Sunday, December 28, 2008 - Gene Bromberg
We’ve almost reached the end of 2008 and this is usually the time when people look back at the past year and remember all that took place. Trouble is that during the holidays most people spend the better part of a week staggering around in a tryptophan coma or an alcoholic stupor. I don’t know about you guys but I’m worried that I’ll have nothing left in the tank for New Year’s Eve. I’m beat. Every day it seems like I’m wolfing down a huge platter laden with ham, turkey, fish, pirogi, and various forms of potatoes. Everyone is breaking out their best cabernet sauvignons and filling the fridge with beers that don’t have the word “Lite” in their name. It’s like they say, too much of anything is bad–even excess.
So looking back at the past twelve months through this boozy haze ain’t easy. Especially if you’d like to be somewhat accurate. Fortunately I lugged my camera around for most of this year and have a few pictures that serve to jog the memory so I can remember just what the hell happened.
This is what the opening day of the 2008 World Series of Poker felt like for me, everything a blur. And only seven weeks to go!
I was covering a different event in the Brasilia Room as Phil Hellmuth was trying to win bracelet #12 in a $1,500 H.O.R.S.E event. I ran over during a break to see what was going on and was confronted by a mob around the outer feature table. Usually there are only a handful of people around that table, but of course Phil knows how to draw a crowd. I held my camera in the air, squeezed the trigger, and hoped I got something good. This picture was taken at 12:30am, by the way, so lots of people thought the best thing to do in Vegas that night was watch Phil play poker.
Annie Duke and Don Cheadle address the crowd during this year’s Ante Up for Africa tournament. I was off that day but of course I went to the Rio hoping to get some photos of the celebrities attending the event. And so were about a thousand other people. I went to the person guarding the main opening and asked to be admitted, and he looked at me like I was something he’d scraped off his shoe and told me no way. I didn’t have the proper media pass, you see. I headed to the media room to see about getting that pass when the guy in line behind me got my attention and whispered that no one was checking passes at the Brasilia Room’s other doors. I opened the door, went inside, and no one bothered me as I took pics to my hearts delight. It just goes to show that it’s never a good idea to ask permission. Do the deed first, THEN ask for permission. Life is much easier that way.
A few pics from the Ante Up for Africa event:
While I wandered around and took photos a quintet of female masseuses were waiting outside the ropes waiting for the tournament to start. They asked which celebrities I’d seen in the crowd and I said, “Well, Matt Damon is…” and all five crowded around me and started pelting me with questions. “Matt Damon! Where? What table? Point!!” I hate Matt Damon.
Ray Romano I like. Why? I was taking a photo and someone came in from my left and nearly got in the shot. “Oh, I’m sorry,” the person said and paused while I snapped the shutter. “No problem,” I said and made room for him to get past. That’s when I saw the polite gentleman in question was Ray Romano. Who could buy and sell me a thousand times over. So I appreciated that.
Team UB’s Scott Ian, wearing one of those so-cool T-shirts that debuted at the WSOP. “I have to GET ONE OF THOSE SHIRTS,” I told myself as I circled Scott and snapped away.
Phil Hellmuth in his natural habitat–sitting at a table during the WSOP Main Event, with film crews in attendance. If I wasn’t sure where Phil was sitting in the Amazon Room, I just looked around for the boom mikes.
The most surreal part about this year’s World Series was seeing Tiffany Michelle, who I worked with the last two years, make her deep run in the Main Event. When play started I said, “Oh, cool, TIffany’s playing in the Main Event” and went back to work. Then she made it past the first few days and suddenly she had a pretty healthy stack. And then on Day 5 or so she wins some huge pots and we started thinking, “Holy crap, she could actually WIN this thing”. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, as Tiffany finished 17th, which is still pretty freaking incredible. If you saw ESPN’s coverage you probably saw a bit where Tiffany was eating french fries at the table and catching flack from Scott Montgomery and Craig Marquis about it. Ladies and gentlemen, here is a picture of Tiffany Michelle’s fries:
When she finished the floor staff picked up her tray and put it…on the table I was working at. Which gives you an idea of how I rank out there. Anyway, the fries smelled really good, and I was really hungry, and people kept walking by my table and snagging a quick snack. But I held off, in part because at the time Tiffany still had a ton of chips and there was the very real possibility that she’d make the final table and maybe even be the next World Champion, and I was calculating how much I could sell her leftover fries for on eBay. Then I got my self-esteem back in order and had someone take the tray away.
