We’re no TV experts here — when is Gilligan’s Island gonna get the trophy it deserves? — but we knew we were looking at something special on the small screen watching Joe Cada upend the hopes and dreams of Darvin Moon and logger poker players everywhere. (Phil Ivey probably had something to do with that, too.)

Sure enough, for the second year in a row, ESPN’s WSOP coverage got an Emmy nomination.

Specifically it was for the November Nine coverage in the category “Outstanding Live Event Turnaround”.

I think they’re referring to the fine TV production work of Dave Swartz, Matt Maranz, and the 441 Productions crew, moreso than the chipstack turnaround of Cada.

Poker2Nite inked a deal for a second season of the poker-news-talk-variety show presented by UB.net, featuring Scott Huff, Joe Stapleton, and Joe Sebok. After a start-up run on FoxSports — and seen regularly on Pokerati — season 2 will run for 12 episodes on the Versus network … Versus was formerly the Outdoor Life Network before rebranding itself as a sports and lifestyle channel in late 2008. This seems to be in line with their development of slightly non-traditional sports programming.

We’ll see how any new embedding options work, and what else may or may not change with the new channel. But glad to see the industry still able to support two semi-independent poker television news shows … the other, of course, being ESPNs The Inside Deal presented by PokerStars.

The new season begins on Wednesday, March 3, supposedly at 11 pm … though I am thinking that must be Eastern Time since the Cox Las Vegas listings say it airs at 8 pm and re-airs on Fridays at 2:30 pm. Channel 38.

And a little bubbling-under semi-related to the show … Cohost Sebok says he tried to buy out of his face-tattoo prop bet with Gavin Smith and Jeff Madsen, but they wouldn’t accept … which you know how that works … makes him the odds-on favorite to win the permanent lasts-longer bet for the LAPC main event.

This — a live cam from above the floor of the Commerce — is pretty cool. Would be extra-awesome if a fight were to breakout or some girl decided to go streaking. But whatever, anyhow, check it out, if you want to watch — at present — three or four tables of a super-satellite at the Commerce. (They just got back from break.)

I think the plan is to stream the final table of the $1k w rebuys event later tonight …

They don’t quite have play-by-play to make it a real show (yet), but there is a chat moderator to answer questions about what you’re looking at. This UStream thing … so much potential to be either really good or really bad. Jury still out … but interesting they have it … and the audio now in my background (have heard a few screams and stomps, calls for somebody named Sam, and lots of chip-clicking) is more compelling than the NBC analysts for pairs figure skating.

Webcam chat at Ustream

I don’t quite get what’s possible when they say, “You can send video here by putting the show’s hashtag, #veerob, in the title when you record! Enjoy!” Are they implying someone at the table could run video, too, and put it in the same thread?

I can see World Series coverage really changing in coming years if people can self-cover themselves on video similarly to reporting their chip counts via twitter.

Follow the goings-on at the Commerce a little less pathetically with @LAPokerClassic.

So little gets me excited about poker these days … unless, of course, it includes Pot-Limit Omaha or somebody getting sued/arrested. (C’mon HSP, can we just get one episode of PLO? Just to hear Gabe Kaplan talking about it. Promise not to sue you if you use this idea.)

But I stumbled across this last night — a game I read about on the internet back when it was being recorded (I believe in September). It’s just a regular-ole episode (Season 4 Ep. 3). But still much more exciting on video than anything I read about online, and way better than the Poker Stars Million-Dollar Challenge, not to mention Face the Ace:

Starring:

Patrik Antonius
Tom Dwan
Mike Matusow
Chris Ferguson
Gus Hansen
Allen Cunningham
Andrew Feldman
Isildur1

[via LV Poker Source]

Here’s some interesting perspective on where poker stands on the pop-culture radar … the season finale of Jersey Shore (on MTV) drew 4.8 million viewers.

That’s more than double than the 2.1 million who tuned in to ESPN’s coverage of the November Nine, and way way way more than tuned in for the finale of 2 Months 2 Million.

Man, 2009 sure has been a year full of lawsuits, no? People seem to need money these, and I suppose they gotta find it somewhere … and that may or may not alter their perception of who really owes what to whom. Beyond the frivolous, sometimes the big guy screwed the little guy, other times the little-guy with big-money poker dreams (but little experience in poker) defrauded backers and/or customers, and other times plans just didn’t work, and the parties can’t seem to agree on what they agreed on.

In this situation, Guardian Gaming is suing Montel Williams and the International Team Poker League in federal court over a $300k apparently investment gone awry.

The plan called for a team tournament concept attached to live casino events and a (new) online poker site. I dunno … sounds to me a little like the Poker Bowl meets WorldPokerParty.com, maybe with a dash of Sports Legends Challenge?

Without looking too deeply into the Montel case, we can tell you:

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The Poker PROducers showing they can feed the poker die-hards:

This week, and next, Poker After Dark is forgoing its usual $20,000 short-handed sit-n-go (yawn) for a Full Tilty high-stakes cash game with a $100k min and $250k max buy-in. (No rebuys maybe? Not sure … ). The players: Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey, and Gus Hansen + Daniel Negreanu (representing PokerStars) and Phil Hellmuth thrown in for good measure.

I’m guessing Mori Eskandani doesn’t know who Isildur1 is either?

