WSOP communications director Seth Palansky, in response to a Gary Wise question on his podcast that mainstream media did not embrace the November Nine as was hoped, mentioned that two members of the November Nine turned down appearances on two mainstream programs (specifically the Tonight Show and Ellen). Palansky also made comments to the effect that players should take more initiative to get mainstream attention instead of the same 12 players everyone knows.

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The other 7 weren't offered anything mainstream? The tonight show was a pretty huge mistake imo

Who turned down Tonight's show? Dennis? Whoever it was definatly messed up on that, to be able to go on to a widely viewed show and make poker seem legitimate would have been great for the game and whoever was invited for the interview.

i'm guessing it all depends on the type of person and situation. not everyone is a fame seeking whore regardless of what the media may show us today. maybe some folk do JUST wanna play poker these days. i don't see the two people turning down the appearances as a bad thing at all. for example, the two people could have been chino and kelly, they go on the show, gain massive hype and/or talk themselves up, and in the end they lose, possibly feel dumb for going on a show like that, etc. . .

When I heard the Tonight Show mention, Dennis was the first person who came to mind. It wasn't mentioned when these appearances were to take place, but maybe someone else decided for them it wasn't a good idea.

the whole reason for the 4 month delay was to hype themselves up. imo you cant be 'just' and poker player playing the main event final table. as you cant be 'just' a basketball player starting in the NBA championship.

I don't really agree. It's just dum gambling. You can do whatever the hell you feel like.

Shouldn't you be out shining the top of your head?

for real. just bc someone luckboxes a tourney, they are not obligated to be some ambassador or crusader for poker. all they owe "the game" is the rake.

Is this really the best you have?

I love that there are constant calls from players for a bigger piece of the pie while this is a prevailing opinon. Like it or not, the world is going to watch you closely if you win the ME (or make the final table asusming the N9 is continued), and everyone knows it going in.

wouldnt suprise me if one of the guys was Lyon Schwartz that dude hates the press after he was knocked out i over heard a reporter ask him for a interview, Schwartz replyed with "what are you gonna ask me I just want to get my money and to get the FXXX out of here."

Which world are we talking about? I don't think the real world pays much attention to who wins the WSOP, and beside a core group of fans and observers, no one cares. Are you in fact suggesting that the individual who wins owes some kind of debt to the game? The amount of promotion/self promotion a winner chooses to deal with seems to me like a personal choice.

I can`t imagine anyone really turning down The Today Show or other mainstream media opportunities - they owe it to poker, and it`s definitely a big vehicle for promoting themselves...

I`m not really sure I believe the OP - but everyone`s different.

Given they all got pokerstars / full tilt sponsorships, the best thing they could possibly do would be to attract attention...

Pretty sure you're wrong Shane. The winner gets announced in every major news outlet. At least for that moment, people are watching, and for the next year, the guy with the title gets as much mainstream buzz as anyone in the game.

I'm not saying that anyone owes anyone anything, just that you can't have your cake and eat it too.

but what shaniac is saying is that the "mainstream buzz" is insignificant. think about all the times you've seen poker people on non-poker shows. i can probably count them on one hand.

yeah, but we're talking about the potential for an increased amount of mainstream buzz, lessening the "insignificance". Part of increased acceptance and participation comes from mainstream cultural integration. Any time spent by people representing poker in a positive light is good for the game, community and industry.

First of all, I think people like Polansky and Pollack should have been the guiding force in generating mainstream "attention" for the players, but I'm not aware of anything they did in that effort.

I think it's sort of ridiculous to expect poker players to take the "initiative" in attracting exposure for themselves as Polansky suggested, since this is not our area of expertise. Poker players are not trained entertainers, performers or politicians. There are no publicists around and the usefulness of poker agents doesn't seem to extend beyond their ability to facilitate deals with online poker sites, still the only real source of sponsorship revenue for players.

In any case, I'm surprised if someone was a) actually offered the opportunity to be on these shows and b) turned it down. If I am ever part of the November 9, I'd definitely milk the opportunity for all its worth, but only because going on the Tonight Show seems like fun and a once-in-a-lifetime type of thing, not because I care particularly about integrating poker into the mainstream.

That is all.

If the WSOP wanted the November Nine to promote for the tournament, then the WSOP should be paying them. Otherwise, STFU.

But if you didn't want to be on the Tonight Show, the communications director shouldn't have anything to say about it.

Yeah, I was pretty shocked to hear it also. Life experience + financial opportunities = no brainer for me.

I agree with almost everything that Shane just posted except for one thing;when players get into a situation like the Nov9, there are plenty of people waiting around to offer assistance and guidance. All that for a small fee, of course. I think Seth's disappointment was more with the people offering that guidance than with the players themselves.

They did, in interest and endorsement opportunities. Every member of the Nine made more money because of the set up.

Harrah'$ W$OP

They definitely got a better deal in terms of online poker sponsorship, but I'm sure the players were expecting more than an average of $10,000 per person in interest and minimal mainstream sponsorship.

they don't owe **** to poker