Live Pay per View on the Main Event Final Table?

Penguinfan · #1 06-09-06, 04:55 PM

Anyone else hearing anything about this?

Seems like that would be a touch boring, could they even show the hole cards then?

???????

Talking Poker · #2 06-09-06, 04:58 PM

Absolutely not. UNLESS: It was tape delayed at least 5-10 minutes, and NO ONE (spectators too) was allowed to take a cell phone or any other communication device into the room AND no one was allowed in to the room after the broadcast started. Once you leave, you can't come back.

And yes, it would be boring. Just listen to the radio broadcast.

PShabi · #3 06-09-06, 05:09 PM

LMAO. Radio broadcast of a poker game. Shoot me in the face.

Penguinfan · #4 06-09-06, 05:13 PM

Don't they boradcast Nascar "events" on raido? Wonder what that sounds like?

"Jethro pulls in for gas, Ernie goes real fast down the backstretch, JimBob turns left.........

Talking Poker · #5 06-09-06, 09:38 PM

From what I have heard, CardPlayer's live broadcast of the final table last year was extremely popular.

Penguinfan · #6 06-13-06, 07:29 PM

Copy/Paste from another site, wish I could verify the source. I am hearing more and more about this, it just might happen.

TP, if you make the final table are you buying it for us all?

Televised poker has taken yet another step forward.

On Friday, Harrah's Entertainment(NYSE: HET) and Stock Advisor rec Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ESPN announced an agreement to extend ESPN's coverage of Harrah's World Series of Poker (WSOP) through 2010. But more interestingly, the companies announced that, in addition to the regular coverage, this year's $10,000 buy-in Main Event will be telecast live on pay-per-view -- a first in poker television history.

Three years ago, WPT Enterprises(Nasdaq: WPTE) spawned the worldwide poker craze with its World Poker Tour television show on Discovery Holding's (Nasdaq: DISCA) Travel Channel. Since then, ESPN has expanded its coverage of the World Series of Poker to include a couple dozen WSOP events in addition to the Main Event, as well as several WSOP Circuit Events from around the country. General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Bravo began airing Celebrity Poker Showdown, and its NBC division has recently aired the National Heads-Up Poker Championships. Fox Sports Network now has a few regular shows of its own, including its Poker Superstars tournaments. Sony Pictures Entertainment and LibertyMedia's (NYSE: LINTA) jointly-owned Game Show Network now airs High Stakes Poker.

However, the one thing that all of the shows have in common is that they are edited, and viewers only get to see the big hands of tournaments that have already taken place. And in the case of the really big tournaments, many of the viewers also already know who wins.

What a live pay-per-view event does is take reality poker shows to a new level, and there is no bigger or better tournament for such an occasion than the World Series of Poker Main Event, by far the biggest tournament in poker and the richest sport event in the world. Last year's tournament awarded nearly $53 million in prize money, with champion Jospeh Hachem taking home $7.5 million. Moreover, going PPV allows both Harrah's and Disney to further monetize the WSOP property, with a $24.95 retail price for what will be a 14-day Main Event.

Talking Poker · #7 06-13-06, 07:40 PM

Absolutely. But that's nothing. If I make the Final Table, I also plan to fly some friends/family out to watch in person. Oh, and the Dom will be flowing for the audience, courtesy of yours truly. I want to be the fan favorite, and I'm not above buying my fans.

BrianSwa · #8 06-13-06, 07:56 PM

not that im on the top of that list to fly but If you do make the final table I will be there to support you TP. Wouldnt be that hard for me to take couple days off just to be there and be like get'em. Not to mention jumping on a plane would not be too much hassle for me either and the price discounts I get on cars and hotels no biggie.

I have feeling you will do well maybe not final table but think you will be deep.

Robbie Robb · #9 06-13-06, 07:59 PM

Well, I plan on winning the Blogger tourney this Sunday so I'll be there for sure!

Talking Poker · #10 06-13-06, 08:30 PM

I will be quite happy to make the Top 100, but I'm shooting for a 6 figure cash, wherever that ends up being.

Penguinfan · #11 06-14-06, 04:33 AM

No point in going if your not aiming for 7 figures, and possibly 8. If your gonna do it, do it right.

de-coder · #12 06-14-06, 10:47 AM

I remember last year there was a live poker broadcast (I'm not sure if there was a live crowd or not). It was a one-off 6 person tourney - we got to see all the action (and inaction sometimes). The cards had embedded magnetic encoders so each card was known as it was dealt - including burn cards. I think it was held in Monte Carlo and it was definately live (there may have been a small delay I guess) - they even took breaks during commercials.

