I want to know whose idea it was to show the Main Event from Day 3 until the November Nine as it happened. One of the best parts of watching poker tournaments was the high drama of the big action hands. This time, they decided that they would show you every hand as they went down. I never thought I would actually root for the repetitive poker commercials to come on.
Watching these tables at times was like watching paint dry, especially when Matt Gianetti took over ten minutes to make a decision on one single hand. I felt like I could hear the collective casual poker public turning their TVs to a different station, and I can’t blame them.
The only real highlight was the commentary. We finally got rid of Norman Chad as a regular color man and got some fresh blood in. Olivier Busquet came into his own as a broadcaster, and Antonio Esfandiari proved that he is more than just a poker player with a magic gimmick.
I’ll be interested to see if anyone besides the die hard poker fans tune in for the Main Event. Most fans aren’t going to want to watch raise and fold poker with the occasional all-in for hours at a time. This might work for online programming, but I can’t see this being something that lasts long term on cable.
New Company – Same Tired Programming
Poker Productions — the same guys that brought you Poker After Dark and the NBC National Heads-Up Championship – were the company behind the World Series of Poker broadcasts this year. The sets were impressive and the production quality was clearly higher than in previous years, but the show was pretty much the same.
Lon MacEachern and Norman Chad were both back doing their typical brand of commentary. Lon is great but it is time to replace Norm with someone that at least has a clue about more than Stud 8 or Better poker. Also, his humor is beyond grating.
For those that watched the live coverage, this edited version is just a rehash of what they have already seen, but with other vignettes thrown in. Casual fans also are not watching. Viewership for the WSOP is down year over year for the edited program, and there really weren’t any compelling stories this year.
We didn’t have a Michael Mizrachi or Phil Ivey making his way to the final table. The Darvin Moons and the Dennis Phillips of the world fell by the wayside. Most of what we have left are poker pros and kids with as much personality as Ben Stein. Actually, I don’t want to insult Mr. Stein.
While the live poker experiment was a novel idea, casual fans just didn’t buy into it. The edited weekly version of the WSOP needs to be revamped and the format changed. Putting a pretty new bow on a regift isn’t going to get you viewers.
Andrew Perry is a webmaster and TV fanatic who spends most of his time watching TV shows like Psych and Mythbusters. He also works for PokerJunkie.com, a poker strategy and guide website.
Clacked by Guest Clacker
on Oct 24, 2011 @ 12:00 EST5EDT
Ur a f$&@ing idiot, and have no clue what we want. The live WSOP coverage this year was the best poker on television EVER!! And I can’t wait to watch every single “raise fold” hand of the final table until a champion is crowned.
That is nice, Brian Shaw. It is always a sign of class to call people names.
I would have to agree that the WSOP for the final table this year has been the most boring thing that I have ever seen.
I have enjoyed watching the WSOP on TV for years and this is the first year that I find myself turning the channel when it comes on. That is why they call it the “Magic of TV”….editing can cure a lot of ills. This final table has been slow moving, boring, and very hard to watch. I love watching poker on TV, but this final table is just too boring.