As Seen On TV
ESPN employs wizards. It’s true. They have to. I have a degree in Broadcast Production and have been at the World Series of Poker for three years now to see the conditions under which they have to produce, and I’m telling you – there’s no way that any humans can be this good.
Their cameramen are constantly bumping into the tournament reporters, the tournament staff, players walking around the room, and then of course the twenty-odd other people who don’t realize they aren’t allowed to walk into the $50k H.O.R.S.E. event to ask Daniel Negreanu about how to play sit-n-goes better. They use (as I learned from a recent BLUFF article) forty total cameras (if you need some perspective, the Super Bowl uses 53, and the WhateverDome is a lot bigger than The Amazon Room).
Their “talent” are a mix of: histrionic caricatures who crave camera time (*COUGHHELLMUTH*); a bunch of 14-year-old Norwegian Internet guys; some old, crusty, broke, curmudgeonly rounders… and then there’s Mike Matusow. So, in a broadcasting model in which so much of the quality of the fi nal product is based on what the randomly-put-together talent gives them, they’re not often given much.
But somehow, it’s good every week. And we all watch. Like I said, wizards – actual wizards (with the robes and the beards, all of it). Since the coverage was so good, I did a live blog of each episode in my column at PokerRoad.com. Since I’ve already dissected even the most intricate minutia of every episode, I felt specifi cally qualifi ed to give out some awards. So here it is, the best and worst of the 2008 World Series of Poker Coverage on ESPN.
BIGGEST SURPRISE: The “November Nine” Worked!
Early numbers indicate ratings for the “almost live” fi nal table up almost FIFTY PERCENT from last year, putting it in just under two million households. The play seemed to be of a caliber we haven’t seen in a long time at a Main Event fi - nal table (this obviously can’t be purely attributed to the delay, but surely makes you wonder). The ESPN broadcast was beyond hyperbole in how amazing it was put together. I have a background in video production, and what they did, in the time they did it, to come out with the product they did… well, it was impossible (again, wizards).
It was the exactly the spectacle Harrah’s wanted, even in the face of players and media (myself included) saying it was a bad idea from the beginning. So, on the November Nine Experiment, I say thee “Yay!” Jeffrey Pollack! … Although I still think the delay should be shorter next year.
Runner-Up: Hevad Khan
First person ever that acted one way one year, became famous, and then totally changed everything about his behavior that made him famous… and we all love him for it.
BEST COMEBACK: Norman Chad
The perception of Norm’s commentary had reached an all-time low last year, and there was a growing sense that it was beginning to turn viewers off. This year, even from early on in the broadcast, Big Norm was bringing people back around. He was less campy overall, and had completely dropped the exwife jokes. Then he won us completely over. During the broadcast of the $50k H.O.R.S.E. fi nal table, Chad was both fair and harsh when he needed to be. More importantly, he spread his criticism and praise equally between all offenders and do-gooders. He seemed more aware of a lot of current goings-on in the poker community than in past years, and his commentary felt more prepared than ever. And he was even funny!!!
BEST COMEBACK CONT.: Runner-up: The Phil Ivey Old People (I call them this only because I forget their names.)
The old couple that used to play Stud with Phil in Atlantic City and follow him around with homemade signs saying “GO PHIL IVEY!” have appeared in the ESPN coverage for years. They were absent last year as one of them was having some health issues. Their triumphant reappearance was a relief, and was almost a metaphor for the renewed interest in the ESPN coverage as a whole that the community had this year.
MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT Scotty Nguyen at the $50k H.O.R.S.E. fi nal table
This one was easy. Most of the time when someone acts like an idiot on television, they’re just hurting themselves. In this case, Scotty hurt the entire game of poker, cheapened the most prestigious tournament in the world, and most importantly, did the opposite of honoring Chip Reese on the day his memorial trophy was unveiled. From everyone I’ve talked to who was there (myself included), ESPN did a great job of showing a very faithful account of how the entire thing went down. In fact, some people said they could have made Scotty look a lot worse.
Runner-up: Nicholas Sliwinski
This guy had a lot of regrettable behavior in his deep Main Event run, but none more girls-that-see-this-will-never-sleep-with-me than his rendition of “Stayin’ Alive” by The Beegees after winning a pot to remain in the tournament (complete with awkward disco hand-on-hip-point dance). Also, his sister was more annoying than mine… which is a hard feat to accomplish.
WORST DECISION Cutting out of WSOP coverage to a no-hitter with NO OUTS in the bottom of the ninth
Here’s what I said in my live blog on PokerRoad.com at the time – “Is there any reason not to wait ‘til there are two outs to cut to the game? If anything happens in the fi rst two outs, doesn’t that render the game utterly un-historic and completely mundane? There, base hit. Thanks for making me miss the WSOP coverage to see a baseball play that happens 100 times a night.”
Seriously, each out could take up to three to four minutes, and you’ll have thirty seconds to cut to the game if it gets to two outs – why not just wait?
Runner-up: Alan Jaffray Woman’s hat in the $1,000 Rebuy fi nal table. You can be a non-conformist without looking like a 90-year-old Swedish woman.
