(Statements by the Poker Shrink do not represent the policy nor attitudes of the American Psychological Association nor its members and/or affiliates. Comments represent only the opinions of the author and no one else. All implications that said statements represent a group, class, organization or job category are simply dumb-ass projections by the reader and you should knock it off.)

When “The Clock” was on ESPN, there were less than 1,000,000 unique eyeballs, the majority of which I would bet are poker players. When the ratings come in for The Amazing Race, it should be closer to 15,000,000 unique eyeballs, 99% which are not poker players. They might be young and women, but not model pretty. They will be remmebered and guilt by association says that poker players will be associated with lying and cheating.

Guilt by association; all lawyers suck; wall street are crooks; politicians are cooked; and poker players cheat.

What I got from “The Clock” on ESPN since I don’t know her was that she was playing beyond her ability and thought like many players that she was in the elite group. She isn’t. She is another personality that got some good cards early. Let’s see if she is 1/2 as good as Tilly, Harmon, or Duke.

i see it as more Cannonball Run than Survivor.

Because contextually, that was about poker. Contextually, this show is about people running around the world eating wasabi, herding ducks, making soup, and packing mud around trees.

If anything, I think the takeaway for the mainstream public from this show regarding poker will be this — “Pretty young women play poker?”

Would never suggest Tiffany and Maria have an impact on Texas elections, any more than a single vote in any election makes a difference (mathematically).

I also think you’re overlooking the biggest poker stereotype they are breaking simply by their presence — poker isn’t just played by online nerds and old guys in cowboy hats. Maria and Tiffany are young, pretty poker players.

Nobody watching “Amazing Race” is going to assume that the poker industry is filled with young, pretty poker players, anymore than they are going to think that all gay guys are brothers or that all lawyers are assholes with thick Boston accents.

Yes, back in the day (20-30 years ago), the only contact the general public had with professional poker was the occasional appearance of Amarillo Slim on “The Tonight Show.” But that’s no longer the case. Even people who don’t watch poker are aware that it is regularly on TV and much different than it used to be.

This show is about individual achievement in teams of two people, and they are judged by how quickly they complete certain tasks. This is a very different show from “Celebrity Apprentice.”

“The Amazing Race” is much closer to “Survivor.” Did anyone notice any change in mainstream acceptance of poker when Jean Robert Bellande appeared on that show as the villain? I certainly didn’t. To suggest that Maria & Tiffany’s appearance on “Amazing Race” would hurt poker’s chances of legalization in Texas is absurd. (If anything, I’d argue the opposite.)

Sidenote- I really wish we could edit previous posts. I can’t stand my misspellings. smoky!

OK, BJ, finally you said something ridiculous.

Why wouldn’t the general public associate poker players with the few they feel they have gotten to know on TV?

OF course they would/do. Back in the day, all they knew of poker players was Amarillo Slim … so to them, that was poker.

If Tiffany and Maria are successful poker pros, and they are [insert pejorative here], then it only makes sense that the masses will think [pejorative] is what it takes to be successful at poker, and therefore almost all people in that profession are similar.

Not saying it’s right, but that’s how people do it. I suppose I might have stretched things by saying they are representing “poker” … when in reality they are representing “poker pros”.

Just have a look at the comments on the E! Online blog:

1.
donna o Sun, Sep 27, 2009, 9:22 PM
HATE THOSE POKER PLAYING MORONS. HOPE THEY LOSE.

3.
cal Sun, Sep 27, 2009, 10:52 PM
Celebrities suck, especially the poker players. I hope they lose too!

4.
No1cherry Sun, Sep 27, 2009, 11:25 PM
The poker players keep bragging “How they can read prople” and “Think they are falling in love w/the hot brothers from Missouri” while all the while, the queer brothers are laughing about how they’re going to flirt w/the girls and use their being gay to their advantage against the girls. Yeah, these girls are really smart.

12.
Jaclyn Mon, Sep 28, 2009, 7:34 AM
those poker players were awful and very overconfident and really welly bitchy my favorite team was zev and jutin, they are so awesome and funny LOVE EM!! my next fav was gary and matt and the harmlem globetrotters, awesome as well

25.
aj Mon, Sep 28, 2009, 11:43 AM
CAN NOT STAND the poker players and pray they get eliminated NEXT! Why lie like that to start with? And to use “homeless children” as your lie! What GIANT douche bags they are!
Report

“Celebrity Apprentice,” because Annie Duke was there as a celebrity poker player, the same way others were there as actors, singers, or whatever. Poker played a large part in that show, especially with other players showing up to make donations.

Poker has nothing to do with this show, and win or lose, I don’t think Maria & Tiffany’s appearance will have any larger effect on the game. It’ll definitely affect their status within the industry (primetime network coverage tends to do that), but not the industry itself.

***cringe-worthy, IMHO***
cringe-tickley, Jen! c’mon, this is fun! and dare i say kind of them to subject themselves to our abuses in an effort to have fun themselves while advancing their careers?

***found it so easy to ignore “friends” in the media once she went deep in 2008***
I can attest that my level of media friendship with Tiffany hasn’t changed one bit since pre-main event 2008. We are as strong of friends today as we have ever been. We say hi when we cross paths and I’d like to believe would still help the other locate an open power-strip outlet when needed.

If you really believe “Reality” TV isn’t scripted, I want to play you heads up. You will fold for every one of my bluffs and call all of my nut hands. Do you think the girls or “The Clock” as I call her actually said that they were “rich and successful” on the first take? They can claim there is no written script but they can get what they want by asking and reasking the questions until they get the answers they want.

Basically, if we can have people representing the poker community in mainstream media (even reality TV), I’d rather have Annie Duke anyday – someone who is well-spoken, mature, and intelligent. Two giggly girls who exaggerate their success and try to smile/flirt their way through situations is cringe-worthy, IMHO.

I am biased in Maria & Tiffany’s favor because they’re my friends. I think you are biased against them because they represent an aspect of the poker industry that you hate — women who are “successful” poker players not because of their skill, but because of their marketability.

But I think you can look at a dude like Zev — unless he’s faking his medical status — and see how he can’t have any comment spun as bitchy because he doesn’t have a bitchy bone in his body.

Reality TV lives in the “esta” … meaning in spanish, there are to different types of “to be” verbs … Esta, meaning you are being this way at a certain point in time, and es meaning you are a certain way … like in your soul and essence.

Reality TV captures the esta, and the masses conclude they are seeing the es. I just did as much with Zev.

Does that mean that they are classless and tacky? Not necessarily. I refuse to judge someone based on soundbites taken out of context.

Remember, there is a producer on the other side of that camera prompting them with questions, and pushing them to take their answers further. The producer’s goal is to get them to say interesting things, not to make them look classy.

Traction — If you check comments about the show on mainstream websites, the lawyer is already the most hated guy on the show. It seems that Tiffany and Maria are the team that a lot of people love to hate. The lawyer? They just hate him.