Poker Shows Getting too Fluffy
Recently, AJ Benza was released from his contract providing commentary on High Stakes Poker. He stated in his blog that the main reason behind this was because a female host was going to be used in his place. I personally find this unfortunate because of the fact that the one thing that set High Stakes Poker apart from other shows is the fact that players got on there and played poker and there wasn’t a lot of fluff from female interviewers.
It seems to me that they want to make High Stakes Poker like other poker shows and try to use any angle to get casual viewers to watch. While putting on a pretty face might attract a few people to turn on the show, only the true hardcore fans will stick around and watch unless there is something else with the product to attract them there. Sadly, one of the things that attracted people to the show in the past was that the game was run as a cash game with Benz and Gabe Kaplan commentating in the background. Now we will probably have pretty talking heads doing interviews etc and taking away from the actual high stake shenanigans.
Can you imagine having that on the ESPN broadcasts? I think that ESPN’s WSOP broadcasts work so well because they don’t have the degree of fluff that some of these other poker shows have. Talking with Shana Hyatt is nice and all, but honestly, if you are a poker fan, you want to see the action.
Doyle Brunson made a comment lately that a lot of poker shows with the exception of High Stakes Poker are virtual luckfests. I have to agree with Doyle. What many don’t know is that the shows run with hyper aggressive structures that allow for very little play and almost force you to make some silly moves. It provides “drama” but at the expense of good poker play.
I really think that the days of good poker programming are beginning to come to an end. Most of what is being put out now is sensationalized programs geared at being more of a game show or crowd draw than to give poker exposure. Bad poker on TV is not good for poker. It’s only good for ratings. And honestly, bad poker will only draw rating until people get bored with it. (Unless you are Face the Ace, which can’t draw water with a pen and pad.)
