Well nah, you preempted me there with what you think I was thinking.
I was a big fan of
Late Night Poker but not so much the recent series with it's
Poker Ace variant and then reverting back to the original format one we know and like (the one with mostly pros in it!).
Most folks around the world are oblivious to the existence of
Late Night Poker and probably think it was the World Poker Tour that kicked things off with it's holecams rather than in the UK with the under-the-table cameras.
Nah, my thoughts about the presentation of poker on British TV is that it's mostly all 'Rounders' format SNGs with the winner-goes-on format that we ever see on Briitsh TV.
There is little or no variation (watching an actual MTT is rare) with not much of an alternative...and that sucks.
Full Tilt Million Dollar Cash Game should have been something special what with the producers having the hindsight of having watched
TWO seasons of
High Stakes Poker as to how they did it and as to what improvements if any could have been carried out.
What's wrong with it!?
1. A host with minimal input who merely bookends each segment.
Sky Sports/the producers doesn't seem to give a fcuk about the poker programming in that they just get a figurehead like they do for
Ladbrokes Poker Million in that they just rope in any old person (Dave Clarke, Richard Orford, some other nobody) to do the coverage of the semi-finals and final.
Who the hell is Alex Payne? He's a goddamn Sky Sports newsreader. He has absolutely no presence, no authority and no reason to actually be there. The hosts should have been David Tuchman and Gary Jones.
2. Where's the chemistry and expert analysis from Tuchman and Jones!? Minimal.
Over at 2+2, Tuchman said himself he was there to do the colour commentary (Gabe Kaplan's role) whilst
Gary Jones was there to do the play-by-play (AJ Benza's role). I appreciate Gabe Kaplan's analysis even more now as he guides the viewers through the possible thought processes of why a person did such an action as well as providing the funnies...and he does it so damn well.
I would go as far in saying that Gabe Kaplan is far-and-away
THE best poker TV commentator.
What Tuchman and Jones are doing is nowhere near as good merely announcing what's happening, pausing for dramatic tension or having interplay with not particularly insightful comments as to what's happening on the table and then nothing.
Dave's said though that
he and Gary was restricted in what they could say which definitely hampered both their analyses.
3. The presentation is horrible, horrible,
HORRIBLE.
The set, the way the table's set out, the music, the on-screen graphics (the faux Binion's font for one thing), Having to introduce who everybody is at the beginning (three and a half minutes before we see the action starting) and the need to yet again tell those who've never played/watched poker what the rules and hand rankings are.
Every single fcuking poker show on British TV for the past ten years
NEEDS to tell us the rules. If you don't know the rules, how to bet or what's happening, fcuk off, learn the rules/how to play
then watch the show.
How many hands did we see in 48 minutes worth of episode 2?
NINE. Five hands in the first 24 minutes. They've tried to make the show as idiot-proof as possible and they've bogged down the action with the various crappy things they delay the show with.
I think they're desperate not to copy or infringe on how
High Stakes Poker do things and in trying to do it their own way, it doesn't work.
4. The format.
From what I've seen and read, it isn't a straight-up cash game as it's some kind of a 'tournament' in that whoever gets the most money at the end of the night wins a bonus prize and this is why the series is limited to
FOUR episodes.
This ensures that the
Full Tilt pros get an equal amount of face-time as they seem to have a set time-limit of playing time to play with.
5.
Full Tilt just throw their money at TV programming and hope it sticks.
None of their specials have been remotely memorable (we got to see the Thanksgiving special in 2005 which was memorable for us in the UK but not so much for those in the US who didn't see what we saw...Devilfish's handwritten sign on his back promoting his website!
) and their recent glut of TV programming (NBC's
Poker After Dark being their current baby in the US) seems more concerned about getting their brand name out into the public awareness than anything else.
They show absolutely little concern that the final product is of actual quality and
Full Tilt are merely concerned that it attacts enough fish/new players enough into dumping their money at
Full Tilt to justify the costs.
sky full tilt million dollar cash game
.GIF "Thumb(1)")
:Pisses me off actually I woulda had a page on the sweet hendon mob website.
