Sexton's WPT Commentary

I personally find Sexton's and VVP's commentary to be the most entertaining on TV. Lon and Norman just aren't that funny at all and Lon doesn't seem to know much about poker at all. Although much of their commentary is "results oriented" I believe it's done for the sake of excitement and because of the fact that 90% of people watching the show have that mindset and wouldn't understand advanced poker strategy. Mike Sexton also knows the game very well and although VVP is no pro, he's much better than Lon IMO and his corny lines are funny in a strange way. Besides you just can't match the enthusiam of Sexton saying "He's doing it Vince, he's moving all-in!" or something of the sort.

Love 'em, Like 'em, Hate 'em. Tee-Vee don't care. As long as there's an audience giving numbers that sell air time, nothing else matters.

When the numbers go South, so do Mike, Vince, Norm, Lon, Chad, whoever. Or maybe the whole friggin' show. Fact of life in the wonderful, wacky world of advertising.

[MicroBob]

they're overly repetitive partly because they don't have any kind of broadcasting background.

Sexton's commentary is, at times, conspicuously patronizing.


One doesn't have to be quite so patronizing to cater to a mass audience.
Talk in a more intelligent manner about the game and the audience will catch up to you if you do it correctly.


Most of the country doesn't know much about advanced football strategy either. But that doesn't mean the announcers have to always explain what the term "3rd and 7" means or that "now it's 4th down and 32 yards to go so they will likely tke option to punt...even though they don't have to here Vince...it's better strategy to kick the ball as far as they can down-field because they are probably going to lose possession of the ball anyway."

Instead, the announcer will just say, "4th down...and here comes the punting unit. Joe Shmoe back to receive."


I really believe that Mike could be a decent announcer if he received some instruction and tips and constructive criticism from a professional play-by-play broadcaster on how to have some enthusiasm without being condescending.

It doesn't have to be a lengthy type discussion that Sklansky, Harrington or Lederer would find especially intriguing.
Just a little less condesension and a little more variety in phrases (which really shouldn't be that hard for a play-by-play broadcaster).

This type of change that I am envisioning wouldn't just appeal to 2+2'ers like us who actually understand the game a bit....but it would also make the broadcasts more appealing to the whole audience (even those who don't know enough to even understand that the quality of dialogue has improved).

[Beavis68]

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Re: the "lucky hand" stuff, I think it's a semi-joke. Of course Sexton knows no such thing exists, but it's a reasonable thing to say to fill time.

The WPT commentary isn't the best on TV, but honestly, this thread seems really nit-picky.

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Yes, and Doyle Brunson knows there is no such thing a lucky hand, or streaks too eh?

I hate the way Mike gestures with his hands. It's stupid, but once you focus on it, you can't help noticing it [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Other than that, I think they're OK. And Shana's just... mmmm.

Too bad Shana's not coming back next season [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[yoadrians]

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It seems I'm in the minority, but I think Mike Sexton is great. He's the voice of poker. He knows his shite, he's funny, he's entertaining, and I love his enthusiasm for the game. Guess you guys must really love played-out ex-wife jokes. Weak. Also, I've never heard him or anyone else 'badmouth' Doyle Brunson, and to say the guy makes offensive comments - um, yeah, that's what he does. He sits there in the booth dropping the N-word and F-bombs all show long.

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Sexton does just fine. He's a decent player, too, and I think his commentary is better than the ESPN crew, no question.

Dammit, I wish I could remember the exact exchange, but it was something like:

Matusow: "Well you're a bad poker player"

Sheik: "Yeah well you're a jerk and I don't like you"

Chad: "That's some first class banter"

He had at least a dozen other little subtle digs like that in the WSOP that apparently went over the heads of a lot of you. He cracks me up.

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Most of the country doesn't know much about advanced football strategy either. But that doesn't mean the announcers have to always explain what the term "3rd and 7" means or that "now it's 4th down and 32 yards to go so they will likely tke option to punt...even though they don't have to here Vince...it's better strategy to kick the ball as far as they can down-field because they are probably going to lose possession of the ball anyway."


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Here's the difference: football has been at the top of the sporting world for 20 years. The fans don't need to be explained why a team is punting on 4th and 32.

But when one of the commentators on WPT says, "gut shot straight draw," it's entirely possible that the fans have no idea what that is. It's usually unobtrusive, just a little graphic explaining the lingo.

In fact, I think football would be wise to adopt something like that. The announcers definitely "dumb down" the commentary for us. Why not allow the announcers to use a phrase like "A gap" or refer to receivers the way coaches refer to them (X, Y, and Z) or refer to linebackers the way coaches do (Mike, Willy, Sam).

PS. Punting on 4th and 32 isn't exactly "advanced football strategy."

4th and 32? Obvious poooooosh!