While PAD generally makes solid stumble-upon viewing, it’s been a while since they’ve assembled such a unique game that should play as real what everyone’s been watching on their computer screens lately. Sounds like there should be a lot of interesting (big) hands … and you gotta wonder just how much at least four of these people really want to give up about their cash-game play under the watchful eye of the hole-card cam.

I also wonder: would they ever do a similar show with the game being Omaha? The biggest hands (in history) these days seem to be playing out mostly in PLO … but conventional poker wisdom says, supposedly, that non-Texas hold’em doesn’t play well on TV.

From the New York Post:

* “Lie to Me” (Monday, 9:01 pm., Fox): From the “Of Course! What Took Them So Long?” file comes this entertaining installment set at the World Series of Poker, with Tim Roth’s Lightman trying to read the faces of people who know how not to have their faces read. Master magician/cardsharp Ricky Jay guest stars.

Here is the video:

Found by the guys at PokerListings.

This upcoming Tuesday Tonight … on the Late Show with David Letterman. PokerStars PR is downright giddy about it … the basic deets:

The show will be broadcast on CBS at 11:30 PM EST (check your local listings). Cada is the first poker player on the show since 2004.

UPDATE: I still haven’t seen the segment yet … but did find it interesting that a regular-ole London Newspaper — not a special poker-focussed section or anything — made note of the new poker champ’s appearance on an American talk show that isn’t Oprah.

A new show launches this week on Fox Sports … Poker2Night … starring Joe Sebok and Scott Huff. I’m not sure if this few-holds-barred-poker-news concept makes The Poker Beat more of a fluffer or a clean-up man, but regardless … good on Ultimate Bet for buying time in a way that helps elevate poker to the level of other sports that have weekly news shows covering the baseball/football/soccer/foosball/whatever biz.

Wednesdays at 11 pm … time zone/cable-service-provider variance not yet clear:

Early tip on improving the show without having seen any of it: More Wolfman!

@Poker2Nite on twitter.

So I really nailed it when predicting the outcomes of the tournament itself … picked Joe Cada as the winner and declared Darvin Moon to be finishing in either 2nd or 4th.

However, I also said: “Seriously, I’m predicting ratings boom.”

Oops …

For Immediate Release
November 12, 2009

World Series of Poker Finale Draws 2.1 Million Viewers on ESPN

With 21-year-old Joe Cada of Michigan setting a record as the youngest champion ever, more than 2.1 million viewers watched ESPN’s same-day coverage of the World Series of Poker, presented by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, from Las Vegas on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The telecast earned a 1.8 household coverage rating in an average of 1,806,113 households, a slight decrease from the 1.9 rating earned for the 2008 finale.

ESPN’s 15-week schedule of World Series of Poker coverage in 2009 included 31 telecasts averaging a 1.0 rating, even with last year. However, averages for households (1,024,901) and viewership (1,228,008) increased nine and seven percent, respectively, from 2008, and the important Male 25-54 demographic saw a 13 percent jump from 2008.

It only took one year for the record for youngest winner to be broken. Denmark’s Peter Eastgate was 22 when he captured the 2008 crown.

-30-

Click below for a more detailed breakdown and recent-history comparison of the ratings, courtesy of a ganked Poker Beat email from BJ.

Speaking of … don’t forget to tune in today to The Poker Beat, as we will be getting all-WSOPy like all get-out!

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A friend of mine who watched the WSOP final table with his 12-year-old son earlier this week sent me a note asking if I knew of any “poker little leagues” that he could enroll his son in. I don’t, but the question got me thinking. How young is too young to expose kids to the wonders of poker, and what’s the best way to teach them about the game?

With all of the coverage the November Nine has gotten – and will continue to get through reruns on ESPN – it should come as no surprise that a new, younger generation will become interested in poker, perhaps inspired by a 21-year-old world champion who got his start online years before he could play in American casinos.

The question is, what is the best, most responsible way to teach kids about poker and “gambling”?

For my part, I suggested my friend buy his son some chips and a number of quality poker strategy books that he must read before starting to play penny-ante games at the kitchen table. Anyone have better suggestions?

photo: WSOP.com

That’s what we wanna know … after Saturday/Sunday’s marathon 9->2 session … how long do you think the heads-up battle between Darvin Moon and Joe Cada will go?

They’re currently in Level 39, with blinds at 500k/1000k + 150k.

Moon has almost the same number of chips he started with, 58,850,000, while Cada, who started with just 13,215,000, now has all the rest — 135,950,000.

What they’re fighting for, essentially: $3.36 million in cash, and then everything else that goes with being WSOP champ.

NOTE: In our previous unscientific poll, Moon got the second-most votes … Cada fourth-most.

The record for WSOP heads-up battles is 7 hours 10 minutes, set by Chip Reese vs. Andy Bloch in 2006. Before that it was 7 hours, in the 1983 main event … where after Doyle Brunson busted out in 3rd on a semi-bluff, an unknown from Michigan, Tom McEvoy, beat Rod Peate for $580,000:

BTW, for a fun historical perspective, watch the start of the television coverage of the 1983 final table here.

