2007 USPC: Dates announced? ESPN going to cover?

Admo · #1 05-11-2007, 10:28 PM

Been trying to find info w/no success.

Help me, Obi-wan.

shaniac · #2 05-11-2007, 10:51 PM

the contract with ESPN extends to at least 2007, but I don't think they've released dates for the event yet.

Admo · #3 05-11-2007, 11:00 PM

Thx, brudda.

I called Taj earlier today, but person on phone was wondering why I was calling the poker room asking for information about a golf tournament. Swear.

olivert · #4 05-12-2007, 02:35 AM

I left a message for Taj poker room boss Tom Gitto a few days ago but I did NOT get a response. I will have to try again.

The Taj signed a TV contract with ESPN in 2004 that supposedly will run through 2008, though as an outsider, I have no way of knowing whether the contract was an ironclad 5-year deal or the contract contained options that, if fully exercised, would take the TV deal through 2008.

Note that ESPN, Inc. has de-emphasized the USPC in the past 2 years, with no on-air promotion whatsoever. The 2006 USPC aired mostly on ESPN2 as counter-programming against NCAA March Madness.

JPantz · #5 05-12-2007, 07:47 AM

The USPC seems like it is on ALL the time now. And frankly, I don't think it's that exacting. I don't know what it is.

NickMPK · #6 05-12-2007, 12:36 PM

I thought the coverage of the USPC was really great this past year. I wish we could get that sort of coverage for the WPT Championship (maybe not 12 hours, but a few hours of pre-final table coverage). It's a shame that the tournament with the best TV coverage also had the least memorable field. We can all thank the PPL for helping to kill quality televised poker.

Admo · #7 05-12-2007, 12:59 PM

[ QUOTE ]
It's a shame that the tournament with the best TV coverage also had the least memorable field.

[/ QUOTE ]

While the coverage was uneven and even goofy at times, I thought it was one of the more memorable fields: watching Jordan, Alex, Shane and Michael play back at each other with garbage was thirty one flavors of awesome.

And the Jordan/Mike Santoro hand (where KarateKid gloats about making a 'professional laydown') was the most entertaining televised poker hand I've ever seen. Shame on ESPN for blowing the pre-flop action that set up the move.

olivert · #8 05-12-2007, 01:43 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I thought the coverage of the USPC was really great this past year. I wish we could get that sort of coverage for the WPT Championship (maybe not 12 hours, but a few hours of pre-final table coverage). It's a shame that the tournament with the best TV coverage also had the least memorable field. We can all thank the PPL for helping to kill quality televised poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

And ultimately, the PPL is still stuck on the launching pad with no additional funding (beyond what was spent at the "Inaugural Draft" at the Venetian on October 7) to get off the ground. The PPL draft has never aired on TV in the U.S.

Of course, there was no way for any of the people associated with the PPL, including the 64 players, to have known that the UIGEA would pass a week before the PPL draft and will cause potential sponsors to withdraw from the PPL.

If the PPL had done its "draft" on October 8 instead of October 7, then the 2006 USPC would have had a field of "big names".

Instead, the likes of Alex Jacob, Jordan Morgan, and Michael DeMichele got their moment in the TV spotlight, but not much more in terms of sponsorship opportunities, as the UIGEA basically killed their chances of being sponsored for the forseeable future. File that under "bad timing".

olivert · #9 05-12-2007, 01:47 PM

[ QUOTE ]
The USPC seems like it is on ALL the time now. And frankly, I don't think it's that exacting. I don't know what it is.

[/ QUOTE ]

TV poker has matured in the U.S. Even the elaborate plays and the big bluffs are becoming repetitive. The all-ins got old for many viewers a long time ago.

Every TV product reaches maturity, poker is no exception.

With that said, the premium TV poker products, such as the WSOP Main Event, will be around on TV in the U.S. for a long time to come.

NickMPK · #10 05-12-2007, 03:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It's a shame that the tournament with the best TV coverage also had the least memorable field.

[/ QUOTE ]

While the coverage was uneven and even goofy at times, I thought it was one of the more memorable fields: watching Jordan, Alex, Shane and Michael play back at each other with garbage was thirty one flavors of awesome.

And the Jordan/Mike Santoro hand (where KarateKid gloats about making a 'professional laydown') was the most entertaining televised poker hand I've ever seen. Shame on ESPN for blowing the pre-flop action that set up the move.

[/ QUOTE ]

The field was only memorable to people who post on this website, and thus already know these players. To the typical poker audience, they were a table full of basically indistinguishable young internet players that they've never seen before.

I don't think the play of particular hands is what makes for good or bad poker on TV. Good television is characterized by setting up compelling story lines that follow through from beginning to end. I think ESPN does this much better than any other network that shows poker. They did it pretty well during the USPC, considering that they didn't really have much to work with in terms of personalities.