National Heads-Up Poker Championship Review

Date: Thu, May 8, 2008

** National Heads-Up Poker Championship is flawed in conception and execution. The days when I wanted to watch all the poker on TV are over, and this is a show that I wouldn't choose to watch if I didn't write for this site. The other poker shows among the big four on US TV (WSOP, WPT, and Poker After Dark) are either important events or good shows. This is neither: what importance it has derives solely from having the best combination of network and time slot of any poker show. When it ceases to air, the tournament will no longer take place.

I don't know why NBC chose to commission this show: heads-up poker isn't widely played, especially in tournament form, and I find it a boring format to watch. The show is a made-for-TV invitational, and some of the players clearly don't deserve their invitations. I'd prefer if they'd chosen to broadcast an existing cash game, or even tournament.

The execution is weak as well. They suffer from some of the same problems as the ESPN and WSOP poker broadcasts, e.g. too much non-poker content and trying to show a bit of everything. It's my impression that they've cut down on the non-poker content since last year, but it's still too much and of too low value (and a segment on Scotty Nguyen was so badly produced that I couldn't tell what it was about for a while). They're still showing too little poker from too many matches, sometimes even just showing the bustout hand of a match.

They should be picking just a few matches and showing us enough of them so that we can get a sense of how they actually played. They flit from match to match, and aren't good at keeping us informed about the stacks and blinds. If they'd just show us one match at a time, from beginning to end, we'd be able to follow the story of the match much better. As it is, there's really no story to follow (just a selection of unconnected clips), so I get bored and my concentration drifts. To help in following the matches I'd like to see them show all the necessary information at the bottom of the screen throughout the match: hole cards, board cards, action, stack sizes, and blinds. Some of the onscreen information is shown in the upper left of the screen, where it's easy to miss (we look at the bottom of the screen for those things), and is too small to read easily on my TV. I think the results scroll at the bottom of the screen is a bad idea. On the plus side, this is one of the few shows on TV to show position.

I'm not a fan of Ali Nejad's shtick, and it sometimes seems like he's reciting canned analysis. The announcing team pronounced various players' names multiple ways.

National Heads-Up Poker Championship earns a rating of **, below average, because it's badly conceived and poorly executed. I'm glad to see NBC running poker in a relatively good time slot, but they could easily do better than this.

See also our review of the previous season.

Next Week: WPT Borgata Poker Open, PAD Still In Rerun

Date: Sat, May 3, 2008

Next week's WPT show is the Borgata Poker Open. The players are Roy Winston (5,335,000 chips), Scott Yoon (3,090,000), Mike Matusow (2,965,000), Eugene Todd (2,190,000), Mark Weitzman (1,750,000), and Haralabos Voulgaris (1,465,000). Roy Winston is a doctor and entrepreneur turned professional poker player and CardPlayer blogger. Amateur Scott Yoon is a Korean-born real-estate agent who satellited in. It's Eugene Todd's second WPT TV table and he has one WSOP final table. Mark Weitzman is primarily a cash game player, but he has made a number of WSOP final tables going back to 1992. Haralabos Voulgaris is a well-known professional sportsbetter, poker player, and online radio personality who's at his second WPT TV table. The prize money is:
1: $1,575,280
2: $832,725
3: $434,560
4: $380,240
5: $325,920
6: $271,600

Poker After Dark is still in rerun. The schedule for the other shows is unchanged.

Check our poker on TV schedule for the list of shows regularly running new episodes, sign up for our weekly newsletter or subscribe to our feed, and contact me with any suggestions or corrections.

WSOP Delays Final Table For TV, Sky Falls

Date: Fri, May 2, 2008

I've been reading the peanut gallery's opinions on the recently-announced delayed Main Event final table, and I've learned that no one will make it to the final table alive. Players will kill each other to move up spots, and if a player is lucky enough avoid the hit men he'll still die of natural causes before the final table rolls around. If any do survive till the final table, they won't go anyway, because they'll be busy with work, have a wedding to attend, not want to make the trip again, or be unable to get a visa. If any players do, against all odds, actually make it to the final table, they'll have agreed to collude with each other, throw the match, or otherwise engage in/be forced into unethical behavior. In short, the delayed final table will destroy the World Series of Poker.

In other news, the hole-card cam is going to ruin the game of poker... oh, sorry: I had a flashback to 2002.

