23 Nov 11
PokerStrategy.com TV World Championship - Three Down, Four To Go
Barry Carter reflects on the first three heats of the PokerStrategy.com TV World Championship, and ponders how they will come across when they are broadcast.
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| Heat 3 winner SwapShop |
Some people will be upset that the show does not feature the household names of TV poker - players like Tony G, The Devilfish, Phil Laak, and Phil Hellmuth.
For many, TV poker has to have these larger than life, recognisable figures at the tables, otherwise it's just not TV poker.
But we knew we were targeting a different, largely unexplored niche with this event, the regular player. This is of course the demographic that represents 99.99% of the people that actually play poker, yet rarely makes an appearance on screen.
It may not have Tony G's catchphrases (Though one player did come up with a classic which I will quote later) or Hellmuth's tantrums, but when you strip a show bare of all the showmanship we expect from TV pros, what happens is some interesting stories are allowed to come to the surface.
Solid Players
One such story is that...the average serious poker player is actually pretty good. Of course you will see some less than optimal plays in these heats, but overall the standard of play has been impressive.It was a unique change of format for everyone, but most of the guys adapted to it very well and executed clearly well constructed game plans.
The studio lights may have been daunting, but everyone looked at home when the cards were dealt.
So far each winner has been deserved of their victory, and all three heat winners looked very strong. Heat 3 winner SwapShop on paper looks like he got lucky, given that he outdrew everyone he busted, but he actually was one of the most impressive and aggressive players so far.
Russia vs Germany
There is also a fascinating subtext starting to take place between the German & Russian PokerStrategy.com communities, who are dominating the heats so far. They are of course the two biggest communities in the PokerStrategy Universe, so it only seems natural they are going to make up a large part of the final.We have one winner from the Russian community so far, and two from the German community. We have also had at least one Russian community member make it to the heads-up stage in every heat (Two in the first one).
It will be fascinating to see what the final figures are in this impromptu Russian vs German community battle.
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| "The best of the best of the best" |
- This hand between Eric Loschan and Calum Noble
- Watching TwiceT doing what he does best (Drinking, not playing poker)
- A quote from Russian community player mcsias, who, when asked a completely unrelated question on screen by hostess Laura Cornelius, answered "I'm the best of the best of the best....but I don't speak any English"
Not everyone is going to love this event when it is broadcast next year, but many will.
In particular we think that this show is going to appeal to the new players who are still on the fence about poker, the very players we need to keep the game's economy going.
Heats 4 and 5 take place tomorrow, you can see the latest plot twists and turns as they happen via our Live Updates Ticker.
by Barry Carter