I went to Bellagio yesterday for free danish a little poker suit ho-down to learn more about the PartyGaming-World Poker Tour merger/acquisition/absorption … and was thinking how this meeting that included outgoing WPT president Steve Lipscomb and incoming new boss Adam Pliska might be kinda like George W. Bush handing the keys to the White House over to Barack Obama — you know, peaceful transition of power, new regime, new direction … change … then I thought, nah, that comparison might not be fair, and might be stretching things a bit.

But then, upon meeting Pliska a few minutes later …

Hmm … White House, WPT House, WPTE House … Party Politics … workshop … but still, there might be something there.

Click below to read the corporate bio of a guy who stands to be rather influential in shaping poker’s future. But first, here’s another pic (taken at the actual White House) of the new WPT president, who was in town to talk about plans for what he believes will be a major poker stimulus:

World Series bossman Jeffrey Pollack scoping out the scene during setup at the WSOPenn-and-Teller Theater:

Shoot, I hadn’t even finished writing up my Amazing Race elim post yet … and already, Maria Ho is off to do a pretty major nationwide TV appearance … and it’s supposedly not even related to The Amazing Race.

She’ll be appearing on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360″ tonight at 10 pm ET/7 pm PT — as part of a panel about women in male-dominated professions. She is scheduled to appear alongside Suze Orman, Dee Dee Myers (the first female White House press secretary), and a neurosurgeon.

Here’s CNN’s teaser for the segment.

The usual crew talked a little (new era) poker on TV this week — 2M2MM + PokerStars Million-Dollar Challenge — and then BJ number-geeked out on Daniel Negreanu’s breakdown of WPT performance stats … and a Calling the Clock segment on coaching at the WSOP main event.

on PokerRoad

The Poker Beat
Huff, Caldwell, Wise, Michalski, Nemeth, Stapleton
10/22/09

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ESPN had a little tele-press conference about the upcoming coverage of the WSOP November Nine. ESPN’s chief Flack George McNeilly moderated the call, and on it taking questions were Norman Chad, Lon McEachorn and Doug White, ESPN’s Senior Director of Programming and Acquisitions.

(Jeffrey Pollack bowed out with regrets, apparently claiming “tummy-ache”/swine flu.)

For a little preview of what’s in store — from the perspective of storylines, production, and a wee-bit of Darvin Moon sponsorship business …

ESPN 2009 WSOP Main Event Final Table Media Cattle Conference Call
Oct 29 2009
McNeilly, McEachern, Chad, White, et al.

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SPOILER ALERT: More heads-up coverage, table/stage a bit closer to the crowd, welcome to the show ESPN Inside Deal, and play along online at ESPN.com. Go Phil Ivey or Darvin Moon, and really any of the other guys, too! Akenhead is kinda a funny last name. Presented by Jack’s Links Beef Jerky, yum. Let’s dance.

An update on a story from last month, but AJ Benza confirmed earlier this morning on 2+2 that he has been replaced on High Stakes Poker (taping for season 6 starts in November) by a woman cohost.

Unconfirmed reports name Vanessa Rousso as his replacement.

AJ has more on the decision at his blog.

It was a seemingly epic battle for a queen’s ransom that went well into the wee hours GMT … old-school poker in Poker’s N€w World, if you will.

And making his second consecutive go at the WSOP-E main-event title, runner-up Daniel Negreanu would come up two outs short of being “happy” that he just became the biggest winner in the history of tournament poker.

photo: The Tower / A World of Poker

Negreanu knocked out six of the other final table-ists to get heads-up. And yet in the end Barry Shulman — CardPlayer’s overlord emeritus — held strong in a war of presumably tight aggression to win £801,603 (= $1,283,687 USD). That, of course, is almost exactly the amount his son Jeff has been guaranteed for making the November Nine. No added pressure/father’s shadow issues for sure.

Negreanu’s second-place finish and £496k payday propelled him to the top of the all-time tourney-money leaderboard, passing Jamie Gold and Phil Ivey — who now needs to finish 6th-or-better this November to re-pass Negreanu as the winningest tournament player ever.

(Thanks, Lance, for the deets!)

Here’s video of the final two hands from The Casino at the Empire, Leicester Square:

(If for some reason the above vid disappears, you can find the original page here.)

For those of us debating how ESPN and PokerPROductions (a different film crew than the gang producing WSOP-LV episodes) should do their broadcasting jobs … it seems this 6-day event will be shown in 2 hours, not 20 … and that includes squeezing in the Caesar’s Cup! While that may not seem to do poker-junkie justice to a tournament that kept a bunch of us jaded, immune-to-tourney-hype types checking in on the action for more than 16 hours of final table play, I suppose movie-length could work, too.

UPDATE: Clarification of ESPN’s programming intent in the comments below (from ESPN sources who would know). They plan to give it way too much more coverage than implied above.

Click below for Nolan’s official write-up/script:

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Slow action or not … that’s what TV editing is for, and makes me think some damn good poker is being played. (Ahh, how I’ve been corrupted from back in the day when I thought every final table should be shown live in its totality.)

Seriously, can’t wait to see it on TV. You’ve got bracelets out the yin-yang. Two November Niners. The father of the November Nine’s bad-guy. An epicurean old-timer Brit. Daniel Negreanu. International flavor. Accomplished young guns. Scandis. All in the pretty cool setting that is The Casino at the Empire.

