ESPN Poker Coverage

[KVNSTV]

I’m in the UK so have been downloading the ESPN coverage from the web so forgive me if I’m a little behind the times. When something I see annoys me I often play a little game with myself to think of the word that is the exact polar opposite of what I’m seeing. Viewing Mr Hellmuths display in $3,000 NLHE tournament the first word to enter my head was humility.

He must be horrible to sit with at the final table or any table actually, as he said to Ben Fineman who dared to play a pot with him “It’s not about you Kid”. Annoying to have your spotlight moment completely railroaded by the ‘Superstar’ grand standing every call/fold/check and making terrible insurance bets with Phil Ivey. Ivey really is mugging him off as well, Hellmuth took some horrible odds and it all just made the game look so degenerated. Any way the self same “Kid” got crippled when he was a 3-1 favourite against another player and showed pure class by accepting the beat with a shake of his opponent’s hand. Phil might be the best NLHE tournament player in the world but he clearly has a lot to learn from the “Kid”.

The $5,000 pot limit Hold’em was clearly the worst of the all the shows so far for grandstanding. Whilst watching the antics of a certain Mr Brenes I played my little game again and the first word to enter my head was dignity. I remember one of the players at the table (Alan Cunningham) I think asking where his prop was? The final tables ESPN have chosen to show are clearly not the most star studied and obviously not the most interesting from a poker perspective (would love to see the 10K pot limit Omaha with Doyle and Antonius) so they must be choosing them for there entertainment value. Personally I would rather chew my own arms off than watch Humberto go through his act but I guess some people want to view this sort of thing.

I was interested in other people opinions on what the effect this kind of exposure has on poker? Other than being forced to sit next to some idiot dressed like superman or having some Muppet wave a shark in you face every five minutes is there any other negatives I have not considered? Is the TV coverage worth it? What does it give poker other than sponsorship for a very select few top tier players? After all the vast majority of players have to pay to sit down at the table, shouldn’t the event sponsors and TV people be adding to the prize pools?