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Is it just me or was their a large sense of apathy towards the WSOP in general this year. I didn’t follow a single event. I don’t care about who wins the Main Event. I don’t even plan to watch any of it on TV. All in all I couldn’t care less about any of it.
The only thing that may have held interest for me would have been if Tiffany Michelle had made the final table. But she didn’t, so it doesn’t.
How many of you feel the way I do? I bet it’s most of you.
The good Dr. Pauly recently had a guest post from poker reporter BJ Nemeth in regards to the WSOP 90-day delay. If you haven’t read it do so now and then come back.
I admit I agree with some of the things Mr. Nemeth has to say so I’ll limit myself to only the items that I don’t agree with.
3. How Live is “Live”?
I find it interesting that some critics complain that this delay would compromise the “integrity” of the tournament, yet have no problem with card cams. Showing a player’s cards is without question the biggest threat to the integrity of the game as it is traditionally played, and a lot of players (including Erik Seidel) argued strongly against them when they were first introduced. But card cams played a pivotal role in the recent poker boom, and most of those critics now admit that the upside was much bigger than the downside. I think that’s the case with this new proposal as well.
I deleted most of what he said here but I have to hammer in that this delay does in fact alter the “integrity” of the game. Not because of hole cams, or a player dying. It’s because they don’t play for 3 months. The World Series is a marathon. If you put the delay into the final table every player gets to start fresh, well rested. Even putting a single day off before the final table alters things. Aside from getting lucky and catching cards a player also has to endure days of long hours sitting in a chair. This can often be the biggest factor in performance during the final table. That factor would be gone.
1. The WSOP Becomes a Television “Event” Worth Watching
With this one change, the WSOP on TV becomes a live “event” that far more people will be excited to watch. Nobody will know the result, which is critical to the success of sports television. NBC ran into problems a decade ago when they broadcast the Nagano Olympics on an 18-hour delay, and it really affected the ratings because many people learned the results ahead of time from other media. (And that was when the internet was still relatively new.) If CBS rebroadcast the NCAA championship game between Kansas and Memphis tomorrow night, nobody would watch it, because anyone who cared would already know who won.
Ummm, no. This may bring more excitement to the viewers who were going to watch it, but it’s not going to bring new viewers. Poker on U.S. television has already reached it’s nexus and is heading back down into the numbers that will represent the hard core fans. These fans will watch whether they know who won or not. The experience of watching poker on TV is not ruined by previous knowledge like a sporting event is. Their is no real edge of your seat rooting going on for one contestant over another. Your comparing apples to oranges here.
2. The Unknown Players Are No Longer Unknown
Equally as important, poker fans will have learned enough about the unknown players to develop a rooting interest, either for or against them.
The players also get to learn about eachother. Poker is a game where observing your opponents is important. Giving the players time to study will change the game dramatically. Rooting is based on table antics, and God willing, there won’t be any this year.
If an Australian makes the final table (or an Irishman or a Scandinavian), it won’t take long for most of their countrymen to know his or her name and backstory. Even here in the States, players will likely receive plenty of coverage from their local news (TV, radio, magazines, newspapers) playing up the angle of “local player has a shot at the biggest cash prize in sports.” A regional interest gives more fans something to root for.
This is the argument that should have been used in #1. This may in fact bring more foreign viewers.
3. Big Ratings Are Good For Everyone in Poker
See my reply to #1.
4. Better Opportunities for the Final Nine
I agree with this yet fail to see how it’s better for the poker industry.
5. Long-Term Benefits
Higher ratings than poker has ever seen can bring side benefits.
Your basing your entire argument on increased television ratings. Like I said, I just don’t see that happening. I will concede that the novelty of the idea may increase ratings for the first time. After that it will be business as usual.
Those are my thoughts. Join in the conversation and let me here yours in the comments.
