What's happened to Poker?

[tikay]

The EPT Shows are good, I'm not saying otherwise, but the audience ratings for that sort of stuff is incredibly low. Why else would it be on at such low-traffic TV times?

 

That's partly because channel 4 refuse to show it any earlier (or at least that used to be the case).

And they refuse to show it earlier because.......?

(Rhetorical - you know the answer!)

Actually it was because it was gambling and they didn't want to show gambling in 'primetime' as they are a public service broadcaster. At least that's what I was told.

I believe that is incorrect, Alun.

You believe or you know?

I believe....!

I believe with quite a degree of confidence, though.

Is Horse Racing a gambling sport? They show plenty of that, mid-afternoons.

[AlunB]

The EPT Shows are good, I'm not saying otherwise, but the audience ratings for that sort of stuff is incredibly low. Why else would it be on at such low-traffic TV times?

 

That's partly because channel 4 refuse to show it any earlier (or at least that used to be the case).

And they refuse to show it earlier because.......?

(Rhetorical - you know the answer!)

Actually it was because it was gambling and they didn't want to show gambling in 'primetime' as they are a public service broadcaster. At least that's what I was told.

Also they couldn't get advertisers to pay the pre-midnight rates for a poker show

Jonathan Raab would be able to explain more, but I believe a lot of the early UK poker such as GUKPTs etc was actually provided ffree to the TV companies, the tour received no fee at all from the broadcaster

TV Companies do not pay for Poker Shows, the Shows have to be provided for free, with the costs being met by the Sponsor.

That is my understanding too. And then you have the problem of other poker sites advertising in the middle of your show!

[DaveShoelace]

People in poker vastly over estimate the size of the 'serious poker player' market. The 'hoodies who want great analysis' market is never going to be big enough to justify being on proper telly alone. I think you do need the characters, I'd wager a lot of us remember the Hendon Mob and the Devilfish on LNP as one of the catalysts for getting us into poker, and there is no doubt Hellmuth captured our attention whether we liked him or not.

The audience does not like to be confused, thats why QQ vs AK is always a winner on telly, even if it is the most standard hand in the world.

I think some shows can find the balance of being detailed and fun in a WWE kind of way. I actually quite liked the Party and PokerStars Big Games, I think the best show all round was always High Stakes Poker, which had some great play, good analysis, but also jaw dropping money, big characters and funny commentary from Gabe - all things a non poker player can pick up on.

I also quite liked the Sky cash game too, loved the banter between Channing and Carlo etc.

I'm not sure what point I'm trying to make. We need the characters I guess.

[AlunB]

The EPT Shows are good, I'm not saying otherwise, but the audience ratings for that sort of stuff is incredibly low. Why else would it be on at such low-traffic TV times?

 

That's partly because channel 4 refuse to show it any earlier (or at least that used to be the case).

And they refuse to show it earlier because.......?

(Rhetorical - you know the answer!)

Actually it was because it was gambling and they didn't want to show gambling in 'primetime' as they are a public service broadcaster. At least that's what I was told.

I believe that is incorrect, Alun.

You believe or you know?

I believe....!

I believe with quite a degree of confidence, though.

Is Horse Racing a gambling sport? They show plenty of that, mid-afternoons.

Horse Racing is a tad more established as a sport to be fair. You don't see the Queen playing a £50 freezeout at the Vic

[Dubai]

Not read any of the previous responses but poker players DO NOT GET PAID to entertain the viewers. So i actually think players should be as unresponsive and as uncoopperative as possible towards any media. Unfortunately the egos mean that people happily do all this nonsense for nothing anyway

When TV companies want to pay poker players then im sure everyone will be grinning ear to ear

[AlunB]

People in poker vastly over estimate the size of the 'serious poker player' market. The 'hoodies who want great analysis' market is never going to be big enough to justify being on proper telly alone. I think you do need the characters, I'd wager a lot of us remember the Hendon Mob and the Devilfish on LNP as one of the catalysts for getting us into poker, and there is no doubt Hellmuth captured our attention whether we liked him or not.

The audience does not like to be confused, thats why QQ vs AK is always a winner on telly, even if it is the most standard hand in the world.

I think some shows can find the balance of being detailed and fun in a WWE kind of way. I actually quite liked the Party and PokerStars Big Games, I think the best show all round was always High Stakes Poker, which had some great play, good analysis, but also jaw dropping money, big characters and funny commentary from Gabe - all things a non poker player can pick up on.

