Just been watching The Open on Sky Poker - LOL what a load of .......

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So how did you do Sherriff?

[Zmich]

The Open is completely hopeless. The only highlights are when the former poker night live presenters are on. If Sky really wanted a high quality poker show they should have invested in poker night live rather than bother with this amateurish production.

[The_nun]

The Open is completely hopeless. The only highlights are when the former poker night live presenters are on. If Sky really wanted a high quality poker show they should have invested in poker night live rather than bother with this amateurish production.

Welcome to Blonde and may I say what a strange opening post.

[kinboshi]

The Open is completely hopeless. The only highlights are when the former poker night live presenters are on. If Sky really wanted a high quality poker show they should have invested in poker night live rather than bother with this amateurish production.

Welcome to Blonde and may I say what a strange opening post.

Maybe they saw bain on the show the other night? 

[tikay]

The Open is completely hopeless. The only highlights are when the former poker night live presenters are on. If Sky really wanted a high quality poker show they should have invested in poker night live rather than bother with this amateurish production.

Hi Zmich,

Each to their own, & welcome to blonde.

Yes it's sad to think of the demise of Poker Night Live, (which, fingers crossed, may yet return in some guise) but it's about being "fit for purpose".

PNL had sponsors, & it was the Show's job to deliver players to their Cardroom. The numbers, for whatever reason, steadily declined. (Maybe I'm partly to blame....), but by the time the Show was pulled, the Nightly $10 Tourney was attracting just 10 or 20 runners. Very sad. Many of us, me included, had great affection for PNL, & we hope it'll be back. There was a hue & cry when it ended "it's a calamity, da de da de da", (I agree, as it happens) but where were these guys when the Show was only able to attract 15 or 20 Runners for it's Prime Time Tourney? The Sponsors were clearly not getting their money's worth, so push came to shove.

"The Open", on Sky Poker Channel 846, now delivers almost 1,000 players PER SHOW, each and every evening, counting "The Open", "Velocity" & "Scary", plus the SNG's. The cardroom, starting from a clean piece of paper in late January  - no players, no liquidity, no network - is now in profit already, & has 1,000's of players Online regularly, well ahead of target.

And with the income, they are building a Channel, not a Show, there are 2 Shows as of now, & a third about to start, with more in  the pipeline for this year.

So, "amateurish production" (in fairness, in Production terms, it's high-quality, but if you mean poor to watch, that's a different thing) it may be, "hopeless" too pehaps, but it's "fit for purpose", & does it's job well. You'd also be amazed (I know I am) by how many folks I meet around Cardrooms & even in shops & the like who say they enjoy the show.

Note I am biased, as I am connected with both the Channel, & the Show.

Hope you enjoy blonde.

[da_poker_monkey]

It's fine to say the show is fit for purpose and that it does a job, but how successful could it be if they cut out just some of the worst bits?  Why be happy with 1000 regulars when for a lil extra effort you could get 1500.....2000...2500.....

[tikay]

It's fine to say the show is fit for purpose and that it does a job, but how successful could it be if they cut out just some of the worst bits?  Why be happy with 1000 regulars when for a lil extra effort you could get 1500.....2000...2500.....

Fair point. They do try to review & improve, have weekly meetings, just generally, bit by bit, make it better. To be fair to them, they are just 4 or 5 months down a very long road, & the Show will change, evolve & generally get better. The nightly numbers still show a nicely rising graph, & they will - without a doubt - reach the numbers you suggest. But it's tough to accommodate more players on the nightly featured Tourneys until certain technical gizmos have been bolted on to the Cardroom & Show.

As the Sky Suits read all this, what, by your definitrion, are "the worst bits"? They genuinely want & need feedback, and as long as it's not overtly insulting to individuals, (perhaps I'm exempt there, get stuck in to me by all means....) I'm sure they'll be pleased to see what bits viewers think need some work.

[jizzemm]

The worst thing about sky poker for me is the software. I hate it, hate it, hate it.. sorry to say it so much, but the whole concept is excellent, the presenting is good (in general), better whe Norm, Helen, tikay are on, maybe less robotic if thats a fair comment, but the others need time, and they are improving week by week, and am happy to watch whomever is on, as to be honest it's entertaining.

Not sure if they are thinking of getting a downloadable software, but I sure hope, as the 2 or 3 times i have played, I have always had problems getting my table or when I get moved from table to table, i can miss 5 minutes of the game, and with the blind structure their is, u cant miss that much. Sorry if the subject of software may have come up earlier in the thread, only read about 9 pages.

As far as anything else goes, sky poker is good, it looks new, the advice is good, maybe the only other thing before i go (as I have it on now), is that sometimes some of the presenters make it kind of obvious what is going to happen by talking about the outcomes before they happen rather than after the hand is finished.

oh that got long and serious.. Keep the good show going sky people..

[Miami Vic]

 I may not be a Sky suit, but I'm part of their team, so thanks for the comments. We are, as ever, reading and taking the best advice back to the office for consultation. There's some really useful criticism here.  "Why isn't Sky Poker the same as PNL?", asks a disgruntled short term postee. The only answer to that is "Because it's not".
Can you clarify which bad bits we should cut out? Not sure if that's a reference to The Open or software problems.