By the time the field was reduced to ten players and one table my work was done, but of course I wasn’t going anywhere until the November Nine was locked in. I found a perch and took a few shots of the final-table play:
We finished up around 4:30am, had a few cocktails afterwards, and I got home around…noon. Before I left Vegas for good I went back to the Rio to cash in a few chips and see what the place looked like now that the Series had wrapped up. The crews didn’t waste any time breaking down the Amazon Room:
Hmm, this seems long enough already and I only posted pics from the WSOP. I think I’ll pause here before delving into the Aruba Poker Classic and whatever else I have in my folders. Because that’s going to be a marathon by itself.
Tags: 2008 world series of poker, 2008 wsop, amazon room, Annie Duke, blog world series of poker, blog wsop, don cheadle, espn, matt damon, Phil Hellmuth, poker blog, poker photographs, poker photos, poker pictures, Poker Poker Poker, ray romano, Scott Ian, Tiffany "Tiffany M" Michelle, tiffany michelle wsop, world series of poker, world series of poker photos, world series of poker pictures, WSOP
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Sunday, December 7, 2008 - Gene Bromberg
The final table of the WSOP Main Event was just about a month ago–quick, can you name who won? Yes, Peter Eastgate is now about 8% of the way through his reign, and if you haven’t heard much from him during that time it should come as no surprise. The poker world doesn’t stop spinning, not even when a new King is crowned, and in the last month there have been major tournaments in Australia, Costa Rica, Poland, and right now the Five Diamond World Poker Classic is being held at the Bellagio.
But the Main Event is still by far the biggest tournament in the world. The biggest fields, biggest prize pool, biggest media magnet. No other poker tournament comes close to the Main Event as the game’s showcase, and it was hoped that the decision to postpone the final table until November would create a surge of hype that would lure mainstream media outlets and entice corporate sponsors into pulling out their checkbooks.
That part really didn’t pan out. None of the November Nine signed big sponsorship deals (other than their alliances with online poker sites), and while the tournament received considerable media attention it’s not like Peter Eastgate appeared on the cover of Newsweek. Still, it’s hard to ignore the signs that the decision to postpone the final table was a rousing success. TV ratings were up 50%. The final table drew a large and raucous crowd, without a really big-name player in the mix. Indeed, the WSOP as a whole was a rousing success, with bigger fields, bigger prize pools, and a dramatic reduction in the logistical snafus from the year before.
But this is poker we’re talking about, and in poker no one is ever satisfied. Still, it was a bit odd to hear WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky’s explanations to Gary Wise about why the Main Event’s final table wasn’t an even bigger media spectacle. One of the issues Palansky raised about why there wasn’t more buzz around the final table was downright bizarre:
But the Presidential elections, when we made the decision May 1, no one knew it was shaping to be what it ending up being…
No one knew that the Presidential election (held a few days before the final table) was going to end up being a big story? One that would hold much of the world’s attention? That really makes no sense. The election of Barack Obama perhaps made the Presidential election an even bigger story than it normally is (and had Hillary Clinton become the first female President there might’ve been a similar spike) but Presidential elections are ALWAYS huge news. So huge that it tends to drown out everything else that’s happening. Even poker tournaments. When the final table delay was announced I thought the timing was odd, because it would closely coincide with the election, but I thought perhaps Harrah’s and ESPN were hoping to offer some counter-programming for those tired of seeing pundits declaim about The Importance of it All. But to have the WSOP Communications Director say that no one saw this coming…it’s very odd.
The other bombshell Palansky dropped was that Harrah’s arranged for members of the November Nine to appear on The Tonight Show and Ellen…and the players chose to pass. From how Palansky phrased his answers it seems that two different players were asked to be guests, but he didn’t say which players. And that led to considerable speculation about who the players were. In the 2+2 thread on the subject and in other discussions it appeared that Dennis Phillips, Chino Rheen, Kelly Kim, Scott Montgomery and Craig Marquis were NOT asked. It seemed logical that Peter Eastgate would be the most likely candidate to appear on a talk show, because he’d actually won the thing. Eastgate is of course from Denmark, English isn’t his first language, and he doesn’t exactly seem the media-whore type. He might not have felt comfortable going on national television and conversing in a language that’s not his native tongue, perhaps he didn’t know how popular The Tonight Show is. Perhaps he couldn’t care less about making ANY public appearances. And, perhaps, he wasn’t even the player asked.