None of these things could happen with the current delay, of course (the Main Event normally has a day off before the final table). The extra 115 days are different... right? No, they're not, actually: final tables with delays of a month or more have happened before, and I've never heard of the problems above happening. I'm sure people will argue that the larger amount of money is what makes this case special, but people will always find a reason to believe what they want to believe. In November we'll know for sure whether there are problems or not, and whether it's a boost to poker or not. I know which side I'm laying my bets on.

That's not to say that I'm thrilled with everything about the delayed final table. The four-month delay is extreme. I've never even liked the two week delay for the Super Bowl, but you could argue that the Main Event would benefit from more than a week's delay because most of the players will be unknowns when the publicity machine starts to work. I'd prefer to see the final table played and aired after a week or two delay, but still during the WSOP festival. The Main Event was scheduled to take up 13 of the 47 days of the festival. Surely they could add a week or two to those 13 days, run everything during the WSOP, and find a time that ESPN could air it.

I like their idea of emulating the "Olympic model," where events are edited the same day to be shown at prime time in the US. The problem with the WSOP implementation, though, is that they're shooting the final table in two pieces (schedule), from Sunday, November 9 through Tuesday, November 11, for airing on Tuesday night. One of the potential benefits of the idea is that we wouldn't know the winner when we watched. I may well be able to avoid hearing about the heads-up match on Tuesday, but, as a poker fan, it's going to be awfully hard for me to avoid hearing the fate of the first seven players to bust out of the final table. I'd like to see the entire final table filmed within 36 hours of broadcast (or less: the last final table took about 16 hours, though it was a particularly long one).

Airing the heads-up portion of the match live was apparently considered, but it couldn't fit into the two hour time slot they've devoted to the final table. It's a real disappointment that only two hours are being devoted to the final table of the most important event in poker. Every World Poker Tour TV table gets two to four hours, and they show less than 20% of the hands... and they only show the final six players, while the Main Event final table has nine players. The Main Event final table deserves at least three, perhaps four hours.

It's upsetting that ESPN is devoting only two of the 20 hours of Main Event broadcast time (see the broadcast schedule) to the final table. I'd love to see them televise only the final two tables, but do a good job on them. That would give them less room to butcher the broadcast in all the ways they do, like flitting from table to table to show bustouts and the ends of big hands.

Another disappointment is that there will be no live video stream of the final table this year. I've watched part or all of two Main Event final tables on the web. It's an amazing experience: you get to watch history being made, and it's the only way to get a true sense of what happened at the final table. Having seen it both ways, I guarantee you that seeing a few percent of the hands on ESPN does not give you a sense of how it actually went down. You'll still be able to follow text updates of the final table on the web this year if you want, but I've never followed a tournament closely that way and I doubt I'll start now.

We probably won't be able to watch live broadcasts of the other WSOP events either. WSOP Live won't be covering them. There's talk of ESPN 360 streaming them on the web, but the only way to get that is through an ISP, and most ISPs don't choose to pay ESPN to give access to their customers.

I'm happy to see that every televised final table will have two hours devoted to it this year (see the schedule): some only got one hour last year. Some will be disappointed that the $50,000 HORSE event only gets two hours of coverage this year, down from six, but I realize that most people don't play or understand all of the games. If a game other than NL Hold'em has the potential to go mainstream, I'd say it's pot-limit Omaha, and we do have one of those events on the TV schedule this year.

Delaying the final table for TV has generated a lot of controversy. If you want to read some of the opinions, I recommend:

• the opinions of some well-known pros at The Hendon Mob; and
• Roy Winston's brief summary of the arguments people have made to him, and his point of view, at CardPlayer.

Survey Results

Date: Fri, May 2, 2008

In the survey I posted two weeks ago all four of our major content types (TV listings, news, editorials, and reviews) received good support from our readers. That surprised me: I assumed that most people didn't care about our reviews and editorials (which wouldn't have bothered me since they're primarily targeted at the industry). I was surprised that our TV listings (updates, schedule, etc.) received some "no value" ratings. They were the only category to do so, but they also received the greatest number of "high value" ratings. This site started out as me trying to figure out what to watch on TV each week, so I've always considered the listings/schedule to be the core of the site. Those low raters didn't provide any comments, however, so I remain puzzled.

