Ty Stewart's "Blockbuster" idea for 2008 WSOP

[dsalt]

what if a player dies/life insurance problems

[ZPinhead]

Except that more monkeying around with large tournaments (hasn't ESPN done enough of this with the WSOP?) for the 'betterment of poker' actually has nothing to do with making poker better. I has to do with making more $$$ on television shows.

...reality-programming phenomenon on the order of Survivor, American Idol, or Cake Decorating with the Stars...

So...turning the WSOP into something like 'reality-programming' is a good thing for who? Certainly not the players in the tournament!

Unlike other professional sports, poker does not require an audience to exist. Sure it needs exposure to 'recruit' new players into the pool, but poker shows and recognized 'TV' poker players (not to dismiss their skills, it's just that you have to have a cast to have a show) only really make money for the producers of the shows and to a smaller degree the 'TV' players themselves.

[dw2006]

This is so dumb, people would have months to actually learn how to play once at the final table.

[Zetack]

More details on the plan:

[ QUOTE ]
And I understand why the idea of a live final-table broadcast is controversial. Televising poker live adds a significant amount of complexity to the proceedings. Ty mentioned to me that he's not in favor of separating fans from the action - the live webcasts of some final tables from the 2007 WSOP was a new experience and one from which Harrah's learned many things - and therefore would sequester the entire room. Players, fans, and attending media would all be squestered and communication devices would be removed. (I'm not sure why media would want to be present if they couldn't communicate, especially because they'd be seeing LESS than if they watched it on TV, but I understand how everyone has to be locked down.)
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Another complexity involves broadcast time. Stewart told me in an e-mail that he does "not believe that ESPN will dedicate more than a three hour window to the stunt" or "that a mainstream audience will have interest watching for a period longer than that anyway." This might lead someone to conclude that they'd need to jack up the blinds and antes super-high to force the action into a watchable time period.
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He assured me that Harrah's had no such thing in mind. Everyone in the process is trying to develop a formula of starting play before the broadcast hits the air, "flash editing" to catch up, and going live for the final stages in a reasonable broadcast window. Stewart didn't come out and say, "We'll never under any circumstances alter the blind structure for TV" - though maybe he'll read this and tell me just that - but it sounds like the goal is to arrange the broadcast to fit around the natural Main Event endgame, and not the other way around.



[/ QUOTE ]

Link to update

[betgo]

It might work. I don't like the 2 month delay idea though. Then all the amateurs would quit there jobs and play poker tournaments full time, read every book, and hire coaches at $300/hour. If they flash edit the early final table, they could flash edit the rest or show it later.

If the idea is to show the last 3 hours or so, they would have to accept some variance, in that it could take anywhere in the 1-6 hour range, although the endpoint would be less likely. Presumably they would add commericial breaks.

[pacecar86]

the 2 hour ESPN HD 2007 ME FT was quite enough for me, thank you very much......I think this is final proof that Harrah's/WSOP Marketing needs massive help

[umistboy]

Great - so the FT guys have months to go away and analyze eachothers play and make changes to their own.

Ridiculous

[tribet]

What if a player was unable to play because of something like being in the hospital etc, would they wait for him to recover and then play or would he be able to let another player of his choice play?

What about players who fly half way around the world to play? They have to return home then come back?

Would Harrahs pay interest on the money they are holding when they pay up? And how about royalties to the players for this crap.

[AngusThermopyle]

[ QUOTE ]


Ty Stewart, Director of Sponsorship and Marketing

[/ QUOTE ]

Does he know a flush beats a straight?