One question I have that hasn’t been addressed so far as I know–if Harrah’s arranged for a player to appear on these talk shows, and the player declinded, did anyone at Harrah’s propose that another player take his place? Dennis Phillips seemed both an obvious and excellent choice to appear on a national talk show. Here’s your American Everyman, a good guy from the Midwest who loves the game, loves his St. Louis Cardinals, and is both willing and able to talk about living out a dream. It would seem that Phillips would’ve been an ideal guest for either show, and if their producers hadn’t asked for him at the start, did Harrah’s propose Phillips appear instead of the player who turned it down?
It will be interesting to see going forward if Harrah’s changes their approach to promoting the final table. I think it’s inevitable that there will again be a long delay (perhaps it’s not an ideal situation but there’s no denying that the TV numbers were WAY up) but will Harrah’s work more closely with the next November Nine in promoting themselves and the tournament? Harrah’s has PR and marketing expertise that most poker players don’t, as Shane Schleger said in the 2+2 thread:
I think it’s sort of ridiculous to expect poker players to take the “initiative” in attracting exposure for themselves as (Palansky) suggested, since this is not our area of expertise. Poker players are not trained entertainers, performers or politicians.
It also remains to be seen how much corporate sponsorship poker can hope to attract in the face of a global financial meltdown. GM just cancelled it’s endorsement deal with Tiger Woods–TIGER WOODS. Companies are battening down the hatches and who knows how bad the storm will be when the World Series of Poker reconvenes next June. Poker does have one big advantage over other games/sports–the fans actually play the game. They bring their own money to the table. I’m a huge hockey fan but I don’t know how to ice skate. The NFL is akin to religion in the U.S. but only a meager handful actually put on pads. People who love poker also love to play poker. And once they start playing they usually never stop through the course of their lives. They may not play professionally, or for high stakes, but they play. There are tens of millions of them in the United States and untold millions around the world. And a big chunk of them dream of playing in an event like the World Series of Poker. Many do more than just dream. Winning corporate sponsors is great, having players on talk shows is super, but in these troubled times it might be smart for Harrah’s to direct a bit more of their energy at the players themselves. Because they’re poker’s best, and most important, customers.
Tags: 2008 world series of poker, 2008 wsop, november nine, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, world series of poker, world series of poker final table, WSOP, wsop november nine
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Sunday, November 30, 2008 - Gene Bromberg
Back on November 19th Gary Wise (who writes for ESPN and Wise Hand Poker) interviewed Seth Palansky, the World Series of Poker Communications Director. During the interview Palansky said that two members of the November Nine were asked to appear on The Tonight Show and Ellen, but in both instances the player (it’s not clear if the same player was asked on both shows) declined the offer. It was hoped that delaying the final table would provide those who made the final table with more media attention and increased endorsement opportunities, and when this failed to materialize Palansky put much of the blame on the players:
But one of the reasons why I wanted to come on here with you tonight Gary, was to express a concern I do have for some of the advice and some of the moves poker players are making. Because if you want to mainstream a game, and if you’re trying to get corporate America to buy into what you’re selling, you need Tom Bradys, you need Peyton Mannings, you need Michael Jordans, etc. If we have guys that aren’t willing to take that mantle, or the same ten, twelve guys that you see getting a lot of attention at the Main Event early on: the known names for their antics or whatever the case may be. If people want to leave it just to those dozen, they can’t grow the game. For all the others, they’ve got to take advantage of the opportunities that get presented to them, and it’s unfortunate that in situations where we had a successful pitch and an opportunity for our players to be on that national stage, they chose not to.