It was a sexy, if not tough field to get through, too. The in-the-money fight from four tables down to one saw Doyle Brunson, Liz Lieu, EPL soccer legend Teddy Sheringham, Devilfish, Men the Master, Hendon Mobber Ram Vaswani, Steven Z for good measure, and plenty of valid others.

(Wouldn’t it be dandy if ESPN could show maybe an hour of lead-up, with two hours of final table? Just an NFL football game, ya know?)

@JeffreyPollack’s been giving his eloquently bare-bones play-by-play.

And you can also follow via our pals at Betfair.

Click below to see a more detailed breakdown of the players of what may well be one of the most storied final tables of the year:

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I watched the season premiere of The Amazing Race last night … and I gotta say, I’m already hooked on the show, but probably for all the wrong reasons.

Guilty pleasure, I suppose. As a man who has misread my own standing and floundered prolifically before, I’m finding it oh-so-enjoyable — cringe-tickley, I’d say — to watch two hot(ish) poker girls (one of whom I kinda-sorta know personally) gloriously stumble for my amusement. Seriously, mocking each other’s failures and belittling successes is the foundation of some of my strongest, most enduring friendships! I think it’s how guys show love.

In the premiere episode of The Amazing Race, we see Tiffany and Maria start out in 1st, drop down to last, and rebound to finish in 7th. In the process they paint themselves (and poker pros) in a less than favorable light.

According to the E! Online blog:

The first team to put a bitter taste in our mouths, however, are unendearing professional poker players Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle, who incurred a two-hour penalty after losing two of their group. The shady duo rival Johnny Fairplay’s dead-grandma fib by telling teammates they work as counselors for a nonprofit organization helping homeless youth…a great lie, if you can keep it up for more than an hour. They couldn’t—when recognized at the airport by a poker fan, they basked in his adulation…within earshot of their amazed competitors. The duo also shared another “savvy” strategy: flirting with cute brothers Sam and Dan McMillen. Both of whom are gay—and playing their cards right by flirting right back with the femmes fatales.

Click below for more highlights, lowlights, and poker-focussed observations from episode 1:

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The final teams have been picked … Annette Obrestad and Daniel Negreanu did the equivalent of a coin flip when they drew for high-card … and now action is underway.

The WSOPE’s made-for-TV special event:

Team Europe is comprised of – Annette Obrestad, Peter Eastgate, Dario Minieri, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Ilari Sahamies, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, and John Harvey – Betfair Qualifier.

Team Americas in comprised of – Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Huck Seed, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, and Barry Greenstein.

Caesars Cup began at 1 pm on Friday, 25 September at the Empire Casino in London. Play is expected to last until Friday evening, when one team wins four match victories and wins poker’s ultimate bragging rights.

You can follow American coverage here. And for a European perspective, our friends at Betfair have it here.

Aww, sad for Annette_15: The European captain is the only player without a sponsorship patch, and it’s her site’s event!

Click below for a closer look at the trophy that Fake Phil Ivey is just dying to win. Says Fake Phil: “Winning this will be the pinnacle of my career. My patriotism is on the line. I’m doing it for America. I’m doing it for Barack Obama … oh and Jesus, of course, but I’m always doing it for Jesus. Big ups!”

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So this Face the Ace lawsuit … yeah … you’ve got a lone amateur TV-show concept-creator trying to take on (lawyers for) PokerPROductions and NBC with claims that they stole his legally protected idea to put out a ratings-bomb game show … and therefore owe him $85 million.

OK.

Similarities between Brandon McSmith’s video pitch for All Star Poker Challenge and Face the Ace are one thing … and this video, shot outside what appears to be Poker PROductions studios in Las Vegas and posted on YouTube in July (and pointed out to us by a reader yesterday) is another:

Umm …

Click below to read the rejection letter sent almost two years earlier from Poker PROductions honcho Mori Eskandani that may or may not have put McSmith on tilt:

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I’ve got a buddy named Adam who believes there’s no such thing as an original idea. Then you’ve got guys like Pauly, who, according to one of his closest friends and colleagues, “if you use the word ‘and’ in your writing he’ll think you took it from him.” (In Pauly’s defense, shady web ops around the world do steal Tao content daily, and he knows just how dirty Hollywood and Las Vegas can be …)

So in light of last week’s $85 million lawsuit against Poker PROductions, NBC Universal, and Mori Eskandani, see for yourself and decide: Does Brandon McSmith’s All Star Poker Challenge* look like ill-gotten inspiration for Face the Ace to you?

* Not to be confused with the British All-Star Poker Challenge, which ran for one season in 2005.

The above is a Powerpoint presentation McSmith sent me a little more than a year ago seeking feedback. Click below for my response: in a nutshell, I tell him I think this might have worked in 2006, but not now … and it needs more monkeys … but keep trying!

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Here’s their preview video … gotta say, call me a homer, but I’m already a fan. Go purple!

I think you can see from this who is going to be the domineering personality … and I think you can tell they will probably go far. And you haters commenters can say all you want — LOL on their claims of $1 million in tournament winnings — but one of the things I like about reality TV is the risk the participants are willing to take. It’s not a new phenomenon … we know how it works, how the producers need to create storylines, and to do that they need characters. They need nice guys, meatheads, bitches, sluts, all that good stuff. And if you give them repeated indication of any distinct characteristic, they will edit away to make that seem like that’s all you’re about. And for the most part your true colors show.

