.
ESPN's broadcasts this year were pretty much the same as always (other than the Ante Up For Africa event, which may have been a new low), so I won't provide a full review. A few things that I did notice this year, however, all frustrating:
- The hole-card cam created the poker boom back in 2003, but ESPN seems to have forgotten that: for many hands they choose not to show the hole cards until the players turn them over.
- They're the only broadcaster I've ever seen get the "show only one player's hole cards" hands backwards.
- There were the usual array of errors, suggesting that Norman Chad and the people who review his work don't understand poker: mixing up 4- and 5-bets, getting the breakeven probability on a 3:1 decision wrong (it's 25%), etc.
- Film a cash game. The entire poker world is in Vegas during the WSOP each summer, and the biggest cash games are already taking place. Why not film one? There's plenty of evidence that cash games are more popular than tournaments (e.g. downloads, forum posts, poll, poll). The show could either be a "WSOP Cash Game," or another company could produce it without using the WSOP brand.
- If ESPN is going to follow the early and middle tournament (the worst part of their broadcasts: they don't screw up the final few tables as badly), follow one player at a time through the tournament, ignoring everything else. It's a model that's never been tried before, but deserves a chance. As it is, ESPN doesn't show anything long enough for us to get to know and root for players, see how a table plays, or even follow the course of the tournament. Replace the soundbites that they pass off as "compelling stories" with an actual compelling story: the progress of one player through the tournament, allowing us to get to know and root for him (and also allowing us to follow table dynamics plus the changes in the tournament: rising blinds, the bubble, etc.). If ESPN used this model I'd guess they would have followed Phil Ivey on one of their hole-card-cam tables (they run two) this year, and they would have had a blockbuster on their hands when he made the final table. Regardless of how featured players fare, however, I believe this model would help solve the basic problems with ESPN's early-mid tournament coverage. I previously wrote out my best arguments for this model, so you should read that if you're interested in hearing more about the idea.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
WSOP Main Event Final Table Viewers' Guide, Plus How To Follow It Live
The WSOP Main Event final table airs Tuesday, November 10th, at 9 PM on ESPN. The major change this year is that they'll have the freedom to run over two hours at the producers' discretion. This will hopefully eliminate the major criticism of last year, that they spent so little time on the heads-up battle.
Chip counts:
1 – Darvin Moon 58,930,000
2 – Eric Buchman 34,800,000
3 – Steven Begleiter 29,885,000
4 – Jeff Shulman 19,580,000
5 – Joe Cada 13,215,000
6 – Kevin Schaffel 12,390,000
7 – Phil Ivey 9,765,000
8 – Antoine Saout 9,500,000
9 – James Akenhead 6,800,000
When play resumes Darvin Moon will have the button and Ivey the big blind. 7:16 remains in level 33, which has 120/240/30k blinds/antes. Blind levels are 2 hours long, with 20-minute breaks at the end of each level except the first one, since it only has a few minutes left. Future blind levels are:
Level 34 - 150/300/40k
Level 35 - 200/400/50k
Level 36 - 250/500/50k
Level 37 - 300/600/75k
Level 38 - 400/800/100k
Level 39 - 500/1m/150k
Level 40 - 600/1.2m/200k
Brief bios of the players. My favorite analysis/prediction is DogFace's. Wicked Chops also has an interesting article.
Payouts:
1st $8,547,042
2nd $5,182,928
3rd $3,479,670
4th $2,502,890
5th $1,953,452
6th $1,587,160
7th $1,404,014
8th $1,300,231
9th $1,263,602
The final table will be taped in two segments over the preceding three days:
If you're trying to avoid the results till the final table airs, that will be difficult. ESPN will cover the results beforehand, despite coming in for a lot of criticism over that last year, as will other media outlets.
If you prefer to follow the final table live, Bluff will have a live audio stream with graphics and PokerNews.com will have their usual web updates.
Don't miss any poker on TV: sign up for our weekly newsletter or subscribe to our feed.
Chip counts:
1 – Darvin Moon 58,930,000
2 – Eric Buchman 34,800,000
3 – Steven Begleiter 29,885,000
4 – Jeff Shulman 19,580,000
5 – Joe Cada 13,215,000
6 – Kevin Schaffel 12,390,000
7 – Phil Ivey 9,765,000
8 – Antoine Saout 9,500,000
9 – James Akenhead 6,800,000
When play resumes Darvin Moon will have the button and Ivey the big blind. 7:16 remains in level 33, which has 120/240/30k blinds/antes. Blind levels are 2 hours long, with 20-minute breaks at the end of each level except the first one, since it only has a few minutes left. Future blind levels are:
Level 34 - 150/300/40k
Level 35 - 200/400/50k
Level 36 - 250/500/50k
Level 37 - 300/600/75k
Level 38 - 400/800/100k
Level 39 - 500/1m/150k
Level 40 - 600/1.2m/200k
Brief bios of the players. My favorite analysis/prediction is DogFace's. Wicked Chops also has an interesting article.
