Dumb WPT question.

[parappa]

The commentary all relies on the commentators being able to see the hole cards, but the shot coming out of commercial always shows them sitting quite close to the table. Do they actually do anything while they're sitting there? Do they leave and commentate from a different room? If they put the sound in in post-production, what are they sitting there for?

Told you it was a dumb question in the topic /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Blindfolk]

Mike probably makes notes about the players and other important things.

Vince sits there with a notepad and thinks of which names he can give to 75 offsuit.

[JTG51]

They sit there to make it look like it's happening in real time. Sexton did a Q&A at Foxwoods during the WPT event and said that the producers want people to think it's a live event. That's why they refuse to put hand numbers or a clock on the screen. They don't want it to be obvious that the show is taped and edited.

[JPinAZ]

Also, every once in a while there will be a pretty clear shot of Sexton/VVP in the background. Watch their mouths & you'll see they most likely aren't talking, contrary to what you're hearing.

[coolhandtom]

[ QUOTE ]
Mike probably makes notes about the players and other important things.

Vince sits there with a notepad and thinks of which names he can give to 75 offsuit.

[/ QUOTE ]

VVP sits back there dreaming of more ways to match up 'the robin hood of poker' vs the sheriff of nottingham and his cronies...

[Cleveland Guy]

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Vince sits there with a notepad and thinks of which names he can give to 75 offsuit.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wouldn't you just call that Heinz 57? or the Ketchup hand?

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]
They sit there to make it look like it's happening in real time. Sexton did a Q&A at Foxwoods during the WPT event and said that the producers want people to think it's a live event. That's why they refuse to put hand numbers or a clock on the screen. They don't want it to be obvious that the show is taped and edited.

[/ QUOTE ]


that is what i speculated (i've worked in radio and TV).
they do some pretty good editing on that show to make it look fairly smooth and 'live'. and many viewers have absolutely no idea that the final table actually took longer than 2 hours to complete.


i believe it has also been mentioned that nobody on the floor actually knows the cards....there's just one guy solo watching the different hole-cams on his monitors so that he can send word to the floor if one of the players is accidentally blocking them from being seen or something.

the 'reaction' shots they get of vince on the edge of his seat and mike staring off somewhere (or vice-versa) make it look like the whole commentary is taking place as they go along.

i would guess that 90% of the commentary that you hear is done AFTER the fact in post-production.


i suspect they sit there and make little comments as they go along about the banter at the table or when the crowd gets really loud and they have an all-in race or something so they can shout 'AMAZING!!' or something like that. and when they get anything good they use it...and otherwise have to do the play-by-play off the monitors after they already know who won the event.


this is actually the tricky part....because they need to not accidentally hint at who is going to win the all-in race or the whole thing.
they are pretending they don't know when they in fact do.

[MicroBob]

btw - you may also note that on the ESPN WSOP telecasts they only show Lon and Norm in the stand-up shot at the beginning.
they don't set up some back-drop to make it look like they are in the corner actually calling the action from the site.
this would be very easy to do btw.

ESPN probably has some idea that they don't want to make it look like the announcers are actually sitting live at the event if they really aren't. some journalistic-integrity and ethical issues are involved.

ESPN isn't going to go out of their way to show you that they AREN'T there though.


this is how they frequently show the american sports in foreign-countries.
in italy (for example) the announcer will introduce the game from the studio....and then you'll just see the game with the announcer's voice in the background. he already knows who wins the game (because it's tape-delayed and fit into a 1-hour or 2-hour block) and obviously didn't fly to Yankee Stadium during the commercial break. yet many of his viewers would be surprised to learn he isn't actually tourning the US broadcasting baseball games.


same goes for the zillion foreign-announcers who broadcast the super-bowl back to their home countries. most of them had already done at least a couple of games over the satelline from their studios....but get to fly to the U.S. for the Big One.

[BigJer]

[ QUOTE ]
They sit there to make it look like it's happening in real time. Sexton did a Q&A at Foxwoods during the WPT event and said that the producers want people to think it's a live event. That's why they refuse to put hand numbers or a clock on the screen. They don't want it to be obvious that the show is taped and edited.

[/ QUOTE ]

You mean to say they have all that time to formulate a commentary and still come out with the same cliche and drivel?

I have looked several times to see if there's a glass screen for sound-proofing, but couldn't see anything, so I came to this conclusion too.

Re: the editing of the final table action, I suspected this from the first ever episode I saw, as there are just too many premium hands for it not to be edited, but I'd be interested in seeing just what proportion of hands are left out of the final edit (on average).

Let's face it, aside from the on-table action, the only good thing is Shana Hiatt... /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[BigJer]

[ QUOTE ]
some journalistic-integrity and ethical issues are involved.

[/ QUOTE ]

Speaking of journalistic integrity and ethics, I heard that Fox Sports televise or are soon to televise poker. Anyone know any more details? Can't find anything on their website.

[WiredPear]

THey do give some commentary during the actual event. Since they don't know the hole cards, they just report basically the action that is happening. Later on they sit in a studio and add in the extra commentary based on what the hole cards are. That's when they get the pithy one-liners, etc. Sometimes you can tell because the audio is spliced together. Occasionally, you can tell the difference between which comments are made live and which ones later.

[coolhandtom]

[ QUOTE ]
THey do give some commentary during the actual event. Since they don't know the hole cards, they just report basically the action that is happening. Later on they sit in a studio and add in the extra commentary based on what the hole cards are. That's when they get the pithy one-liners, etc. Sometimes you can tell because the audio is spliced together. Occasionally, you can tell the difference between which comments are made live and which ones later.

[/ QUOTE ]

yes you can often hear the different pitch levels between commentary, and it is blatantly obvious when the speech is live vs. post production. they could do a much better job with that.

and anyone watching can be fairly certain that its not all live commentary when they show the announcers booth only a few yards away. the place is dead silent during play, and they would most certainly hear VVP or sexton yelling out info during the hands... a glass wall or something would make it a bit more believable.

[chrisdhal]

[ QUOTE ]
Speaking of journalistic integrity and ethics, I heard that Fox Sports televise or are soon to televise poker. Anyone know any more details? Can't find anything on their website.

[/ QUOTE ]

Only every week for most of the summer. Sunday nights at 9pm Central is the first showing of each episode. They started last Thanksgiving with "Showdown at the Sands". Currently they're running "Poker at the Plaza". They also did a live event from Turning Stone (4 hour show, 5 min delay). On the 15th they're starting a "Superstars" show.

They do a GREAT job IMHO. Much, much better than anybody else. The Plaza shows are great. They are basically showing 2 hours of heads up action and showing virtually every hand, even the quick folds. The Turning Stone show was great too. Basically, FSN has great commentary (Howard Lederer if he's out of the tourney, which unfortunately he always seems to be) and great production value.

[kerssens]

I thought the Showdown at the Sands was just a long commercial for Best Damn Sports Show with some poker sprinkled in.....I do like Fox Sports' more recent shows, even though Chris Rose is a tool

[tylerdurden]

[ QUOTE ]

ESPN isn't going to go out of their way to show you that they AREN'T there though.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, we know Norm *is* actually there, because he always interviews the winners at the end of each show. It's entirely possible that Lon has never even set foot in LV, though.

[BigJer]

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Only every week for most of the summer.

[/ QUOTE ]

In that case my worst fears have been confirmed: my Fox Sports is regional (Caribbean/South America) and most of the coverage is football (as in soccer) and paid ads. This also stuffs up my ESPN WSOP viewing as they frequently block the signal for no apparent reason. So its Mike and Vince for me for the forseeable future! Thanks for the reply.