[SoftcoreRevolt]

I whole heartedly agree. For everyone saying OMG NORMAN CHAD WAS ACTUALLY FUNNY WITH HIS 800th HELLMUTH JOKE, they need to sit back and think what Hellmuth's act does. He gets so much camera time to whine and overact (like he doesn't know he's going to get camera time if he acts that way.) and this is what people are presented as being one of the top tournament pros, giving someone the impression that poker is like this.

Then you get 2 seconds of a player and a comment "This man is a class act and a testament to... sorry breaking news, we must cut to some loud ass over here!"

The good guys get 10 seconds of face time, the people making a scene get 55 minutes.

Rather than ignoring the idiots, ESPN treats poker like a giant freak show full of the same Hellmuth act, the same two dozen ex wife show, and a loud stupid celebration.

Yes these things happen and yes they will generate interest, but if so much focus is put on them, they overwhelm the game, and people will be way less likely to say "Hey this looks like fun, I'll try to play online" because who the hell wants to be berated for 10 minutes about not knowing how to play. The WSOP is supposed to be the place where anyone can win in the minds of the average Joe, not the place where you can be yelled at for being a donkey on National TV.

And when you combine it with announcers who do not take the game seriously, (except for the quick cut to Doyle Brunson and then quickly back to the morons.) you just make poker look like one giant unfunny joke about nonexistant ex wives. They don't need to know about poker strategy. Just have announcers who sound interested, (in the style of Rose and Konik, but not with someone as highly annoying as Konik.) they help make the game sound important, and give people an idea of what's going on, which helps people get more interested in the actual game.