Players Criticize World Series of Poker Coverage

04.12.2008, Lesen Sie hier den Bericht über «Players Criticize World Series of Poker Coverage».

At 17 hours, it was the longest final table in World Series of Poker history. Thanks to some seamless editing, it was fit neatly into a two-hour time block for ESPN.

Depending on whom you ask, the 2008 main event final table was either a massive failure or a huge success. Or you could ask the outspoken poker pro Mike Matusow, and he’ll tell you it was both.

“If I was a fan, it’d be a big letdown,” Matusow told Card Player TV. “As far as that, I think it was a failure. As far as Harrah’s and ESPN, I think it was a major success.”

There’s no denying that it was a ratings success. The four-month delay of the final table, so that the audience could watch the “near-live” action without knowing who won, attracted 46 percent more viewers than in 2007. But that didn’t prevent the criticism that followed.

When asked about their thoughts regarding the final table, nearly every professional poker player critiqued the coverage in a politically correct way. They made sure to highlight the good before they pointed out the bad.

2000 World Champion Chris “Jesus” Ferguson said he appreciated that ESPN showed so much of the prior action that it took to get to the final table. 2008 WSOP Player of the Year Erick Lindgren said that ESPN “did the best with their situation.” Even Matusow acknowledged the impressive production work that it took to get it on the air, saying it was “nothing short of a miracle.”

But then they pointed out the bad.

“They just never showed any hands,” said Matusow. “They just showed everyone’s bust-out hand.”

Of the 274 hands that were played at the final table, ESPN aired 23 of them. But the heads-up coverage between the eventual champion Peter Eastgate and the runner-up Ivan Demidov was the catalyst for most of the criticism. Over the course of four hours, there were 105 hands played between the final two players. ESPN showed just two hands, in five minutes of air time.

“The one glaring omission was that the heads up lasted two hands on television,” said Ferguson. “It really didn’t show the entire battle between these two great players.”

And there was a battle. Eastgate started out with an 80.3 million-50.6 million chip advantage over Demidov, only to watch the Russian claw his way back to take the lead. However, the cool 22-year-old Dane didn’t panic, instead allowing the aggressive Demidov to bluff over his chips in a series of mistakes.

Both Matusow and Ferguson suggest showing more heads-up action in the future.

“It’s a shame the rest of the American public didn’t get to see that,” said Matusow. “It would’ve been so sick to watch.”

Über World Series of Poker (WSOP):

Die World Series of Poker, oder kurz WSOP, ist eine Reihe von Pokerturnieren, die jedes Jahr in Las Vegas ausgetragen werden.

Die World Series of Poker finden jährlich im Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas statt.

Die World Series of Poker ist die grösste und prestigeträchtigste Pokerveranstaltung der Welt. Mit einer umfassenden Liste von Turnieren in allen wichtigen Pokervarianten ist die WSOP das am längsten laufende Pokerturnier der Welt und geht auf das Jahr 1970 zurück.

Darüber hinaus hat die WSOP bahnbrechende Allianzen in den Bereichen Rundfunk, digitale Medien und Unternehmenssponsoring gebildet und die Marke mit der Einführung der WSOP Europe im Jahr 2007 und der WSOP Asia-Pacific im Jahr 2013 sowie der WSOP International Circuit Series im Jahr 2015 erfolgreich international ausgebaut.

Ursprünglich wurden die Tourniere in Las Vegas Downtown im Binion's Horseshoe Casino ausgetragen. Im Jahre 2005 kaufte Caesars den Brand WSOP. Seit diesem Datum werden die Pokermeisterschaften im Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino durchgeführt.

Gewinner der letzten Jahre des WSOP-Championship-Mainevent

2020: Damian Salas 2019: Hossein Ensan 2018: John Cynn 2017: Scott Blumstein 2016: Qui Nguyen 2015: Joe McKeehen 2014: Martin Jacobson 2013: Ryan Riess 2012: Greg Merson 2011: Pius Heinz 2010: Jonathan Duhamel 2009: Joe Cada 2008: Peter Eastgate 2007: Jerry Yang 2006: Jamie Gold 2005: Joe Hachem 2004: Greg "Fossil Man" Raymer 2003: Chris Moneymaker 2002: Robert Varkonyi 2001: Carlos Mortensen 2000: Chris "Jesus" Ferguson 1999: J.J. "Noel" Furlong 1998: Scotty Nguyen 1997: Stu Ungar 1996: Huck Seed 1995: Dan Harrington 1994: Russ Hamilton 1993: Jim Bechtel 1992: Hamid Dastmalchi 1991: Brad Daugherty 1990: Mansour Matloubi 1989: Phil Hellmuth Jr. 1988: Johnny Chan 1987: Johnny Chan 1986: Berry Johnston 1985: Bill Smith 1984: Jack Keller 1983: Tom McEvoy 1982: Jack Strauss 1981: Stu Ungar 1980: Stu Ungar 1979: Hal Fowler 1978: Bobby Baldwin 1977: Doyle Brunson 1976: Doyle Brunson 1975: Sailor Roberts 1974: Johnny Moss 1973: Puggy Pearson 1972: Amarillo Slim Preston 1971: Johnny Moss 1970: Johnny Moss

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