Take Annie Duke on Celebrity Apprentice, for example. Extremely divisive character. Half the people thought she was a super-smart, savvy woman. The other half saw her as a total control-freakish bitch. Yep, no offense to Annie, but that pretty much lines up with all I have heard about her over the years within the poker world, and at least two of the above descriptors line up with my own personal observations and conclusions.

So while reality stars often claim they are misrepresented, frankly, in the spirit of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, some might contend that you actually do get to see the real person even better when all the superfluous “personality” is stripped away and left on the cutting room floor. With that in mind, I’m looking forward to getting to see and know “Maria and Tiffany” — whom I suspect will come off a little different but not too much so from the Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho we already know.

It was pretty much confirmed by everyone but Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle, but now the CBS website lists the contestants for the upcoming broadcast of the Amazing Race, and they’re on it. The Associated Press provided a quote from Ho:

“It’s obviously different from competition at the poker table,” said Ho, who came in 11th place at this year’s World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. “It’s outdoorsy. This is physical and mental, but we will definitely be applying whatever skills we have as gamers to this competition and push ourselves in different ways that we’re not used to doing.”

Their combined bio can be found on the CBS website and describes them as well-traveled, extremely competitive, strong-minded, and savvy. (Funny – but not really – that they’re described by most poker media as simply “hot.”) Despite my usual ban on reality television, I’ll set the DVR to see how far the ladies make it. The premiere is Sunday, September 27.

It’s called Pool, Poker & Pain, and apparently was inspired by hardcore 9-ball grinders. From PokerNews:

The show’s format will have contestants begin a match by playing pool. After a winner is declared, contestants will head to the poker felt. After a contestant annihilates an opponent at the poker table, he put on gloves and mix it up in the “Circle of Truth,” a 32-foot combat cage.

Though the show’s site doesn’t say much about any specific TV deal they’ve got in place, I hope they find one. (Spike TV maybe?) They’re actually looking for a poker coach, too. The fact that they don’t have one of those yet, either — the show obviously wasn’t conceived by a poker person working for FullTiltPoker.net — is part of what makes me think it might be good. I also like where they see poker’s role in the manly dynamic of technical skill, gambling, and brute strength.

Seriously, it’s 2005 again, right? Remember, Juha Helppi and Robert Varkonyi were playing underwater, or maybe it was on an iceberg? Regardless … while on first glance this gets more eyeroll and groan than live-event invitations to Michael Phelps, Lady Gaga, Barack Obama, Sasquatch, and Superman … the idea of Mike Sexton and Tom Dwan playing against some Danish online qualifiers while dangling over the streets of Copenhagen? Yeah, I can dig …

From a poker perspective, it’s actually an interesting concept: Let’s force difficult poker decisions under conditions that guarantee a little extra heart-pumping, with some extra life-on-the-line chemicals in the bloodstreams. Though that’s about as gimmicky as you can get, gotta say, I think I’d be really interested in seeing this on TV — bring back some heart monitors and attach everyone to bungee cords for when they get knocked out! And maybe sprinkle the set with bread crumbs to attract the railbirds …

Click below for full details from da.PartyPoker:

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From CardPlayer.com:

“Next year, you’re not going to have a Champions Invitational. You’re not going to have a $40K for the 40th-annual event,” said [WSOP Communications Director Seth] Palansky. “Both events probably come back 10 years from now, when we’re celebrating 50 years. We announced them and intended them as one-off specials.”

First off, I’m not sure I really understand the meaning of “one-off”. Have heard it bandied around for the past year and have even used it myself, but the above quote doesn’t fit in with my definition.

Secondly, wasn’t there talk — perhaps on Gary Wise’s radio show? — about there being a $41k next year, $42k the year following that, $43k, $44k … basically an event growing each year in accordance with an attached Super Bowl number?

Scrapping the Champions Invitational also seems an interesting move. I won’t miss it, to be sure, but interesting that they’ve apparently just decided to nix it all together instead of giving it a second made-for-TV go and trying to scrap it.

With these being two of the four televised events this year, ESPN clearly had to have some say in the matter.

I swear Attack of the Show (on G4) is a great show, despite the epic fail-after-fails in this bit … the cast of 2M2MM steps into Olivia Munn’s War Machine to play some one-card-better-than (aka War) … though the cards themselves get kinda forgotten amid all the eggs and toilet paper.

Still, it’s testament to what poker has become, as you can bet Doyle Brunson never thought he’d see this:

(feat. Dani Stern and Jay Rosenkrantz from Two Months. Two Million.)

Finally got around to watching the new G4 show, Two Months. Two Million, that premiered on Sunday night. To be honest, the preview with the Playboy bunnies made me anticipate a cringe-worthy half hour of programming, but my reaction to it was the opposite. I actually liked it! Granted, the “chicks in bikinis” episode will make me cringe, but Episode 1 was solid.

The guys were likable, as their geeky and awkward ways made them seem like they could be anyone’s little brothers. Their attention to their online poker games was the focus of the episode (duh), and I thought it was explained well to a potentially non-poker-playing audience, complete with the emotions that come with losing/making money. Clearly, these guys have no concept of the meaning of money, but that adds the necessary aspect to the show to make it different. Ultimately, it will be ratings that equal success, so I’m curious to see results.

