The Global Poker Masters (GPM) is a new, TV-friendly poker event that will be pitting some of the world’s best poker players against each other when it runs in March of this year. It is being organised and run by Alexandre Dreyfus and the Global Poker Index (GPI). The cards will be in the air on Malta just before the arrival of the first PokerStars EPT to grace the Mediterranean island. This timing isn't a co-incidence as the EPT tournament staff are involved in organising the Masters, bringing some of the best tournament personnel to the tables in order to carry through the event.
It has been a long time since we've seen newly created, high-quality poker content on our televisions that hasn't been generated just to expose online poker logos or other existing "big names" in the industry (the WSOP for example) to the audience. It's the first time since the heady days of the initial poker boom that we have third parties inaugurating poker events that are, at their cores, designed to be televised, and in my mind, this is long overdue.
I am of the opinion that the next poker boom is going to be, at least in part, driven by the media, and if that is going to happen, events like the Global Poker Masters are going to need to be produced to the highest possible quality. On the other side of the coin, if events such as the GPM fail to satisfy viewers, it could have a very noticeable negative impact on the poker industry. The question that I think will be asked following a failure isn't going to be: "What went wrong?" It is much more likely to be along the lines of: "If an event with the backing of the Global Poker Index can fail, how is it possible to succeed?" One high-profile failure could burn bridges for others trying to enter this arena regardless of the use of different ethos and methods. That’s why I have become more and more concerned by some of the decisions taken on the road to bringing the GPM to the public.
http://www.flushdraw.net/news/global...eed-might-not/