It was pretty cool, I'm surprised they haven't done it again - it was great fun to watch. It was not at all boring, even during a span where Devilfish stole the blinds 4 or 5 hands in a row...

Robbie Robb · #13 06-14-06, 11:13 AM

I believe you're right about it being Monte Carlo. It was some type of black-tie invitation thing that Ivey won I think. I had missed the original live broadcast but caught a rerun of it. I remember that they had a few technial glitches with the RFID tags (or whatever tech they use) but had the hole cams as a backup system.

New Guy · #14 06-14-06, 11:33 AM

Oh wait i'll be there trying to knock you out.Should be fun

Defendant · #15 06-17-06, 12:18 AM

From what I know, they broadcast the big cashgame at the bicycle on the internet with a 5 minute delay, so I dont see why they couldnt do it with the final table here. Although I have to say one of the greatest thing about the cardplayer audiostream was that you DIDNT know what they had, and listening to the pros debate the hand and what they thought the players had. Its one thing to have smartass announcers belittle every play, knowing everything. Seeing how a great players mind works without the revealed holecards is just...wow.

Defendant

Reel Deal · #16 06-21-06, 03:03 PM

Heres' some additional info I found at the SportsBusiness Daily website:

ESPN To Offer Live PPV Showing Of WSOP Main Event

ESPN will offer a live PPV showing of the World Series of Poker Main Event final table on August 10 that will be available both on TV and on ESPN.com, according to Bill Ordine of the Baltimore SUN. Also, the net’s usual edited airing of the Main Event will begin on August 22; last year’s event ran about three months after the finish. ESPN “hopes that the quicker turnaround” on the edited version will “bolster ratings that sagged” in ’05. The live PPV show will cost $24.95 and will begin at 3:00pm ET. The rail camera that shows players’ hole cards to the home audience on the taped shows “will not be part of the live broadcast.” ESPN Producer Dave O’Connor said that not showing the rail camera “is for security purposes.” O’Connor: “The difference between first and second will be worth millions. Any information that might trickle back to the players, we have to be concerned about.” Ordine noted ESPN’s live telecast will feature “pre-recorded features and a parade of poker pros and analysts commenting on the final table” (Baltimore SUN, 6/20).

- - Published June 21, 2006

Robbie Robb · #17 06-21-06, 03:08 PM

wow, I don't know if I'd want to watch poker on television without the hole cams, let alone pay $24.95 for it. (well okay, I have free American satellite so I won't have to pay anyway...but still...)

That said, I'm glad that they're not using them. I presume that they also will NOT be showing the mucked cards after the hand as well, as that information, if given to another player, could be a huge advantage as well.

One thing though - it'll be cool to see TP live on TV!

Boobie Lover · #18 06-21-06, 03:59 PM

Who would pay $25 to see poker without the hole cards being shown? Wouldn't it be more practical to have like a twenty minute delay and see the cards than do this?

Talking Poker · #19 06-21-06, 04:11 PM

Indeed it will.... Indeed it will.

No way would I pay for this unless someone I knew was at the FT. For anyone who hasn't done it, let me tell you - watching live poker (like from the bleachers) is boooooooooooooriiiiiiiiiiiiing. Even when an exciting hand happens, you usually miss most of the action and only see the result. Watching live on tv would be a little bit better, I guess, but not much, IMO.

Talking Poker · #20 06-21-06, 04:14 PM

The problem is, unless they took the measures I described above (in additiona to not letting even the PLAYERS leave the room - they'l have to be escorted to ap rivate bathroom, even), it would be too easy for info to get back to them. "So and is is raising with garbage. So and so had QQ on that one hand when you mucked TP. So and so stacks his chips in even piles with his right hand when he is weak." Etc, etc, etc.... With people watching an analyzing the on camera play, if any of that info got back to any of them players, it could be a huge advantage.

They simply can't show anything that the players can't see on their own. Not until the tourney is over.

Zybomb · #21 06-21-06, 04:18 PM

I agree 100%. Like TP said... Even with a 20 minute delay, players could relay the type of hands other players were playing, how they were betting them, what they did with draws, if they spotted any tells, and can let other players know about what their opponent had if they made a 'big laydown' etc. It's just unfeasable

Talking Poker · #22 06-21-06, 04:26 PM

I could see them doing ONLY the Heads Up like this... keeping the players isolated and all cell phones, etc, out of the room. But even THAT would be uncomfortable for the players. And broadcasting however many hours of Final Table action like this (live with hole cards) would just be impossible. And a huge, huge, huge mistake.