High On Poker

A long while ago, I opined about the metamorphosis from poker newbie to poker player with an emphasis on the type of media we watch.  For me, I first got into poker through TV. After a while, when I wanted to learn more, I began to read poker books. Then it was online poker and interactive blogs and the like. Eventually, the TV shows got repetitive. Then the books got boring. It just felt like instead of taking in media about poker, I should be playing it. In fact, that was the major obstacle. I’d watch 2 minutes of poker on TV and immediately want to play, so I’d hop online. I figured that watching poker on TV was a thing of the past for me, like a kid who had his training wheels removed.

Well, life is all about cycles, and it seems I’m back on the televised poker bandwagon after basically neglecting TV poker for the better part of at least 3 years. The WSOP coverage on ESPN has been surprisingly strong, to me, although granted, I barely watched the coverage over the last two years.

The main things that attract me are:

1. The relatively limited scope of the program. It was ok a few years back when each episode was another preliminary event, but after a while, it felt like each episode was, well, episodic. It didn’t tell an overarching story, so I felt like I could miss an episode and miss nothing. It was cool that they used to show more non-NLHE events. I wish that could happen now, specifically for the Player’s Championship, the 8-game mixed event sporting the $50,000 buy-in. The popularity of the top pros would, hopefully, compensate for the fact that the game is not NLHE and it could potentially open up even more players to non-NLHE games. But, barring that, a focus on specific events with more opportunity to tell a full story has been refreshing.

2. The wide coverage per day. I’ve already seen the first four day-ones of the main event, and each episode includes what appears to be in depth coverage of the two main tables, together with special hands from the floor. The two main tables usually sport one big name apiece, with Matusow, Moneymaker, Gavin Smith (!), Cada and Darvin Moon (why?) getting top billing. There were others too, but those are the ones I recall most readily. Meanwhile, if Chau Giang is involved in a big hand on the floor, the action jumps to Chau so you not only get to follow some key tables, but you get to see everything. It really gives a better impression of the sheer scope of the WSOP Main Event.

3. More Stats. I’m not generally a stats guy, but in poker, stats are extremely telling in a way that random hand selection by an editor is not. For instance, Darvin Moon seemed to be playing too many hands, with one hand in particular standing out when he called a raise with A4o preflop. Later, he attempted an ill-advised all-in re-raise bluff with AJ or A9 (I don’t recall exactly) on an all under-card board, only to get caught by an overpair and win via suckout. Those hands alone would suggest that he was donking around and playing too many hands, but then Moon’s stats were shown and his VPIP (percentage of hands played voluntarily) was below the table average and rather low. So, the hands chosen by the editing staff showed a wildman, but the stats showed something different. As bad as those plays were, if you were to accept that Moon had established a tight image or was generally playing tight, the selective aggression may not have been as stupid as it first appeared.

4. Finally, hand selection. Specifically, the hands selected to be shown on TV. Thanks to technology, whenever an all-in confrontation is shown, I can just fast forward to the end. I don’t have to sit there for 60 seconds waiting to see the turn and river in a hand where there is no more poker left to be played. Still, those types of hands often dominate poker broadcasts, likely because that’s when players bust, which is always interesting, and that’s when unlikely suckouts occur, which is also TV-worthy. But its also terribly boring for someone who wants to actually watch some damn poker. I’m more interested in watching Moon’s face when he flopped the wheel with his A4o (I actually rewound after they showed his cards at the end of the hand to watch his reaction to the flop) than Moon’s patience when he is all-in with two overcards with his A9o against an overpair to the board. In one scenario, we can learn about how a poker player handles a great flop and incorporate that knowledge into our own game. In the other, we simply wait while a delay in the turn and river falsely builds suspense for a tournament that already took place a month ago.

So, kudos to the guys who put together this year’s coverage. I’m actually enjoying watching poker again.

Until next time, make mine poker!