Players Disapponted With Final Table Coverage
The coverage of the World Series of Poker has drawn a lot of criticism lately from various professionals and players. A lot of it stemmed off of the coverage given to the final table. The final table started on November 9th and 274 hands were played. Out of those hands, only 23 of the hands were aired.
Mike Matusow was quoted by CardPlayer.com as saying “They never showed any hands. They just showed everyone’s bustout hands.” Matusow was correct. 23 hands did not adequately convey the story of the final table. Worse still was the heads up match between Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov. The heads up match lasted 105 hands and was an epic matchup between the two. ESPN chose to only show two of the heads-up hands. Matusow stated that “it would have been so sick to watch.”
Mickey “Mouse” Mills gave his own take on the coverage of not only the final table but of the series in general. “There wasn’t enough tables covered,” he said. “You primarily saw the same two or three tables over and over again.” Another criticism by Mills was regarding the buildup to the final table. “Where was all the coverage leading up to the final? The event mostly came and went without so much as a whimper from what I saw. I thought that there would be more coverage on television.”
Other than ESPN and poker sites, Mills is correct. The amount of buildup to the final table of the WSOP final table was almost non-existent. There have been stories of some players turning down interviews, but it seems like that more could or should have been done regarding buildup. It also seems that ESPN would have done some type of special to build up the final.
While the turnout for the final was what Harrah’s had hoped for, the question does remain how strong that the table would have drawn if not for family and friends. The final table was a great experience but there were certain areas that could be improved upon. It remains to be seen whether next year’s final table will be delayed. Ratings would nearly demand the delay to happen again, but if it does, Harrah’s and ESPN need to ensure a better product is cranked out.
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