Poker Media

As loyal readers know, there was a lot of head-bumping between the media and WSOP officials this summer -- as Harrah's set up a bunch of new rules designed with the main event in mind that made things difficult for those of us covering the other five weeks worth of events.

While lots of us bitched, I've contended that the real test will be how they handle the 2007 WSOP -- because so much was new to Jeffrey Pollack and his team in 2006. It appears Harrah's may be making a move in the right direction, as they just sent me (and presumably several other PokerBloggers) a survey asking our opinions on how things were handled. But what I am wondering ... have they already brought on a new media-handling team?

For at least the past two years, everything from credentials to interview requests were handled through a company called TBC -- Trahan, Burden, Charles. But this survey -- and really, it asked some good questions -- came from an email at RDSCypress.com. It looks like RDS (Research Design Specialists) might just be a sub-sub-contractor, but I can't be sure. We'll see if we can find out for you -- and ourselves -- of course. But in the meantime, glad to see Harrah's Entertainment recognizing that having several dozen grumpy old men/women writing about one of their premier events isn't really in anyone's best interest.

My favorite items from an article on ESPN.com titled: What Happened to Sports?

"Our president signed a bill to outlaw Internet gambling, but I could drive to a gas station right now and buy $500 worth of scratch cards."

"One of the Monday Night Football announcers openly talks about (betting on) his fantasy football team on the air."

We clearly need legislation to ban sports on television and all 7-Elevens.

Marcus from I'm not sure where wrote in a while back wondering:

Dan,

Long time reader, first time writer. I was reading today about the PPV offering of ESPN of the final table tomorrow. My question is, how are they going to prevent people from watching the coverage and relaying the information to the players in the tourney. I'm sure that this has been thought out, but I have not seen any blogs or news explaining what all will be on the PPV (pocket cams, etc.) or if there will be a delay.

Any inside info?

Thanks,
Marcus

Marcus, that is a great question. And truth be told, I don't really know the answer. But I bet someone here does. I am thinking the live coverage had to be done on a 5- or 10-minute delay, similar to the various "live" events put on by Full Tilt and Fox Sports. I do know that the TV's showing the final table at the Rio simply didn't show what the hole-card cams were seeing.

Actually, if I recall, while listening to Phil Gordon in the media room, I DO seem to remember knowing when Jamie Gold was bluffing, and when Allen Cunningham ran into a very unlucky river. But since we were sitting some 100 years or more away from the action, I am not certain what sorta delay there was. Amy? Shrink? Jen B.? Do any of you have some hard facts on this? It's a relevant question as I expect/hope to see more "live" coverage in the future.

You know the feeling when you are doing your job the best you can and some half-wit does his job wrong just because he is too lazy or too clueless to do it right. This is a quote from the Cover Story on the WSOP Main Event from Gaming Online Magazine Sept./Oct. 2006, words and photos by Carl Friedmann.

"As the field whittled down at an astonishing rate, organizers had to scramble to somehow put the brakes on the event so it didn't culminate early. And in a move unseen in WSOP history, the day before the final table, August 9, was declared a day off."

Please note that Carl Friedmann, Editor of Gaming Online Magazine, must have been at the Rio as he is credited for both words and photos and the article has several photos taken at the final table. Therefore, I feel completely justified in saying that this is some of the worst reporting of facts I have seen since reading the last issue of CardPlayer.

Anyone, I repeat Anyone, who was at the Series this year during any part of the main event would only have had to ask anyone else in the media room or any player in the event or anyone remotely associated with the WSOP to know that there was no "astonishing rate" and there was no "putting on the brakes." In fact, just the opposite was true. The tournament directors pushed the players late into the night day after day, without tellling them their intentions to get a free day before the final table because ESPN wanted it. There was a near player revolt one night when it was announced that play would continue even though the published "players remaining" number had been reached.

This was common knowledge among everyone who was actually doing their job and paying even minimal attention to the progress of the Main Event. But apparently "making it up as you go" is the standard for some rags.

I was wondering why Card Player's site said the next scheduled broadcast of their internet radio show, The Circuit, was on "December 14th: To be announced." The Circuit has been a wildly popular format for Card Player; hosted by Scott Huff, Gavin Smith, and Joe Sebok. Then I saw Joe Sebok's blog and saw that Scott was apparently leaving the show.

Harrah's exec to Oliver Tse after his public criticism and Dutch Boyd inflammatories -- week 2 of the 2006 WSOP: "C'mon, Oliver, are you a journalist, or a blogger?"

Oliver's recently launched answer.

Our WSOP Cast of Characters got another nice chunk of airtime in this
penultimate week of new WSOP Main Event episodes on ESPN. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that Party qualifier and Altoid aficionado Richard Wyrick (right) made the broadcast!

How did our motley crew of poker personalities damage (or repair) their images this week? Let's take a look.

