Column: The Return of the TV Pro

Following Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey's success at the WSOP APAC, Barry Carter looks at the recent success of the 'TV Pros' who made their name at the start of the poker boom.

Ivey and Negreanu celebrating

The organisers of the first ever WSOP APAC must be over the moon with its debut outing. Not only were the numbers for the Main Event very respectable, but two of the most famous players on the planet took down bracelets.

Phil Ivey won his 9th bracelet in the $2,200 Mixed Game and Daniel Negreanu won his 5th bracelet by taking down the Main Event for AU$1,038,825.

It's not just Negreanu and Ivey who have made their triumphant returns to the tournament scene in the last twelve months.

Phil Hellmuth took down the other non-Vegas WSOP Main Event at the WSOPE in Cannes, as well as capturing his first non-Hold'em bracelet in Vegas.

Antonio Esfandiari not only won the biggest tournament prize in history at One Drop, he followed it up with a WSOPE bracelet of his own too. Even Mike Matusow took down the NBC Heads-Up championships at the start of the year.

These men, alongside maybe Gus Hansen, are all arguably the most entertaining players from the early days of televised poker. Now here they are once again, seemingly recapturing the form that made them famous in the first place.

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It's not that these so-called 'TV Pros' were bad or the game passed them by, far from it. They are still all recognised for their talent at the tables; most of them feature in most players' top five of all time lists.

It is simply that poker got so much bigger - it was inevitable we would see the 'TV Pros' less in the winners' circle. The fields of most majors these days have 300+ players, most of whom are tough opposition in their own right.

So why has this Renaissance happened now? Well the short answer is probably variance. It is by no means statistically out of the question that all these big names could have their inevitable big results all in the same time period.

It might also be in part because these TV Pros are the only ones who are almost guaranteed to show up. The lack of online poker in America and the days of mass player sponsorship are over, so we can't expect as many travelling pros at the major events. The only constants are the guys like Hellmuth, Ivey and Negreanu who will always be able to play as many or as little events as they want.

A change in mindset

A change in mindset for the Hellmuth

There is one more thing I wonder about when thinking of these players; each of their own personal lives have changed recently which could have had a positive impact on their games.

Ivey and Hellmuth both lost major sponsorship deals around Black Friday. Normally this is a bad thing, but both were major stakeholders in their sponsor room, and the details of both their deals were immersed in controversy.

Although both men probably miss the royalty cheques that came with such a large shareholding, I can't help but think that they are glad to be rid of the stress that came with them.

With the scandals attributed to their sponsors behind them, it presumably has meant they have actually had more time to concentrate on their poker (there is no denying Hellmuth is much more focused these days).

In the case of Esfandiari and Negreanu, they too appear to have found big changes in their lives. Both men are famously members of the Choice Center Las Vegas, a personal development organisation.

Although there is a degree of skepticism around the Choice Center, one undeniable positive has been that they have helped raise significant sums for charity. It must be hard sometimes to find meaning as a poker player, because it is fundamentally a selfish and unproductive profession. Giving something back to society may well have had a positive impact on the mindsets of Negreanu and Esfandiari.

Whatever the reasons for these recent successes, there is little doubt they are good for the game. Recognisable and entertaining names winning televised majors is always going to improve the viewing figures and make the headlines. Love them or hate them, there is no denying that when players like Ivey, Hellmuth, Negreanu and Esfandiari are at the final table, everyone stops to watch.

By Barry Carter

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