Making televised poker better

NYCNative · #1 07-24-2005, 01:12 PM

If you were in charge of one of the networks that televise poker, what would you do to make it better? By better I mean as a way that is more representative of what poker is since many (myself invluded) say that TV presents the game as a giant bluff-heavy push-fest which is unrealistic and, by now, is getting tedious.

I would get the commentators I like (I am partial to Lederer and Gabe Kaplan) and I would have them reference past plays at the table - maybe even cut away to brief snippets of those hands - when comenting on a current play as this would better show how past plays can "set up" a big hand later in the day.

I would have them speculate more on what the player are thinking. I am sick of seeing players with KT against pocket 7s see a flop that comes AJT and having the announcers say how KT is way ahead. I want them to get into the throughts of the players and how they put each other on a hand. Show the logical, mathematical and psychological sides of the game better. Those facets are what makes poker great to play; why wouldn't they make it great to watch?

I also would like to see more hands where they don't show the hole cards of one player in a hand. They do this on Bravo's with the celebrities but not for the pros and I would like to see Lederer play along with someone and guess what the best moves are and then see his reaction when the hole cards reveal him right or wrong.

I would also make sure that I showed at least 1-2 hands per show where the blinds are simply stolen. Sure, showing this all day makes bad TV (even if it's the bulk of tournament poker), but showing it just once or twice will allow the commentators to discuss steals, position and other nuances that are often overlooked and not bog down the broadcast since those hands only last a short time.

I think that poker could still attract viewership and be broadcast more intelligently.

nuclear500 · #2 07-24-2005, 01:45 PM

Show the hand number. Its funny watching the WPT and see a big pot, cut to commercial and come back and somehow the guy has lost most of what he won in the big pot and someone else is a new chip leader. Its like, wtf happened? If a significant amount of hands have been skipped, do a recap of them. Show chip position shifts, key hands and key bluffs that were merely blind steals or flop steals where the action was big but not "intense" enough to warrant airtime. Showing the hand number and identifying it should get people to understand that the final table of the WPT really isn't two hours.

People got into poker so insane because all they ever showed was big hands vs big hands or crazy outdraws. People assumed that this happens constantly. Good for Poker profits, bad for poker sanity.

Voltron87 · #3 07-24-2005, 02:09 PM

better, less lame commentators

more graphics telling blinds, stacks, pot size, hand #

the ads are so dopey this year, they need to be changed

Adjective · #4 07-24-2005, 02:14 PM

Less of it.

BlueBear · #5 07-24-2005, 02:43 PM

The casual viewer will be turned off by technical details such as blind sizes, pot sizes and blind steals. They just want to see an macho all-in stack-shoving fest.

Voltron87 · #6 07-24-2005, 02:46 PM

No they won't. not if its done right. it doesnt have to look like cnbc.

ClaytonN · #7 07-24-2005, 02:47 PM

[ QUOTE ]
better, less lame commentators

more graphics telling blinds, stacks, pot size, hand #

[/ QUOTE ]

This, plus more live poker events. There's a lot of intrigue there, especially if there's a lot of press on the event beforehand. The first 2 live poker events kinda lacked advertising strength.

Voltron87 · #8 07-24-2005, 02:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
better, less lame commentators

more graphics telling blinds, stacks, pot size, hand #

[/ QUOTE ]

This, plus more live poker events. There's a lot of intrigue there, especially if there's a lot of press on the event beforehand. The first 2 live poker events kinda lacked advertising strength.

[/ QUOTE ]

defintely true, good point.

NYCNative · #9 07-24-2005, 03:14 PM

I disagree. They said that the casual viewer wouldn't get football either because they couldn't relate to the players with faces hidden behind facemasks and the game was too complicated. Now it's the #1 sport on TV and the NFL is huge and there are former players and coaches who get quite detailed when broadcasting the games.

The casual viewer can enjoy the game even if they also provide more detailed commentary, I believe.

lgas · #10 07-24-2005, 03:19 PM

I've always thought it would be great if someone would put a ring game on T.V. I'm not sure how you'd have to set it up to make it work, and it may be -EV for ring game pros, because right now so many people final tables from tournaments where there's lot of all-in push fests and fancy play syndrome and then try to duplicate what they've seen at ring games, but I still think it'd be interesting to watch.

Maybe you pick one table in one casino and tape it 24/7 then show the most interesting N hands from the last week each week or something like that.