Making HSP the ONLY Poker Show?

[NickMPK]

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Wow. You sir, are why the term LOL DONKAMENTS was created. Do you have any idea how infinitely more interesting a cash game is then a tournament, at least strategically? You do realize that tournaments are played with imaginary money, right?



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I don't watch poker on TV to learn how to play poker. When I want to improve my own poker game, I read books, I read forums, or I actually go out and play poker. I watch poker on TV to be entertained. And like more people, what I find entertaining are compelling story lines.

I would much prefer to see "big name" players on TV than a bunch of random amateurs that show up on screen once and are never heard from again, because the names I know already have some storyline filled in for me, and I am already emotionally invested in them (for the same reason that people would rather watch a weekly TV show with the same cast than a show that had a completely different cast each time). "Deep stack" poker is also better than "all-in fests" like the WPT because they allow more of a player's personality to shine through through their poker play. On these count, High Stakes Poker has a leg up on some of the other poker shows. I don't want to see all-ins on every hand....I want to see the ebbs and flows of a player's chips stack, and I want to see the drama of more interesting plays that are only possible with larger stacks and deeper betting.

But there also needs to be some continuity and sense of moving the story along. HSP doesn't do this at all...it doesn't even seem to keep track of how much players have won or lost. The hands could be played out of order and it wouldn't make any difference. If asked to describe the "plot" of a HSP episode, you couldn't do it....yet you could describe the "plot" of a movie, or a baseball game, or an episode of WSOP.

I think the WSOP broadcasts do a much better job than any other at creating a good story. Of course, they have a built in advantage of the history behind the event, but ESPN gives viewers both a reason to care about the players and a sense of the overall "WSOP scene".