The other day Daniel Negreanu had blogged about his opinion,
The 50k HORSE- A One Year Blip where he talks about how there is no TV coverage of the HORSE event so players didn’t want to play / enter. “Not because poker players are so desperate to be on television”
What was it? It was because they couldn’t get in for free….
Sponsors won’t pay for the pro’s buyins because most have contracts for TV appearances, ie “with ESPN coverage gone, instead of Pepsi ponying up the money, Joe would have to fork over the whole $50,000 out of pocket. There is no longer any incentive at all for Pepsi to pay his buy in because they won’t get any real logo exposure out of it.”
Again, much like I talked about in the blog Consider the Payout Structure, and of all poker players to disappoint me that being Daniel Negreanu is wrong for not caring about the game of poker and more about the money. Yes, the other poker variants need exposure that is a given. To change the rules of a poker game just so it looks good on TV? Instead of changing the poker variant when the blinds change to just Holdem. That is wrong Daniel.
Far to many poker players are selling their souls to advertisement. We see enough of it on TV and on the internet is just as bad. Money is the root of all evil, its to bad to see a player willing to sell his instead of finding other ways to increase the popularity of the games he plays.
All poker players who seriously play the game know HORSE is the one event where the winner is a truly skilled player over the rest. It takes far more skill then just a run of lucky cards to take that bracelet. If players don’t feel they are skilled enough to play and win, that is the true reason the numbers are down. Which is what I agree with when Daniel says “a lot of those players aren’t exactly world class which adds EV to the grinders who play mixed cash games for a living. These sponsored players would never consider putting up $50,000 to play in the event”.
Another thing I wanted to touch on is where he says “TV is necessary to maintain the prestige of the event”, which means he hasn’t realized how many people watch Final Tables on the internet. Event 49 $50,000 HORSE final table will be available online. I’m more interested to watch it with out someone explaining every hand or “learning the rules” every fifteen minutes after the TV version comes back from commercial.
Lets stop selling out poker like the US Government and look for new idea’s to brand the poker variants to keep interest. Lame coverage might get ratings for sponsors but hardcore players are tired of seeing 10 hands in an hour played on TV coverage.
Unfortunately its far easier to sell out than to work hard to fight for something you believe. Most people just don’t think long term, all they see are the dollar signs here and now.
With HORSE requiring much more skill to play, I’m surprised it doesn’t receive more attention.
With internet the way it is, there will soon be a day when TV won’t be necessary to maintain the prestige of anything..
This was an interesting read, I like opinion pieces.
My thoughts on Horse are this: The skill and poker knowledge of playing 5 different games in ONE tournament and to win that tournament is the Ultimate test.
A player’s strength in a few varieties of poker may serve him well but confidence in playing 5 impress me to the max..
Keeping on tract when the games change from one to the other can make for a long day depending on the blind structure and time allowed.
I would think most professional poker players would like to challenge their game by winning something new and different.
Good for their sport.. Good for their living..Good for their mind.. Good for their soul..
“Money is the root of all evil” is actually not .. “tis the love of money that is the root of all evil” This is unfortunately the problem for not just poker – but the NFL (who were instrumental in getting on-line Poker banned here in the states); the MBA; the NBA; Corporate America and the list goes on! Everyone understands that it does take “sponsorship” to allow others to go forward – be it a stadium name change or little league or poker.
Having said all of that above, I couldn’t agree more with your blog — IF Negreanu or anyone other professional actually cared more for the game in which they’ve been blessed to master and make an extremely lucerative life from, then television coverage just wouldn’t matter!
I did watch event 49 on the stream in the forum and enjoyed it much! SAD really – but greed has definitively taken over this & every other “fun” aspect of life.