Wise then asked Palansky about whether it was reasonable for poker players, who often play because it gives them a freedom they can’t find in other lines of work, to become “ambassadors for a selfish game”. Palansky replied:
You know, I do. And maybe my judgment is clouded based on the position I hold, but I believe they owe it to the brethren of the poker community to take the mantle and try to elevate the game, just as any poker stakeholder is trying to do. I understand some people don’t like the spotlight etc., but there are 54 other tournaments at the WSOP and everything else. I mean, you walk into the door of the Main Event, you know the ESPN cameras are rolling, you know what comes with the territory if you advance very far. And it’s unfortunate that it simply comes down to “I want the money, but I don’t want what else comes along with achieving that success”.
Understandably there’s been a lot of discussion about this. Is it fair to point the finger at the November Nine and blame them for corporate America giving the final table a miss? What exactly do poker players owe the game when they find themselves in the spotlight?
I think we need to look at one key word in the previous sentence–”owe”. It’s hard to say that poker players owe anything when they’re the ones who bring the money to the table. Unlike the NFL and NASCAR (the sports where Palansky and WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack formally worked) poker is funded not by TV revenues and corporate advertising, but by the players themselves. One of the more awe-inspiring aspects of the World Series of Poker is that these massive prize pools are created not by some CEO cutting a check so his logo gets some airtime, but by players who think they have a shot to win more than their fair share of the loot.
Let’s also not forget that Harrah’s takes out a percentage of that prize pool to pay for staging the event. This year Harrah’s took 6% of the prize pool, meaning $4,106,400 of the players’ money went directly into their coffers. Each of the 6,844 players paid Harrah’s $600 for their seat in the Amazon Room, regardless of whether they were there for ten minutes or ten days.
To be sure, it’s expensive (and risky) to stage a huge poker tournament like the World Series of Poker. And Harrah’s has to make a buck on this as well or there won’t be a WSOP going forward. But when it comes down to a question about what poker players owe the game (and, by extention, what they owe Harrah’s) the key point is this–the players ante up first. They’re the ones who put the money in the pot first. They bring their $10,000 to the window, they see Harrah’s take $600 of it off the top…now they want to sit down and play. Once players hand over their money, that’s when their obligation ends. That’s when the word “owe” ceases to hold sway.
Because it’s perfectly reasonable for poker players, when asked to do interviews or go on talk shows or be an “ambassador” for the game, to say “no”. Or to say, “what’s in it for me?” Not for their fellow players, not for the game in general, but for themselves. As I said before, the players have already anted up. They’ve taken the same risk as everyone else, and if they’re asked to take on a task no one else has it’s reasonable to ask what’s in it for them personally. And it’s just as reasonable to say, “No, thanks”.
In the 2+2 thread about the interviews a poster named Victor made much the same point and Gary Wise wrote, “I love that there are constant calls from players for a bigger piece of the pie while this is a prevailing opinon.” Not to belabor the point, but the players are the ones who already bought the ingredients, rolled the dough, and baked the pie. Continuing the pastry metaphor, if Harrah’s wants to the players to help grow the pie (by working to bring more corporate money into the kitty) the company has to step up and make it clear that they’re not going to scarf down the extra slices.
So far Harrah’s hasn’t shared with players any of the money it’s made via it’s deals with ESPN, Milwaukee’s Best Light, Planters, or any other sponsor. More importantly, they haven’t shown any inclination of doing so. And therein lies the problem. When the Tom Brady’s and Peyton Mannings of the world do commercials, they get paid for them. The NFL doesn’t ask Peyton Manning to do all those MasterCard commercials because it’ll help “grow the game”. The NFL owners also share television, gate and other licensing revenue. When a player does something to boost the league revenue, he’s also putting money in his teammates (and his own) pocket. If Harrah’s wants poker players to promote the game and the WSOP, they have prove that they’re willing to spread the wealth.
In a later post I’ll discuss the talk show snubs and some other issues surrounding this topic.
Tags: 2008 world series of poker, 2008 wsop, november nine, Poker Poker Poker, world series final table, world series of poker, WSOP, wsop final table
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Sunday, November 23, 2008 - Gene Bromberg
It’s been almost two weeks since poker crowned its new World Champion—it’s Peter Eastgate, for those of you who forgot to emerge from your cave until well after ESPN’s broadcast. There’s been quite a bit of discussion about whether Harrah’s decision to delay the final table for 117 days was a good idea, but by one barometer the delay was a hit—ESPN’s ratings for the final table were up 50% from a year ago.