I also quite liked the Sky cash game too, loved the banter between Channing and Carlo etc.

I'm not sure what point I'm trying to make. We need the characters I guess.

100% agree we need the characters. But are we putting the cart before the horse a bit here? We've all contributed to making poker more 'serious business' and then we're surprised that the people who play it take it seriously?

[tikay]

Not read any of the previous responses but poker players DO NOT GET PAID to entertain the viewers. So i actually think players should be as unresponsive and as uncoopperative as possible towards any media. Unfortunately the egos mean that people happily do all this nonsense for nothing anyway

When TV companies want to pay poker players then im sure everyone will be grinning ear to ear

Agree with that too. And so it makes dreadful TV to 99% of the viewership. And 990% of the potential viewership.

[DaveShoelace]

Not read any of the previous responses but poker players DO NOT GET PAID to entertain the viewers. So i actually think players should be as unresponsive and as uncoopperative as possible towards any media. Unfortunately the egos mean that people happily do all this nonsense for nothing anyway

When TV companies want to pay poker players then im sure everyone will be grinning ear to ear

The marketing created by televised events make the fields bigger and softer, and increase the likelihood of the players involved getting sponsored. Not as much as they did a few years ago perhaps, but they have certainly helped the WSOP/WPT/EPT.

So if they want to be uncooperative that's fine, but they are potentially shooting themselves in the foot.

[AlunB]

Not read any of the previous responses but poker players DO NOT GET PAID to entertain the viewers. So i actually think players should be as unresponsive and as uncoopperative as possible towards any media. Unfortunately the egos mean that people happily do all this nonsense for nothing anyway

When TV companies want to pay poker players then im sure everyone will be grinning ear to ear

Another cart before the horse. Why on earth should anyone pay you unless you are ALREADY entertaining?

[Royal Flush]

Horse Racing is a tad more established as a sport to be fair. You don't see the Queen playing a £50 freezeout at the Vic

I think you are far more likely to see the Queen playing a tournament at the Vic than you are to see her riding a horse in a race...

[DaveShoelace]

Horse Racing is a tad more established as a sport to be fair. You don't see the Queen playing a £50 freezeout at the Vic

I think you are far more likely to see the Queen playing a tournament at the Vic than you are to see her riding a horse in a race...

Or a little bloke riding her and whipping her

[AlunB]

Horse Racing is a tad more established as a sport to be fair. You don't see the Queen playing a £50 freezeout at the Vic

I think you are far more likely to see the Queen playing a tournament at the Vic than you are to see her riding a horse in a race...

Good joke, bad comparison.

Playing a £50 freezeout is like riding a horse for pleasure/recreation. Pretty sure she's done that and maybe even still does.

[Dubai]

Not read any of the previous responses but poker players DO NOT GET PAID to entertain the viewers. So i actually think players should be as unresponsive and as uncoopperative as possible towards any media. Unfortunately the egos mean that people happily do all this nonsense for nothing anyway

When TV companies want to pay poker players then im sure everyone will be grinning ear to ear

Another cart before the horse. Why on earth should anyone pay you unless you are ALREADY entertaining?

They shouldnt. But dont moan if i dont want to do interviews and all that nonsense then

Fair is fair etc

[AlunB]

Not read any of the previous responses but poker players DO NOT GET PAID to entertain the viewers. So i actually think players should be as unresponsive and as uncoopperative as possible towards any media. Unfortunately the egos mean that people happily do all this nonsense for nothing anyway

When TV companies want to pay poker players then im sure everyone will be grinning ear to ear

Another cart before the horse. Why on earth should anyone pay you unless you are ALREADY entertaining?

They shouldnt. But dont moan if i dont want to do interviews and all that nonsense then

Fair is fair etc

Agreed. It's a two way street. And players shouldn't moan when sites likes Stars want to put on TV shows only featuring their own pros. They are paying for it after all.

[DungBeetle]

The problem is a significant proportion of online players are not just boring to watch, they're actually deeply uninteresting individuals.

Little life experience, poor social skills and unable to hold meaningful conversations about anything other than poker.  Why anyone thinks these numbnuts would be good to watch is beyond me.  Most of them can't get down to the local pub without looking completely awkward and sociially deficient.