Lack of post flop drama,hardly any c/r,bluffs,squeeze, no up n downs or huge swings, chip leader always on steady raise.

well, it used to be the case that most players (including pros) treated tournaments winnings emotionally, thus making suboptimally tight plays in order to ladder up. This meant that extrmely aggro strategies were optimal for crushing mtts, also making it possible for ultra-aggro mtt poker stars to arise.

However, these days people actually can play poker and they make decisions based on ev, not their emotional attitude towards winnings. This forces players to shift towards gto-ish strategies (based on icm models), and because of how mtt payouts are structured correct strategies are very conservative, making competent players playing out a ft very boring to watch.

freaks and very weird dudes

I have watched the wsop every yr for the last 10 yrs or so. Except this year. Not surprised this is the consensus.

Amazing final table. I don't play tournaments but Joe definitely is that good, that it makes you think tourneys can be beaten still by the best and its not a massive crap shoot. Loved the commentary, loved the coverage, fantastic viewing experience for me. I was in Australia so it starting at noonish was sweet.

Id get even more motivation from him if he didnt look like such a bag of sht

I'm sure every final table would be boring if it was played out in real time and without the nostalgia of past FTs.

This. Boring people, doing something boring.

Overwhelming chip leader and cautious/level up play by the rest of the table. The fact that there were virtually no check-raises at the FT meant no surprises, no spontaneity. Or we can blame the lack of a Brazilian at the NN.

The Superbowl should adopt the format.
Play the first half in Feb. and the second half in April. That way the more inexperienced players have time to exposed to as much outside influence as possible and become more prepared for the second half. Add players coaches to the roster and become a changed team for the second half.
This of course would give the network additional revenue and not share, oops there is a players union. Fans would really like it tho cause the game would drag on for a few months. Be great.

They need to stop with the live coverage I agree. If they had the final table like they did in the past where it is recorded just like all other episodes with the highlight hands it would be so much more entertaining and watchable to the general public. Watching it live with analysis on every hand is boring and only appeals to the actual players like us who can learn from it. But when it is on ESPN and so many non-players are watching it is not a good idea to do it the way they do.

Shot clock must be added next year. If anything it will make it more watchable. Will he fold the best/worst hand or ask for time? It's not like they have to invent the wheel again. We've had "shot clocks" in online poker since day 1. Added bonus is that we can reduce the TV delay to whatever the max time is.

Great points. When the 61 year old at the FT has gotten a team of all star coaches you know the entertainment value is gonna be ****ed.

There was not a single c/r the entire FT and only post flop raise.

I watched one day with standard commentary and it was boring as *** indeed, last day I watched it with silverman/pads/stealthmunk and I enjoyed every minute.

There is no easy answer. Poker by itself is kind of boring. Really cautious ICM based poker is even more boring.

But I think the November 9 compounds those issues exponentially. Everyone receives coaching, everyone has tons of time to develop a strategy and realize how to play optimally.

I personally hate the N9 idea. The only way I think N9 works out really well is if some celebrity/poker celebrity/female makes the FT and we can just pimp the **** out of them for a few months. Otherwise, nobody gives a **** about random dudes making the FT.

There was no cooler situations at all and no one was ever put to tough decision post flop.

Post flop there was:
No overpair vs overpair
no sets vs top pair
no straights or flushes vs 2 pair or better

It was just the massive chip leader making hands and his opponents completely whiffing.

It wasn't that it was boring it was just that nothing happened. I watched every hand captivated by it hoping that the momentum would suddenly shift but it just never did. Nobody ever changed gears, Joe never had less than twice the stack of the next player and there we no big pots.

In the end it was disappointing more so than boring simply for the fact that nobody else ever got close to winning it.

This

+ if someone did a breakdown of how often compared to his opponents Mckeehan, flopped top pr, out flopped his opponent when dominated, was dealt premium hands, etc we would see clearly how/why it was a boring FT.

except that Joe busted half the table with coolers in standard spots.

Hands like Steinberg's bustout hand v Joe plays out exactly the same if the hands are reversed.

Is it just me or when Joe Mckeenan stared his opponents down it seemed rude/overkill?

I disagree with this. I don't want to have to wonder why the chip counts changed because they didnt show hands to pack the final table into a coujple of shows. I don't see why any poker player would want that. Just fast forward if you want it to go faster. The players do need to be forced to act faster though.

Just you.

He had a fairly innocent stare. He just looked at them.

they need to put the money on the table

No delay in playing out the final table would solve the problem nicely. No coaching, no studying the opponents for months, and they'd be high on adrenaline as people usually are when they reach the final table and I suspect we'd see far more action than this pathetic showing.

I liked Antonio - even if he was wrong he gave me things to think about.

Chad was Chad - the unfunniest man in the room who thinks he's the funniest.

Lon is such a nice guy and his voice is gold but my gosh the wheels really came off there.

All that being said the real problem (once Stern was gone) was the deck.

The most boring final table ever.