Leif Force: A-

Leif Force was raised as a nudist in the woods! He lived in a treehouse! And he's "never had more than a couple thousand dollars" to his name! Well that explains a lot. Especially why he was borrowing cab fare from a couple of the ESPN sound guys at the end of Day 5. Whatever. I adore him. A star is born. Vive la Leif!

Prahlad Friedman: D

I spoke way too soon about the end of Friedman's ESPN rap career. In one of the most bizzare, cringe-inducing moments in televised poker history, Friedman, who clearly didn't learn from his humiliating debut last year, broke out in yet another freestyle rhyme for the cameras. For your reading pleasure (and mine), here is the text in its entriety:

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ--I was supposed to play in the $500 NL event today, but last night was a mess, so I scrapped it. Once more, and this will surely shock you, we got a bit banged up.

Media Night at Angelinos in Atlantic City, courtesy of Gavin Smith and Bill Edler (at right, with our girl Jen Browning) was beyond debauched. Here are the highlights I’ve pieced together from the police reports I remember:

• During a phone conversation, I confused Bill with Phil. Phil? Bill? They sound so very similar.

• As per Dan’s instructions, we bought everyone a round of Tuaca. Probably a bad idea.

• The consensus was that we need a more manly drink than Tuaca. Peach Schnapps is now the official booze of PokerBlog.

• At some point, it was decided that my autobiography will be titled Word Bitch.

• I lost my rental car. (Again.)

Let's be real. TV exposure is almost as important for a professional poker player today as a major tournament score. Some may argue that it's even more important in terms of potential sponsorship and endorsement opportunities. The ESPN repeat cycle guarantees that any player lucky enough to make the broadcast will enjoy a full year of mass-media exposure. Though emerging players stand to benefit the most from national airtime, veteran pros with existing deals still have a lot to gain from playing a few hands well on television.

Yesterday we texamined how some of poker's often-brash new personalities came off on this week's WSOP broadcast. Today we'll take a look at the veteran players.

Humberto Brenes: A

I think Norman Chad got it right for once when he said "Humberto Brenes doesn't just play poker, he performs poker." Humberto serenaded the dealers. He made his opponent smile when he spiked a gutshot to double up. And he expanded upon his traditional "all eeeeen!" schtick to accomodate his new sidekick-- a rubber shark card protector. The shark rode into the pot with Humberto's chips as he'd bellow now-classic lines like "Humberrrrrto eees hunnnngry!" Though some may find him annoying, I for one appreciate the levity Brenes brings to a tournament where more often than not, tension rules the day. Good for poker and GREAT for television, Humberto teaches us all that it's possible to be a great competitor while having fun along the way.

That's what PokerBlog editor Dan Michalski said after I found out about San Antonio's raid on Richard Lee's home. San Antonio's WOAI possibly agrees.

As I was keeping tabs on Richard, I ran upon WOAI's Poker Zone. It is their little area of all the poker-related stories they have covered. Here San Antonians can keep up with Jamie Gold's lawsuit, follow Richard Lee's "hero to zero" ride, read a commentary about the Goodlatte Bill, or watch a segment about playing small pocket pairs.

Pretty cool for San Antonio. For their written content there seems to be three major contributors including a feared, myserious Teddy Bear? Hmmm. Maybe WOAI has gone a little too far with the bear, but overall I like that mainstream journalists are keeping an eye on poker as well.

You've heard about the media restrictions put on us, but I've got to say, things are much better today. There is a separate area behind the rail for the media, allowing us to get right next to the tables without having to fight spectators for a spot, and now that we're down to just five tables on the main floor (plus the featured table, for six in total) we can pretty much see everything.

This is a big improvement over yesterday. Yesterday the media was sequestered in a roped off square just off the side of the tables, and away from the spectators. It resembled an animal pen, and we were informed that we could move anywhere within the 4x4 space, but were not allowed to step outside of it. While in the area with a fellow media member, he proposed that we work together to move the ropes and thereby gain access to anywhere we wanted. "We can move this thing anywhere in the casino, and then we're not breaking the rules." I pointed out that we'd probably need a third person to help us, to which my media friend replied "Oh, I was kinda counting on you to take care of that. I can handle one of these posts, I was expecting you to carry the rest."

Tonight, while watching the action from the new and improved media rail, the topic of yesterday's "media pen" accommodations came up, to which Jay Greenspan (all around great guy and author of the new book Hunting Fish) replied "Well, they put out water for you at least."

Maybe you had to have been there, but it made me laugh quite a bit (and still does). I admit that's probably largely due to the fact that it's 11pm, I'm sleep-deprived, and have been hitting the Energy VitaminWater pretty hard.

A typical view from the rail

Restrictions on media members have been added, putting web journalists on the rail, but apparently if you have ten WSOP bracelets those rules do not apply. Phil Hellmuth has apparently joined CardPlayer as a "guest reporter" but has no media credentials. Some media members are a little irked by this favoritism and asked the floor to remove Hellmuth from the area. It's been determined though that former WSOP champs can pretty much do whatever the hell they want.

From all appearances, Hellmuth is spending his time doing a massive meet and greet instead of any actual tournament reporting.