Payouts:
1st $8,547,042
2nd $5,182,928
3rd $3,479,670
4th $2,502,890
5th $1,953,452
6th $1,587,160
7th $1,404,014
8th $1,300,231
9th $1,263,602
The final table will be taped in two segments over the preceding three days:
- They'll play down to heads up on Saturday, November 7, starting at about noon (3 PM eastern).
- The heads-up match starts on Monday, November 9, at about 10 PM (1 AM eastern).
If you're trying to avoid the results till the final table airs, that will be difficult. ESPN will cover the results beforehand, despite coming in for a lot of criticism over that last year, as will other media outlets.
If you prefer to follow the final table live, Bluff will have a live audio stream with graphics and PokerNews.com will have their usual web updates.
Don't miss any poker on TV: sign up for our weekly newsletter or subscribe to our feed.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
PokerStars Sponsors High Stakes Poker Season 6, Logos Allowed?
High Stakes Poker will have a sponsor for the first time in season 6, according to Dennis Phillips: PokerStars. Historically, PokerStars left US TV-show marketing mostly to Full Tilt Poker, but with Million Dollar Challenge, and now High Stakes Poker, it's clear that PokerStars has changed their strategy.
There's a hint that there may be another major change for High Stakes Poker in season 6. Andreas Hoivold, who's expected to play the season, wrote in his blog (in Norwegian): "I should mention that there have been a few inquiries regarding sponsorship. But here I can not write anything until everything is in the bag." Players have never been allowed to wear logos on High Stakes Poker in the past. There have been a few hints (e.g.) that High Stakes Poker was having a hard time putting together a field for the upcoming season, however, and sponsorship would make it easier for players to afford it.
Given that PokerStars pulled their sponsored players from Full Tilt-sponsored Poker After Dark, some people worried that we'd only see PokerStars-sponsored players on High Stakes Poker. Fortunately, several Full Tilt-sponsored players showed up on the High Stakes Poker season 6 player list... a good thing because Full Tilt sponsors many of the best players in the world, and that's where all the "nosebleed-stakes" online games take place. PokerStars, on the other hand, sponsors only one prominent high stakes player: Barry Greenstein. They're more likely to sponsor players that are known for tournament success.
Don't miss any poker on TV: sign up for our weekly newsletter or subscribe to our feed.
There's a hint that there may be another major change for High Stakes Poker in season 6. Andreas Hoivold, who's expected to play the season, wrote in his blog (in Norwegian): "I should mention that there have been a few inquiries regarding sponsorship. But here I can not write anything until everything is in the bag." Players have never been allowed to wear logos on High Stakes Poker in the past. There have been a few hints (e.g.) that High Stakes Poker was having a hard time putting together a field for the upcoming season, however, and sponsorship would make it easier for players to afford it.
Given that PokerStars pulled their sponsored players from Full Tilt-sponsored Poker After Dark, some people worried that we'd only see PokerStars-sponsored players on High Stakes Poker. Fortunately, several Full Tilt-sponsored players showed up on the High Stakes Poker season 6 player list... a good thing because Full Tilt sponsors many of the best players in the world, and that's where all the "nosebleed-stakes" online games take place. PokerStars, on the other hand, sponsors only one prominent high stakes player: Barry Greenstein. They're more likely to sponsor players that are known for tournament success.
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High Stakes Poker Season 6 Players Announced
High Stakes Poker season 6's expected players are:
Some popular past players not listed:
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- Phil Ivey
- Daniel Negreanu
- Phil Hellmuth
- Tom "durrrr" Dwan
- Doyle Brunson
- Mike Matusow
- Patrik Antonius
- Antonio Esfandiari
- Barry Greenstein
- Dennis Phillips
- David Benyamine
- Eli Elezra
- Yevgeniy Timoshenko
- Allan Meltzer
- Lex Veldhuis
- Sammy George
- Andreas Hoivold
Some popular past players not listed:
- Sammy Farha
- Phil Laak
- Todd Brunson
- Jennifer Harman
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US Poker Championship Returns To TV, With PLO
The United States Poker Championship, broadcast annually through 2006 on ESPN, will return to TV this year. The Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City signed a five-year deal with Compass Entertainment to produce the show, and it will be broadcast on Spike this year. They will be televising the $5,000 no-limit hold 'em and $2,500 pot-limit Omaha events (schedule). Compass CEO Greg McDonald's other poker-related work includes producing the poker film Deal and publishing Rounder magazine.
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World Poker Tour Rejects Mandalay Offer, Sells To PartyGaming
The board of World Poker Tour Enterprises (WPTE) rejected Mandalay Media's last-minute offer and the shareholders approved WPTE's sale to PartyGaming. The sale has already closed . WPTE retained the company's cash, and will become a "blind pool" named ante4, Inc., which is expected to buy an unrelated business.
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