I also learned that most of you read our feed or web site rather than our newsletter. Based on survey feedback I will try to work more biographical information on players into my listings, or at least to link to it. I alway encourage your feedback, whether via comments on posts or email.

Comments No Longer Require Approval

Date: Fri, May 2, 2008

Comments on posts no longer require approval before appearing. I'm hoping this increases the number of comments. I can still delete comments if necessary, but I've only rejected a few comments ever, so I hope we continue that good record. You miss some of the value of this site if you never read or leave comments. There's no way to include them in the newsletter or feed, however, so you'll have to visit the original post to leave/read comments. I do encourage everyone to comment as anything other than "Anonymous." Everyone can use the Name/URL option (even without a URL). Even if you use an alias we'll enjoy recognizing regular commenters.

More Critiques of the WSOP Telecasts, From Some Well-Known Pros

Date: Fri, May 2, 2008

Here are some good critiques of ESPN's WSOP telecasts, from some well-known pros (source):

Scott Fischman:

I have to admit, I have certainly been a part of the public that has stopped watching ESPN poker. I think it has more to do with all the screaming, the "shark" and side story crap not to mention how many players got broke during the commercial break. The milwaukee's best light ad ends and you hear Norman Chad saying, "We are rejoining the action and Joe Blow is allin with J-7 against Tommy's Q-2... the board reads 4-3-8-K..... and Joe will need to catch a J or a 7 on the river or he will be eliminated in 7th place." I mean this kid might have been waiting his whole life to make a wsop final table, he has been telling everyone that will listen about this sick hand and told them to watch him on TV but then the entire hand gets cutoff so they have extra time to tell us all about Timmy's family and a poker game he played in second grade when doyle was in his home town.... I think something needs to be done.... I suggest a look at the producers of the shows for a start.

Vicky Coren:

The WSOP isn't already making enough mistakes by changing itself to suit television rather than inviting television just to cover what it is (eg. incredible delays during the hand-for-hand when everyone has to wait for the cameras)?

WSOP TV Schedule, 2008

Date: Thu, May 1, 2008

World Series of Poker TV Schedule for 2008:
• July 22, 8 and 9 PM: Event 1, $10,000 pot-limit hold 'em
• July 29, 8 and 9 PM: Event 2, $1,500 no-limit hold 'em
• Aug. 5, 8 and 9 PM: Event 3, $1,500 pot-limit hold 'em or Event 4, $5,000 mixed hold 'em
• Aug. 12, 8 and 9 PM: Event 5, $1,000 no-limit hold 'em with rebuys
• Aug. 19, 8 and 9 PM: Event 45, $50,000 HORSE
• Aug. 26, 8 and 9 PM: Event 50, $10,000 pot-limit Omaha
• Sept. 2 to Sept. 30, 8 and 9 PM: Event 55, $10,000 no-limit hold 'em main event
• Oct. 7 to Oct. 28, 9 and 10 PM: Event 55, $10,000 no-limit hold 'em main event
• Nov. 4, 10 PM: Event 55, main event final table preview show
• Nov. 11, 9 and 10 PM: Event 55, main event final table

See also the full list of WSOP events.

WSOP Delayed Final Table Press Conference Live Update 5

Date: Thu, May 1, 2008

Poker Player Newspaper: heard will give two expense-paid trips back to final table? Public invited, plus families?
Answer: we'll bring back players, encouraged to invite family, friends. Ample seating. Expect poker's biggest names to come out. Expect music, Hollywood, etc. stars.
Follow-up question: how many people can arena accommodate?
Answer: don't yet know capacity for FT in Rio.

Gary Wise, ESPN: reaction to outcry from traditionalist?
Answer: Progress comes with detractors. Track record shows can respect tradition while innovating. Still poker, still bracelets, same structures. Only effects final 9 players. It will further mainstream this game.

Adam Schwartz: what effect on size of field (e.g. foreigners coming over twice), results could be different due to hiring coaches.
Answer: shouldn't effect participation, only effects 9 players. Coming back to star in history-making telecast. This is the year to come: stakes never higher, opportunities for personal fame and fortune. Second trip to Vegas is nothing compared to opportunity to become global star. Players should relish opportunity. It could be life altering. Cards don't change in 16 weeks. Everyone has equal opportunity to improve in 16 weeks. Interval should be used for preparation and opportunity on big stage.

Steve Rosenbloom: changes to apparel rules? What was biggest/last obstacle to delayed final table idea?
Answer: last thing they had to get past was consent of Nevada Gaming Control Board. WSOP has liberal player apparel policy. Can wear sponsor logos, but no single company name more than once on an article of clothing. No max on # of unique logos. Coming from Nascar it would be great if they look like Nascar drivers. For final table members in 16 weeks he hopes they sign many sponsors.
Follow up: what was Gaming Commission's concern?
Answer: not at liberty to discuss, but they discuss tournament plans in advance every year.

CardPlayer: business/player considerations about doing this, how will they market it?
Answer: Main issue was innovation for the good of the game, concept fits well. Ty Stewart was creative spark behind idea, collaborated with Jamie H. at ESPN. Want more excitement to final table, benefits flow to people who make it there.
Jamie Horowitz: ESPN is just beginning marketing planning. Plan to have .com group with final 9 players from July to November and put it on web. They'll document the 4 months.
Question: promos about FT players during other events airing?
Answer: Sept to Oct. shows will look much like previous years.
Question: how much time spend with players during 4 months?
Seth Palansky: Everyone will get access to the players and we'll make household names of all of them and they can participate in tournaments in the interim for them to take advantage of opportunity presented by this.
Answer: ESPN won't be the only ones telling the story. They want all the media outlets talking to the players and writing about them. No different from Super Bowl or other sporting events.
Question: Miller Brewing's role?
Answer: in the middle of forging plans. National promotion June 1st, will take advantage of opportunity.

That's all folks!

See the press release.

WSOP Delayed Final Table Press Conference Live Update 4

Date: Thu, May 1, 2008

PokerListings.com: new photography restrictions? and discrepancies between print and web.
Seth: let's discuss if offline later.

BJ Nemeth, for PokerNews: usually does hand-for-hand FT coverage. Will there be a media lockdown? How will you keep people from finding out?
Answer: doors wide open. No sequestration or lockdown. That will only enhance coverage and viewership. Nov. 10 will be great media day. Will encourage chatter, to drive people to tune in.

Baltimore Sun: ESPN has tinkered with coverage over the years. Is this an attempt to make it more event than documentary coverage?
Answer: ESPN has always looked it as seminal event in poker. Document important event, not made-for-TV tournament. 20 hours of ME coverage will be most ever, special preview is new too.
Follow up answer: structure hasn't changed, only schedule.
Follow-up question: trying to make it like live TV?
Answer: purpose is to build up anticipation. They're changing the equation. Want people talking about who's going to win. More buzz and watercooler talk, like before Super Bowl or other major sporting events.
Another follow-up question: Is there concern that will lose spontaneity over 4 months (Hollywood makeovers).
Answer: wouldn't assume they'll go all Hollywood. Players can choose for themselves how much to take advantage of opportunities. Some will, others won't. You'll see authentic personalities he believes. People will get to know them and be able to root for them.
Jamie Horowitz: makes not just Nov. 11 more exciting, but all the other shows as well.

PokerPlayer UK Mag.: any pay per view?
Answer: No pay-per-view on Main Event. Looking into ESPN 360 for other events.
Follow up?: UK broadcast partners?
Jeffrey: shown in the UK, but he's not sure and will follow up.

CasinoCity.com: talks with Players Advisory Committee? Why break so long?
Answer: deliberations with PAC are informal and private. Support overall was very strong. Can talk to players yourself. There's a lot of debate. PAC has been terrific collaborator. (Missed answering second question.)

Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel: breakdown of viewer types?
Answer: can't give demographics right now. Innovate for benefit of game. Mindful of tradition but innovate to further mainstream game, stars, and personalities. Want to expand audience, give more people reason to tune in. Drama and personal stories, get connectivity with stars. WSOP about stories, colorful people, and competition.

WSOP Delayed Final Table Press Conference Live Update 3

Date: Thu, May 1, 2008

Question time:

Dealer compensation, given FT won't complete for 4 months?
Effel: same as usual. Usual withholding paid when reach final 9. When final 9 players play, gratuities pro-rated back to all toke pool participant, whether they participate in final table or not.

Any funds added to prize pool from extra revenue? Opportunities for collusion a problem?
It would be a mistake for players to act unethically, and we hope the players will represent the game well. New code of conduct released next week. Severe penalties for unethical conduct. Will encourage world to take close look at players during 117 days off, giving them great opportunities, hope that brings out the best in everyone.
Prize pool will be plumped up a bit: prize money invested in interest-bearing account, interest added to prize pool.