MOST ANNOYING Planters Good Instinct Moment
I had a lot of problems with this thing. First of all, it painfully reminded me of the annoying little paperclip that would pop up in Microsoft Word, and it was just as annoyingly jovial and monumentally useless. Secondly, ESPN constantly awarded it to a seemingly random play in the coverage . usually someone folding a "huge hand" like Js 10s on a K-K-Q-A-A board with four hearts.
Runners-up: Phil Hellmuth
He’s surely the most annoying, but I just don’t like to give Phil fi rst in anything. Between playing his Day 1 in a General Patton outfi t to being caught by ESPN calling about half the fi eld idiots (and subsequently weaseling out of a penalty), this is another no-brainer.
Justin Philips a.k.a. Guy-with-the-shaved-head-and-overalls-with-nothing-underthem.
Teddy Monroe Gets on TV every single year and doesn’t cash. That’s only supposed to happen with hot chicks and former sitcom actors.
SICKEST RIVER CARD Peter Eastgate – 6 of Diamonds
After Eastgate gets it in the middle with the best hand (6-6) against Scott Montgomery (A-3), Dennis Phillips tells the table he folded a black 6. After an ace fl ops, that leaves Eastgate only the 6d left in the deck. BINK! 6d on the river. This story is karmically informed by:
Runner-Up: Scott Montgomery – King of Spades
It’s no coincidence both of the sickest river cards came on the biggest stage – the more money you’re playing for, the sicker the beat. This time, after Craig Marquis and Scott Montgomery fi nd a way to get almost eleven million chips in the middle on a race (Marquis 7-7, Montgomery A-Q) while Kelly Kim has about half a big blind left, Montgomeryfs fl opped ace seems irrelevant when a 7 fl ops giving Marquis a set. Ironically, the seemingly least important fl op card (10s) turns out to be everything but. In true Scott Montgomery fashion, he turns a J for the gutshot. gWith four outs, how can I possibly miss?h a sarcastic Montgomery quipsc and we all know how this one ends.
BINK! Ks on the end. Craig Marquis wins ZERO more dollars for his November Nine appearance and makes Kelly Kim the happiest man in poker.
THE ADAM FREIDMAN MEMORIAL AWARD (ADAM WAS THE RED-HAIRED KID THAT CRIED)
This award goes to the player who will never be forgotten by the poker community due to their actions captured by ESPN, but unlikely to ever be poker-relevant again.
Tiffany Michelle
Sadly, this award goes to a friend and colleague. We will surely see Tiff on next year’s ESPN coverage, and with her sponsorship, she is sure to play in quite a few events; but with all of her outside interests, and her relative lack of experience, I think that when the poker story of Tiffany Michelle is written, the fi rst and last chapter will both be about the 2008 Main Event.
Runner-up: Joe Bishop More likely to never be relevant again, less ingrained in the poker community’s brain.
BEST LINE
“I ain’t on Team Scotty.” – Erick Lindgren, letting the crowd and the cameras know that he wasn’t in on any kind of soft-playing that was going on, while giving Scotty just the right amount of needle.
“I’m an idiot with a stack!” – Christian Dragomir, after being called an idiot by Phil Hellmuth after beating Phil in a pot with 10-4 offsuit for about the thirtieth time.
BEST PERFORMANCE
Erick Lindgren
And NO, this isn’t just because I have a dude-crush on him. And NO, it’s not just because he won WSOP Player of the Year. It’s because he’s Superman. The guy just simply shows up everyday and crushes. He does it all while being well-liked, incredibly respected by other pros, and downright hilarious (“That’s why most of Norman Chad’s relationships fall apart. Maybe if he had a little more trust in his relationships, they would last,” was just one nugget said to a random opponent in the middle of a hand).
He did his damndest to pull the $50k H.O.R.S.E. table out of the muck and have it somewhat resemble something that could in some way honor Chip Reese. He put DeMichele and Scotty in their respected places when each was acting a fool, he nearly got Layne Flack a rightly deserved timeout after Layne rushed the table during play, and he seemed to really be conscious of the passing of the guard to the younger players, as he had kind words for both Justin Bonomo and DeMichele as he was moved from their respective tables. Oh, and he won his fi rst bracelet.
Runner-up: Mike Matusow
Mike showed a new attitude toward poker (talking about things like “the power of positive thinking”), was MOSTLY a treat to watch at the table, made another deep run in the Main Event, and won a bracelet. BUT, this award is mostly because I saw something this year I never thought I would see – Matusow to Phil Hellmuth: “You’re out of line.” *GASP*
MOST OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE
ESPN There is no runner up.
The ESPN coverage this year seemed to have a renewed buzz around it. I think it had a little bit to do with this being “The Year of the Pro” and knowing we wouldn’t have to watch a ton of tables with fi rst-timers who misread their hand and busted on the fi rst deal (which actually happened this year). I think it also had a little bit to do with the dearth of other poker programming on TV, with the WPT being temporarily homeless, High Stakes Poker thought to be gone for good, and shows like The Best Damn Poker Show reminding us time and time again that we don’t want to watch people that are worse than us play poker on TV (except Don Cheadle). But mostly, I think it was that by now we’ve realized that when we sit down every Tuesday night, ESPN is going to give us what we want – and that’s what good TV does.