Personally, I dig Chef Robert and hope he has a bigger part in upcoming episodes.

Speaking of bankroll management … an @Ali_Nejad tweet reminds me of the power of network television, and provides a glimpse of what serving as tournament director on the lowest-rated show on prime-time TV can get you:

@Ali_Nejad At BMW dealer finally gettin break-in service on M5. Sure it only gets 10mpg, but I only drove it 900mi in 3 months! “Green?” What say u?

No blood for oil, dude. Props for going green to show your support for Iran!

The official word on the long-term partnership between ESPN and the WSOP is out. They’re not trying to pull a fast one on us, are they? You know, like how Harrah’s spun losing their title sponsor last year into a “happy” announcement about MBL continuing on as the official beer?

Click below to read:

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From PokerNews:

ESPN Signs a New Seven-Year Contract with the World Series of Poker

That puts the two in bed together through 2018. While not forever, I think in TV terms that really is a remarkably long deal. And yet it’s an interesting break point, too … with the contract expiring just before the 50th Anniversary of the WSOP.

Even more semi-pokery TV … Shaquille O’Neal is in town, doing some filming at Planet Hollywood for his new Shaq Vs. program, which debuts tomorrow at 9pm ET/PT on ABC.

The concept is that Shaq takes on the best in the world at their own game(s). He’s got some sort of swimming contest set up with Michael Phelps, a tennis match vs. Serena Williams, boxing vs. Oscar de la Hoya, and he’s been taunting David Beckham on twitter claiming the (once) great soccerer can’t bend one past him in goal.

While the entire show seems to be athletic-based — there’s no challenge to Elton John for some dueling pianos, e.g. — poker seems to have slipped in there. (Props to Disney sibling ESPN?) According to @Phil_Hellmuth, he, Mike Matusow, Chris Ferguson, and Erick Lindgren are on set right now filming an episode that we can only presume is Shaq trying to beat the best at Texas Hold’em.

Not sure about the format, but gotta think Lindgren’s got the edge after all his experience on Face the Ace.

It occurs to me that we might well see some poker on Court TV, too. If not … we should. Payment processors fighting for their freedom, hundreds of millions of dollars, and the rights (and money) of Regular Joe others … that’s good stuff! Especially if they mix some whammies in with it all.

The folks at G4 have put out some revised bios (below) on the stars of the online-poker-geek reality TV show, which debuts this Sunday (9 pm ET/PT) and runs for 10 weeks.

Wow, so that’s a lot of new poker on TV. Seriously — 2005 again? At least the shows are getting a bit creative and trying new approaches. But will some of this appeal to the non-poker masses, or will they get just downright sick of our kind?

Let’s see, we’re gonna have:

Two Months. Two Million.
2009 WSOP
Face the Ace
Inside Deal (online)
Tiffany Michelle/Maria Ho on The Amazing Race
How’d You Get So Rich (single episode)
Sam’s Game (online)

High Stakes Poker?
WPT?
Poker After Dark?

Are we forgetting anything? Seems like we might be do for a new poll on which Poker TV sucks and which doesn’t. I give 2M2MM a 62 percent chance of being OK or better:

More…

This will be my first time watching the show … expectations are high after good reviews for Episode 1:

What, is this like 2005 again? It’s like everybody and their dog wants to do poker-ish TV. I’m not so sure how these will work out, because they never responded to my inquiry … but then again, maybe they didn’t care for my resume and headshot submission: “Pokerati.com ”

Anyhow, there was an interesting little poker job fair yesterday at Binion’s, with online recruiting efforts powered by Craigslist:

Talent and Production crew members needed for 4 poker television shows

Reply to: gigs-ra6zz-1303970800@craigslist.org
Date: 2009-08-03, 1:30PM

The Poker Television Network is producing four brand new shows that will be filmed at Binion’s. I have listed each show below along with the talent needed. If you know poker and want in on a ground floor opportunity with a new television network please reply ASAP. We have productions starting in one week from today. I will be conducting interviews this Thursday at noon at Binion’s.

1. Wake up with Poker
Talent: Attractive male & female co hosts
Production: Camera People, Writer/News gatherer

2. Poker Talk Live
Talent: Band, co host, Future host
Production: Writer, Production Assistant, Camera People

3. Poker School
Talent: Attractive Female Host
Production: Writer, Production Crew

4. Strip Poker
Talent: Attractive Female Host
Production: Writer, Production Crew

Contact Dustin ASAP with your contact information and resumes. Production crew members, please supply a link to your work or bring a copy of your demo reel with you.

dustin@pokernetwork247.com

Location: Binion’s Casino
Compensation: Minimum of $10/hour

Original URL: http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/tlg/1303970800.html

Hmm, they’re offering actual money, so that’s good. PokerNetwork247 seems to be the offspring of a low-stakes grassroots poker community in Colorado, headed up by some dudes who dig big boobs and NASCAR.

Thanks @johnharristtu for the heads-up. If I were less of a dick I probably woulda posted this sooner so others could take advantage of the info. But hey, really, Poker 24-7 … really?