It’s important to recall that slumping television ratings were one of the big reasons why Harrah’s chose to put the final table on hiatus. The last few years the ratings for poker shows have been going down, down, down, and as with any TV show there’s always the risk of cancellation when the numbers fall. Part of the decline was probably due to some poker fatigue among the viewing public—in addition to expanded WSOP and WPT coverage it seemed like every cable channel developed some contrived and unspeakably awful poker show. Pardon me for refreshing your memory of Celebrity Poker Showdown and Poker Royale: Battle of the Sexes.
But the big problem is that most poker telecasts air months after the tournament is over and the champion crowned. There are a number of media outlets that provide live event coverage and scores of sites and blogs (including this one) that post interviews and updates and photos as well. It is well nigh impossible for poker fans NOT to know who won a tournament before they sit down to watch it on TV. And that kills much of the drama. Sure, you might tune in to see the hole cards of two players involved in a huge (but not decisive) hand, but if you already know who eventually takes it down…why bother watching?
By delaying the final table four months and then broadcasting the action the day after the bracelet was awarded Harrah’s was hoping to preserve much of that drama. Hardcore fans could, if they wished, try to avoid poker news outlets for 48 hours and hopefully keep themselves in the dark. While the general public could check their local listings, find that ESPN was broadcasting a poker tournament with a $9 million first prize, and decide that this was something worth watching.
Broadcasting the final table two days after it was played was a half-measure that ended up a half-success. Yes, the ratings were up. Yes, the Penn & Teller theater (where the final table was held) was packed to the rafters with hundreds of rowdy fans. And much of that excitement came through during the ESPN broadcast, which did a good job of conveying the energy in the room, the drama of the moment, and the personalities of the players. I’m still kicking myself for not going out there to see it in person.
The thing is, ESPN only aired two hours of that compelling coverage. Three, if you include the “pre-game” show that offered features on each of the November Nine. And that’s just not enough time to give viewers a true sense of what went on.. The final table took 274 hands and over 15 hours to play. Only two hours made it to air (far less, actually, when you subtract those pesky commercials). The heads-up battle between Eastgate and Ivan Demidov was a back-and-forth epic that lasted 104 hands. ESPN showed two of them. You’ll hear critics who say that people don’t want to watch 15 hours of players stealing the blinds and antes. My response is that, A) people watch endless hours of golf on TV and therefore must have a high tolerance for long periods of low drama, and B) any activity can be made interesting if presented in a creative and engaging manner. Two of the most popular TV shows feature amateurs singing songs everyone already knows and borderline celebrities performing formal dance routines. ANYTHING can be made appealing to the viewing public, if it’s done with wit, style, and respect for the audience. Well, maybe just two out of three.
The ideal situation would be a live broadcast of the final table (or as live as would be acceptable to the Nevada Gaming Commission), followed perhaps by an edited final-table broadcast that’s similar to what we see today (hole cards, better production values, featurettes, etc). I can’t see how it’s in poker’s long-term interest to expect it’s most ardent fans to AVOID hearing news about the game’s biggest event. Remember, in most sports much of the revenue derives from advertising, advertising that is presented during live broadcasts of the game. Asking fans to avoid watching or hearing about the final table also means that advertisers on poker sites aren’t getting their message to their full target audience during the most important event of the year.
The final table of the Main Event should DRAW people’s eyeballs to what’s happening at the Rio, not force them to shut their eyes so they can enjoy the drama of a truncated recap two days later. Once upon a time (actually it was just 30 years ago) the NBA Finals were broadcast on tape delay. Olympic coverage was embargoed until prime time. Today the idea of not showing major sporting events live is ludicrous. The technology is there for the final table to be live-streamed online, as ESPN360 did with a number of WSOP preliminary events and as many European Poker Tour events are shown. It’s time for poker to stop apologizing for itself and broadcast the game’s most important event in living color.
Tags: 2008 world series of poker, 2008 wsop, espn, espn poker, espn world series of poker, final table, Poker Poker Poker, world series of poker, world series of poker coverage, world series of poker main event, WSOP
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