I wasnt bashing the actual individuals doing the reporting at all.

This year they havent even started I believe that ESPN starts covering the floor today. I was saying its 2 fold basically a lack of sophistication in poker, tech adv tables, information etc . Which makes it too difficult for humans to acurately report across so many thousands at the moment. Or in any exciting manner that an audience would care about or tune in for but the sorta die hard poker degens. Which is what ESPN would be bidding for.

And agree with you poker 'PROs' ARE NOT celebrities, at all and need to get over themselves literally. Having a fair amount of the actual house hold names garnering coverage is entertaining, shows a different side of them, people who avg joes care to maybe watch play and run deep in a Main Event, and less of the narcissistic egomaniacs who do nothing but degenerate gamble, and brohug most the year....

doubt ESPN picks it back up personally and imo Caesars shares some blame for not trying to make the ENTIRE product more revolutionized and sophisticated.

their is such easy ways the game can be changed like for example, RFIDs in chips, well each seat at a WSOP table can have a BOX which all your chips need to be in (most the time) which automatically records your chip stack size constantly. Then it can be picked up by the TV crews, and in a situation where they started covering this LIVE, youd have a more entertaining product. And its mid summer people would watch.

This whole broadcast it, cut it, edit it, then delay it months out to November is ridiculously terrible and it is going to fail it. Start what you finish, and the WSOP is a SUMMER EVENT, keep it there.

So many simple fix's to make the entire product better, keep players in better check (with tech) among many other changes to make it all so much better and secure. Yet its liek the WSOP is so busy with its hand out, they forgot about the importance of evolving the way the games perceived and televised. Starting with more sophisticated poker tables for Major sanctioned events.

lotta things wrong, some fixable, others probably fixable but would take effort and money, which im not sure WSOP and ESPN would have the willingness to do.

Rooting for David Vamplew 1st then Tom middleton & Eoghan O'dea.

And don't ask me if I heard the 1 about the Scotsman, Englishman & the Irishman, lOl.

Best part about this was Darvins needle after the hand. . .possibly one of my favorite "chadisms" came from that year, "he knows money doesn't grow on trees"

Hopefully twitch gets the streaming rights.

Not happening this year, at least.
Tuchman mentioned it in one of the commentaries earlier in the summer. ESPN hold the rights and won't be giving anyone a chance of cutting their own viewing figures.

also regarding having every seat at every table have a way to register peoples stack size (technologically)

if any suspicions would arise, or complaints security can put a persons stack size, relative to pots played etc on a line graph and easily be able to see if their were any deviations from the stack which would indicate any foul play. Handing chips off on break, sharing w.e....

Beyond the added information necc to accurately report the tournament it is an excellent way of monitoring peoples stacks over time, for any abnormal deviations.

You could or find something suspicious by simply putting them on a line graph, and then removing the situations in a hand. If a BIG stack inexplicably goes -200k and another went +200k with no pots played won, you would easily be able to determine who the likely cheaters were. Plus more information and real time helps reporting, which could easily benefit some sort of future live typa coverings.


as is live poker really is still in the Neanderthal ages and being played by a bunch of neanderthals

Hope the ME-Final table have more than 1 woman 👍👍👍

go JCarver and Gobbo

That, or the coverage of the early days is dead. I, for one, have not been very active in this thread in the last few years because it's tough to accurately follow the Main action early on: separate days, too few reporters for too many tables, etc.

I fully expect this thread (or a separate ME sweat thread) to heat up in the next couple of days as we play down toward the N9.

I love the Main Event rail as it gets deeper


I love how as people start making Day 2+ they start posting longer and longer Facebook status updates like this

"The day was long, the table was cold, BUT we somehow made it to DAY 4!! I wasn't sure I had it in me but I hung in there and fought. I made some big folds and flopped big when I really needed it, with patience I did it!! I want this so bad, I have been waiting for this moment my entire life! Thank you so much to (insert friend/partners name) for being there along this poker journey of mine, I could not have made it this far without you!!!

To all my investors, thank you for believing in me enough to allow me to play this great tournament! I will try to not let you all down!!!"


Only the ME gets people to start posting things like this

-the November 9 has to go, complete failure imo

-the million to final table has to go

-live stream final few tables for the die hards and show edited final table on tv. much more exciting for everyone imo

I'm really really surprised that the WSOP does it this way. No live coverage of the biggest event of the year outside of updates and video that comes out months after the fact might have been the way to do it in 2003 but it makes no sense to still do it this way only. ESPN is paying a certain amount of $$$ to air the show but why not also have some sort of live sweat type of show for the hardcore fans to watch (not in the same style as the current final table streams are) and then the traditional edited down version.

Agree, the live broadcast 4-5 years ago needs to be brought back.

Didn't Billy Kopp have 2 big blowups? the one against moon and then another? can't remember.

Antonio has had his share of luck but rooting for him!

I think poker central may be positioned to do something in the upcoming years. We are past the point where taped poker is exciting. To be honest 30 minute delayed streams are sometimes to long.

The downside to that is showing hole card information. It's unfair the the featured table to have their play broadcasted.

The good news is it can't get any worse


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Absolutely I loved that coverage, as a European I had to pay extra for it but it was worth it

What Woman nowadays isn't wearing some fake hair ???

Example, Maria Ho's hair is 95% hair extensions.

Not one stitch of any Kardashian's hair isn't fake.

Hellmuth, bald, Negreanu bald, Matusow, bald, and so on, and so on.

He had way more than his fair share

So many trash players

Really, really weird comment. What does wearing a wig have to do with reputation or whether or not she is likeable?

Jason Les must be pretty good at No Limit tournaments

B Adams, Saout, Katchalov, Deb, G Griffin, Antonio over a mill

Benefield , Chan, Daniel Colman climbing up

This gon be good

Adam Friedman was at my table on Day 1A. Strong player.

Did he play perfect poker for 3 days?

Every year the main event gets pretty exciting to follow at this point as a bunch of well-known players, people you know personally, 2 plus 2 ers, women and maybe even a couple celebrities are still in the field.

But then they slowly get knocked out and eventually you are left with 8 complete unknowns, 1 random bracelet winner that you've never heard of and a 4 month wait to find out who wins, not that you really care anymore.