I’m watching it, for the first time. ESPN just did the sidebar piece on Justin Bonomo’s prop bet on one of the 40something players living in Panorama Towers winning a bracelet. (Does anyone know if he won that bet? I’m sure Panorama Towers had at least as many final tables as Denmark.) Greg Raymer just busted out … Norman Chad’s same ole shtick seems fresh, not tired … and the poker itself is good.

I gotta say, like the way the 2009 season is starting … I could see a few people getting hooked during a weekend marathon. Go ESPN. I think my reluctance to give a shit about first airings might say more about an evolving desire to watch TV podcast-style, at one’s own convenience, than it does about non-excitement for what is clearly a great poker show. Well shot, well edited.

MORE: The cutover to the Champions Invitational … with Raymer coming over after busting out in third, to take a seat amongst a bunch of recognizable-to-grandma champions … nice! Seriously, semi-interested in that tourney now. (If only it had more money at stake.)

Apparently ESPN would make it easier for me to set my Tivo … here’s the episode-by-episode schedule of the 2009 WSOP on ESPN. My only question — and I can almost bet they’ve had this fight internally — is can’t they get at least one extra hour (or preferably two) for the semi-live coverage of the November Nine? I mean shee-ot, we want poker to be treated something like a sport, and yet poker’s version of the Super Bowl can’t even get as much airtime as an NFL pre-season game? Gives the producers so little to work with …

Anyhow, until then … coming up next: Tom McEvoy becomes “the Champion of Champions” by winning a car that he will sell before the end of the WSOP:

REMAINING ORIGINAL AIR SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN)

Show 3 Champions Invitational August 4 8pm-9pm
Show 4 Champions Invitational August 4 9pm-10pm
Show 5
Ante Up for Africa August 11 8pm-9pm
Show 6
Ante Up for Africa August 11 9pm-10pm

Main Event (24 Hours) August 18-November 3
Show 7 Day 1A 18-Aug 8pm-9pm
Show 8 Day 1B 18-Aug 9pm-10pm
Show 9 Day 1C 25-Aug 8pm-9pm
Show 10 Day 1D 25-Aug 9pm-10pm
Show 11 Day 2A 1-Sep 8pm-9pm
Show 12 Day 2A 1-Sep 9pm-10pm
Show 13 Day 2B 8-Sep 8pm-9pm
Show 14 Day 2B 8-Sep 9pm-10pm
Show 15 Day 3 15-Sep 8pm-9pm
Show 16 Day 3 15-Sep 9pm-10pm
Show 17 Day 4 22-Sep 8pm-9pm
Show 18 Day 4 22-Sep 9pm-10pm
Show 19 Day 5 29-Sep 8pm-9pm
Show 20 Day 5 29-Sep 9pm-10pm
Show 21 Day 5 29-Sep 10pm-11pm
Show 22 Day 6 6-Oct 10pm-11pm
Show 23 Day 6 13-Oct 9pm-10pm
Show 24 Day 6 13-Oct 10pm-11pm
Show 25 Day 7 20-Oct 9pm-10pm
Show 26 Day 7 20-Oct 10pm-11pm
Show 27 Day 7 27-Oct 9pm-10pm
Show 28 Day 8 27-Oct 10pm-11pm
Show 29 Day 8 3-Nov 9pm-10pm
Show 30 Day 8 3-Nov 10pm-11pm
Show 31 Final Table
(2 Hours) November 10 9pm – 11:00pm

OK, I’m definitely Tivo-ing this one:

The economy is definitely taking a toll on everybody, but unlike many people, Norm Zada took a chance and became a millionaire–by gambling! Norm made $100,000 in one year which he eventually turned into $100 million by playing poker. Watch him talk about his journey on TV Land Prime’s new original series “How’d You Get So Rich?,”- hosted by gossip diva Joan Rivers- which premieres on August 5th at 10pm. Multi-millionaire Norm is able to live every man’s dream in a lavish 11 bedroom house surrounded by famous neighbors and beautiful women serving as his employees.

WTF? That’s what MTV (parent network of TV Land) is saying … even though this Norm Zada character has no listing in the Hendon Mob database nor on Pocket 5s. So who is he really?

For one, he is founder of the implant-free porn magazine Perfect 10 (nsfw). He’s the same guy who sued Google (and won) over their use of thumbnail images from his publication. He’s also the author of a book, Winning Poker Systems, which was a follow-up to his not-so-heralded paper, “Theoretical efficiency of the Edmonds-Karp algorithm for computing maximal flows.”

Prior to poker (and porn), he apparently taught mathematics and computer science at Stanford, Columbia, and UCLA. And then he tried to start money management competitions called the U.S. Trading Championship and the U.S. Investing Championship … essentially the World Series of Finance? In 1996, he supposedly made the claim that balancing the US federal budget would lead to “economic disaster” — and offered $400,000 to anyone who could prove him wrong.

Zada, a Ph.D., is the son of famed UC-Berkley mathematician and computer scientist Lofti Zadeh, who received the 2009 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering for “inventing and developing the field of ‘fuzzy logic,’ in which a system applies a quantitative assessment to inherently ambiguous ideas, thus providing a new paradigm to improve artificial intelligence and automated control systems.”

Oh, and he’s part Iranian.