[tikay]

The worst thing about sky poker for me is the software. I hate it, hate it, hate it.. sorry to say it so much, but the whole concept is excellent, the presenting is good (in general), better whe Norm, Helen, tikay are on, maybe less robotic if thats a fair comment, but the others need time, and they are improving week by week, and am happy to watch whomever is on, as to be honest it's entertaining.

Not sure if they are thinking of getting a downloadable software, but I sure hope, as the 2 or 3 times i have played, I have always had problems getting my table or when I get moved from table to table, i can miss 5 minutes of the game, and with the blind structure their is, u cant miss that much. Sorry if the subject of software may have come up earlier in the thread, only read about 9 pages.

As far as anything else goes, sky poker is good, it looks new, the advice is good, maybe the only other thing before i go (as I have it on now), is that sometimes some of the presenters make it kind of obvious what is going to happen by talking about the outcomes before they happen rather than after the hand is finished.

oh that got long and serious.. Keep the good show going sky people..

And THAT Sir, is EXACTLY the kind of feedback they want.

As to the Presenters & Analysts being "robotic" (to a greater or lesser degree) that's quite interesting. Because of the technical side of things - it's a seriously complex Show to produce & direct - we have to work to a Running Order - over 90 items - & a sort of script, & it's not really technically feasible to get too far outside of that. I'm luckier than most, as I've been with them off-screen since October, so I know what the aims & aspirations are, what they are trying to achieve, & what they want from us guys, I also am quite friendly with the Production Team. So I push the boundaries a bit - as far as I dare - with off-beat twaddle & blather, just to liven things up, do my "own" little Competitions, just try make it different, and that's easier for me as an amateur, than it is for those who are Pro TV Presenters, or who have not been there quite so long, & are finding their feet. But as time passes, the personalities of everyone will come out. Then I'll be for the tin-tack, no doubt, but hey, it's been more fun than I can tell ya.

The Production Crew, you know, are so enthuisiastic. They are all about 12 (well, OK, mid-twenties) but they just get on with it, & get the job done. Sky can & should be very proud of that Crew.

[Claw75]

One thing I was musing the other day is that I don't think I've ever seen a hand analysed on the show where the play didn't go all the way down to the river (please correct me if I'm wrong).  It would be good to see a number of other hands where some clever play has taken a pot on the flop or the turn.   I'm not sure if it's a regular feature now, but I recall seeing in some shows where the action at a single table is followed for 4 or 5 hands in a row.  Personally, I'd like to see all the studio analysis done in that way.  Maybe take one table every couple of levels and just talk through a few hands, even if some of them are just 'ordinary'.

[tikay]

One thing I was musing the other day is that I don't think I've ever seen a hand analysed on the show where the play didn't go all the way down to the river (please correct me if I'm wrong).  It would be good to see a number of other hands where some clever play has taken a pot on the flop or the turn.   I'm not sure if it's a regular feature now, but I recall seeing in some shows where the action at a single table is followed for 4 or 5 hands in a row.  Personally, I'd like to see all the studio analysis done in that way.  Maybe take one table every couple of levels and just talk through a few hands, even if some of them are just 'ordinary'.

Hi Claire,

At present, every night, they do a spot where they concentrate on a random table & just take a bunch of consecutive hands, & take them as they come, "ordinary" or not. Is this what you mean?

And as for non-stop "take them as they come, uninterrupted table coverage", well yes, I think that's on the way too, but in a different format/vehicle - maybe even Cash games. All in good time, they'll get there. They already know that they can't just show whizz-bang-pop hands, so they are starting to mix it up nicely now.

At first, it was a matter of getting to grips with the technology (you've seen it!), but now they've got that pretty much dusted, they are widening the brief.

[Claw75]

At present, every night, they do a spot where they concentrate on a random table & just take a bunch of consecutive hands, & take them as they come, "ordinary" or not. Is this what you mean?

And as for non-stop "take them as they come, uninterrupted table coverage", well yes, I think that's on the way too, but in a different format/vehicle - maybe even Cash games. All in good time, they'll get there. They already know that they can't just show whizz-bang-pop hands, so they are starting to mix it up nicely now.

yep - that's what I was referring to.  To be honest, I only watch the show a couple of times a week, and rarely watch it all, so wasn't sure if this happened every night.  I think it's a good thing.

I also think the hand analysis is the best part of the show, and my only other grumble is that I would like to see more hands early on (perhaps they could be whizzed through a bit quicker?).

[tikay]

At present, every night, they do a spot where they concentrate on a random table & just take a bunch of consecutive hands, & take them as they come, "ordinary" or not. Is this what you mean?

And as for non-stop "take them as they come, uninterrupted table coverage", well yes, I think that's on the way too, but in a different format/vehicle - maybe even Cash games. All in good time, they'll get there. They already know that they can't just show whizz-bang-pop hands, so they are starting to mix it up nicely now.

yep - that's what I was referring to.  To be honest, I only watch the show a couple of times a week, and rarely watch it all, so wasn't sure if this happened every night.  I think it's a good thing.

I also think the hand analysis is the best part of the show, and my only other grumble is that I would like to see more hands early on (perhaps they could be whizzed through a bit quicker?).

Another good point Claire- "whizzing through the hands quicker". They have done a software trick & can now do the Hand Reviews faster, & thus squeeze in more hands. Every time I started to blather on last week about trains & snails & whatnot, Kara gave me another hand to review. I think the girl has got my number.

And isn't Kars a real STAR? She must be the revelation of the Show, & I think she will go far.