November 26, 2003
Television Explosion Part 2
by Luckbox
As James mentioned in the comments to Television Explosion Part 1, Fox Sports Net is in the poker game.
Tomorrow, they air the most ambitious televised poker event of all-time. While most of the poker we see on TV is played weeks, sometimes months in advance, the Showdown at the Sands will be televised less than 24 hours after the winner is crowned!
The roster for this $10,000 entry fee event is impressive: WSOP defending champ Chris Moneymaker, two-time WSOP winners Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan, poker bad boy Phil Hellmuth, and top pros Howard Lederer and Phil Ivey.
Fox Sports Net will utilize 21 cameras, 21 tape machines, 12 instant replay machines, 3 continuous running editing computers and a special event NFL broadcast truck.
The network says it will also feature a first-of-its-kind "Rabbit Hunting" camera, "In the event of a fold, viewers get to see the cards the dealer never flipped over and only they will know if folding was a good idea or if it cost the player thousands of dollars."
I'm not sure how this is different from the hole card cameras used by the Travel Channel and ESPN, but I guess I'll have to wait and see.
The event is set to air from 12:30pm to 6:30pm local time. Check your local listings because many affiliates will not show the entire event. My affiliate will air the last 4 hours. There is also a scheduled replay of the final at 8pm.
Nothing says "Happy Thanksgiving" like 6 hours of poker!
Initial impressions after one hour:
The play has been fun to watch. I got great satisfaction watching Hellmuth tilt.
The camera work and editing is smooth and well done, too. The production team should be very proud of themselves -- it's quite possible that we could see live tournaments in the very near future.
However, the only problem I have, and it is a huge one, is the play-by-play. I understand that Jesse May is recognized internationally . . . but his shrill and breathless style is driving me crazy. It's like the ridiculous exuberance of Huell Howser meets the pedantic condescending drone of Ben Stein.
I'd enjoy it much more if Howard Lederer replaced Jesse May, but that's just me. I'd like to hear more from Michael Konik, too.
Tiny complaints aside, this is shaping up to be a great afternoon of poker on TV . . . and I haven't even seen Doyle or TJ yet!
I enjoyed it. I didn't get the first 2 hours, so I missed guys like Moneymaker and Helmuth.
Some interesting play down the stretch. I'm hoping to see some replays.
The announcer was pretty typical of televised poker. Unfortunately, it's designed for non-players, not the rest of us. I definitely would have enjoyed more from the Professor.
I was really surprised by the hand TJ busted out on! But.. it was another final table for him!
heh heh.... Yeah, I've watched a lot of televised poker and I observe a lot of tourneys online as well, and the thing I have noticed is that you can see things coming from a lot farther down the pipe observing than you can when you're in the mix.
The one main difference I found between the WPT and the Sands coverage seems small but really grew to annoy me. Wherever the microphones were placed managed to perfectly pick up ever single clackity-clack-clack of the constant chip shuffling and stacking...very irritating.
And I would like to see one of these programs figure out a way to let us know the approzimate chip counts at more regular intervals.