Yeah, I almost forgot, too … was reminded by @ESPN_Poker:

Don’t forget, the 2009 WSOP debuts tonight on ESPN at 8 p.m. with the $40,000 no-limit hold ‘em event

We’re way past complaining that ESPN is showing only four events, right? Because I’ll be missing tonight’s episode, and I’ll be honest … I might not even set the Tivo were it a $1,500 donkament.

OK, I’m lying … I’m not setting the Tivo for this one either. Will catch it on a rerun, I’m sure. Spoiler alert: Vitaly Lunkin wins.

What I would wanna watch, personally … Any PLO $5k or higher, any Omaha Hi-Lo (because I really think I’m starting to learn that game), and No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Single-Draw, especially were Phil Ivey to make the final table.

This season, as we know, is going to be all about the main event, which we can only expect by the extra weeks to be more of a reality TV-type experience. And then of course the final table being semi-live … yes, live poker is often pretty good, and I look forward to seeing ESPN’s improvements on their second go at the November Nine.

Seriously, not trying to hate on ESPN’s WSOP coverage by letting you know I don’t really care about tonight’s show. On the contrary, props to them for recognizing that poker-on-TV coverage continues to evolve, and they need to mix it up a bit to stay relevant. But I do wonder how knowing this, knowing the role TV plays in getting pros to pony up the bigger buy-ins and online sites to pony up patch-wear overlays, might affect future WSOP tournament schedules.

UPDATE: OK, admittedly I am getting a bit more interested, and see how the $40k will presumably set the stage for the main event reality show after reading this and watching the teaser for Episode 2:

Gotta say, wanna make fun of Tom, but his analysis seems pretty good and spot on as they’re down to heads-up — Calvin vs. Randy — in the Washington State Poker Championship:

http://CPC.tv/watch.php

UPDATE: Calvin wins. For now, the best criticism I’ve got is … Not quite the excitement of Harry Caray announcing a grand-slam in the bottom of the 9th at Wrigley. Note to Tom: Next time, consider more Budweiser.

Mark my words, or at least check back in about 15 years … G4 is the next coming of MTV. And the Gen-Y and younger TV station (focussed mostly on the video-game geek culture, and re-runs of Tron) has a new poker show debuting in mid-August — 2M2MM:

Featuring Ansky and some other young online pros, in the show’s words:

Premieres Sunday, August 16 at 9pm on G4. This summer, geeks are wild as G4 takes viewers inside the world of competitive high stakes online poker in a new series that follows four young high IQ friends who join forces and set up shop in Las Vegas. Their challenge for themselves? To collectively earn $2 million dollars in only two months using their own money.

With this show, Face the Ace (on NBC), and even Sam’s Game (on Playboy.TV) … and all of them looking at least semi-good, frankly … anyone get the sense that the future of poker on TV continues to evolve? Mix in live coverage like you have with the Washington State Poker Championship below … and really, you gotta wonder what ESPN, the WSOP, and High Stakes Poker are going to have to deliver to keep up with (or ignore) the theoretically non-crappy televised poker we can expect in coming seasons.

Though admittedly, 2M2MM may well be a semi-successful one-hit reality wonder, while Face the Ace could go the way of Win, Lose or Draw … and Sam’s Game may end up in the archives somewhere next to Naughty Nurses Go To Europe #9.

We’ll see … or not. That’s kinda the question.

Click below for even more on what to expect from this new show:

More…

The final table of the Washington State Poker Championship (live from the Muckleshoot Casino) is about to get underway — in an hour-and-a-half, at 3 pm pacific, 6 pm eastern — and our own favorite @DonkeyBomber will be delivering the play-by-play and/or color commentary on the Continental Poker Channel.

Click here to watch.

Southpaw WSOP dealers: We want a pitcher, not a belly itcher!

We’re down to 14 players in the main event — Phil Ivey’s the remaining good guy, Jeff Shulman’s the bad guy, and James Akenhead’s the Brit …

On a recent hand — being broadcast on screens set up outside the ESPN poker stadium — we saw a chopped pot: A-A-4-4-5 … where both players’ Ks played as a kicker. After the applause, Robbie the on-stage TD said over the PA, “How ’bout a round of applause for these dealers. They’re working hard for you today, and are some of the best in the business!”

That may be true — but only if you’re right handed.

When WSOP dealer supervisors sent their best of the best to ESPN for TV-table dealing this year, those who happened to be left-handed were sent back. Supposedly it has something to do with their laying out the flop “backwards” … but even lefties who had trained themselves to do it like a righty were still not welcome. ESPN decision … not one worth fighting for the tourney staff’s perspective, since they did have enough righties in the mix who could handle the job of pitching cards on the feature felt.

Phil Ivey, as we know, may be the most marketable player in poker, yet he seems to be settling in to his role as multi-bracelet, camera-dodging recluse. Thus far succeeding at keeping himself off the ESPN featured table until November — when really, he’ll have no say — he looks to be a real main event threat, sitting pretty going into Day 4 with 341,000 chips. That’s kinda what today’s all about — to see who’s really here to play, or more precisely, contend.

Tina from PokerRoad tracked him down in his private RV while he was on dinner break of Day 2b, when he had less than half that many chips, and got a minute with him where he explained why he played fewer tourneys in the latter stretch of the WSOP … and acknowledges that yes, he coughed back at least one of his big bracelet bets on the $50k HORSE: