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.

National Heads-Up Poker Championship To Award Some Spots To Qualifiers

Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008

The National Heads-Up Poker Championship has always been an invitational, but they just announced that next year some of the spots will be awarded to qualifers:

· Previous 5 National Heads-Up Poker Champions
· Previous 2 National Heads-Up runners-up
· Defending National Heads-Up semifinalists
· Any player who cashes in the past 4 consecutive years of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship
· Previous 3 World Series of Poker Main Event Champions
· Defending World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up
· Beginning with the 2008 WSOP, multiple bracelet winners in the same year will receive an automatic invitation to the next Heads-Up Championship
· Defending World Series of Poker Player of the Year
· Defending World Series of Poker Heads-Up Champion
· Defending World Series of Poker Europe Main Event Champion (must be 21 or older)
· Reigning World Poker Tour Player of the Year
· Reigning Monte Carlo European Poker Tour Grand Final Champion (must be 21 or older)
· Reigning Card Player magazine Player of the Year
· Reigning Bluff magazine Player of the Year
· Reigning ALL IN magazine Player of the Year
· Online and NBC qualifiers (1-3) (must be 21 or older)
· Host venue qualifiers (2)

About 40 of the 64 spots will still be by invitation, however. See also our editorial Can an Invitational Be a Championship? and the press release.