Bob Ciaffone: biggest problem he's had is hours they play (he's 67 and lives on east coast). What have they done to address the schedule.
Jack's response: Try to play additional levels on early days and less later. Tough for anyone. This year in Main Event 5 levels on first days, never more (5 two-hour sessions, plus breaks). Should end 12:30 AM, not so bad. 10 levels for smaller events.
Bob says the two hours difference should be a great improvement.

Gary Wise: will ESPN cameras follow people over 4 months?
Jamie H: Nov. 4 preview show will document last 4 months. Expect that Nov. 11 storytelling will more precisely detail their story than in past.

Adam Schwartz: main concerns: things that happen during 4 months, ethically. What plans have been made for things that could go wrong? Visas, etc?
Answer: Probably 100 different problem scenarios, hard to anticipate them beforehand. Be confident in our ability to stage event well as they always do. They'll deal with extraordinary circumstances as they come up.

WSOP Delayed Final Table Press Conference Live Update 2

Date: Thu, May 1, 2008

No tents. Separate satellite room. Moved cage. Five rooms in Rio for poker. Total capacity 2740 players simultaneously. No alternates. New rule re unsportsmanlike conduct. Last year tightened rules on abusive language, now have rule on unsportsmanlike conduct. New code of conduct released next week. New cell phone rule: silent during play, be at least one table length away to use it. May 28 opens registration. 8 $10K events. 8 $1.5K NLHE events. More room between tables than before. Concierge service to improve player experience. Better food, restrooms, restaurant hours.

WSOP Delayed Final Table Press Conference Live Update 1

Date: Thu, May 1, 2008

Jeffrey Pollack:

We are pleased to announce... the final table will be held in November and aired on same day.

16 week interim: opportunity to catch the world's attention. Going to put spotlight on entire final table. Instead of one star will be 9 stars. Get bracelet on ESPN same day they win it. Will be cliffhanger... must see television. Shifting the paradigm... anticipating who will win. 16 weeks interim will lift entire game of poker.

ESPN shows start July 22, promotion through November. Early Nov. 11th Main Event concludes, and airs that night.

Jamie Horowitz, ESPN:

Exciting day. Hope this adjustment will add new excitement to biggest event in poker. Just like when baseball added wildcard or Nascar added chase for champ. Will add new drama.

Milwaukee's Best Light spokesperson:

Promotions kicking off with Hellmuth.

Main Event Adjourns For 117 Days Till "Plausibly Live" Final Table

Date: Thu, May 1, 2008

It's official: the World Series of Poker Main Event will adjourn for 117 days so that they can play a "plausibly live" final table after ESPN airs the taped WSOP shows in November. The schedule is:

• July 14: play down to final table
• Nov. 4: ESPN special on what the players have done in the intervening months
  
• Nov. 9: final table plays down to two players
• Nov. 10: heads-up battle for title starts, finishing early on the 11th
  
• Nov. 11: ESPN airs two-hour final table show at 9 PM Eastern
  

• Daniel Negreanu: "It's going to create way more buzz. … It's going to be more like a live event. … You're going to see some really kind of more sophisticated play."
• Doyle Brunson: "Frankly, I don't like it. … I guess it will create a lot of hype. ... It seems a little overkill or something to me."
• Greg Raymer: "It might be huge for the continued growth of poker; however, the down side is this long gap allows the players to become completely different people between the time they make the final table and when they play it."

National Heads-Up Poker Championship Ratings Decline

Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008

Ratings for the first two weeks of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship are down significantly:

Week 1:
2008 vs 2007: minus 6.7% in households, minus 12.2% in viewers
2008 vs 2006: minus 20.5% in households, minus 19.4% in viewers

Week 2:
2008 vs 2007: minus 18% in households, minus 25% in viewers
2008 vs 2006: minus 48% in households, minus 54% in viewers

Ratings for poker shows are down across the board since the early years of the poker boom, and the US government's stance against online gambling hasn't helped advertising revenue either. One bright spot, however, seems to be Poker After Dark, which keeps on getting renewed.

Ratings from Media Life Magazine (see "NBC POKER SERIES"): week ending 4/13, week ending 4/20. Comparisons from player agent Oliver Tse's 2+2 posts: week 1, week 2.