Comments on Online Poker Insiders: WSOP TV Schedule Analysis

Kevin: I don't think "hoping someone makes a deep...

2009-04-27T15:37:00.000-04:00

Kevin:

I don't think "hoping someone makes a deep run" is necessary, or realistic either, for the idea of following a player's progress through the tournament. The primary benefit of following one player would be that you'd get to know them, could root for them, and would get emotionally involved in the tournament. Also, you'd be able to see how play changes with the blinds rising, the bubble, etc. (be able to follow the course of the tournament). When someone busts out you could just switch to another player. I don't see any way to avoid that. ESPN's poker coverage is perhaps the worst of any sports broadcast on generating human interest and getting us into the drama of competition. They simply don't follow anything long enough for you to get into the competition, get to know the players, or root for anyone. It's mostly a collection of random soundbites, flitting back and forth between tables, bustouts, humorous segments, etc. This is especially true in the early/middle tournament. Following one player, even if the player had to change when he busted out, would allow you to get into the drama of the tournament and root for someone, something that's a common experience with any other sporting event I watch on TV.

I'm not sure what your point is about the final table. Showing more of it, not knowing the results going in, and having it well edited are all important. I'd say showing more of it would be by far the most important of those three for improving it, however.

I understand the desire of wanting to follow a pla...

2009-04-27T13:48:00.000-04:00

I understand the desire of wanting to follow a player, but how many players do you need to be following after the day 1's hoping someone makes a deep run? Last year, Peter Eastgate made his first appearance on day 8. I agree that more of the final table should be shown, but you're just extending slightly a problem you had last year, the amount of time to edit down from 9 to 2 to make a show that attempts to tell a story. Does giving the production team a couple more days help matters?

Scott Montgomery's take on the schedule is also interesting.

If I'd have thought of it at the time I would have...

2009-04-25T16:48:00.000-04:00

If I'd have thought of it at the time I would have added: 8 hours covering day 1 of the Main Event is ridiculous. They couldn't move some of those hours to covering the final table, or other events?