These are all phrases that I've known since I made my first trip to Reno back in 1995. I fell in love with poker. Everything about it just made me want to play more. I made trips to Las Vegas, Reno, and Mississippi to play poker in the late nineties. One day, I was in a sports bar and looked up and they were playing poker on TV. It was the World Series of Poker. I laughed, thinking that ESPN had finally run out of sports to air. The next day, it was on again, only this time I was watching. I couldn't get enough of it. Then came the World Poker Tour. This was on every Wednesday night and it was the one show that I would not miss. I loved seeing these guys make bluffs with hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake. Then, something went wrong-poker became part of mainstream America!
All of a sudden, everybody was a poker player. There was this new thing where players were calling other players donkeys or fish and sportsmanship went out the window. These people were now trash talking like they were about to break into a "Oh yeah, well your mama's so ......" It's gotten so bad that every time somebody gets knocked out of a tournament, they tell the person that beat them how bad of a player that they are. HUH?? When Greg Maddux strikes out Albert Pujols, I'm sure Pujols doesn't say to Maddux that he stinks or that he's the worst pitcher he's ever seen! The game once comprised of gentlemen has been lost to the Jerry Springer generation.
The worst part is that poker is everywhere now. Fox, NBC, FSN, ESPN, Game Show Network, and the Travel Channel are the main culprits, but even BET had a celebrity game the other night with a few people including one member of the Wu-Tang Clan. Professional poker players are now making appearances on talk shows or game shows. It's gotten too big for it's own good. I still watch the World Series of Poker because I like the coverage that is provided and I still like the game despite the dumbing down of the players and the overexposure. All I'm saying is "Enough is enough already!!"
i agree.... and i dont play poker so when someone like you who has played poker....says this wow.....lets start the EPSN??? the Entire, Poker, SPORTS , NETWORK?????? GET IT!!!! ha
I don't like poker anymore. I lost 17.00 in the last month playing dollar poker online and in every case I had the best hand before the river. EVERY SINGLE CASE. You can beat 10 donkey's but you can't beat 100. Sooner or later one of them that shouldn't even be in the hand catches a river and they all chase them.
I've never heard of an activity being "too big for its own good." Casinos are making inordinate profits, poker celebrities (Hellmuth, Harrington, etc.) are making obscene money off of books, T-shirts, and other stuff they peddle on their websites, and TV stations are getting huge ratings.
I think that ESPN definitely overplays the WSOP but then again, I have a remote control and can turn the channel at my whim, so I don't have to sit there and watch Jerry Yang win for the 6th time.
I've personally noticed that poker has been waning in popularity. Less and less bars are hosting poker nights, and personally, lots of my friends have stopped playing altogether -- enough to have halted our regular home games for going on a year and a half now.
Nique, online poker is rigged, plain and simple. Save your money.
On-line gamblin' period....Izza rip-off, az Ultra sez...Poker and Texas Hold-em will always be staples...but jus like Hula-Hoops, Rubiks Cubes and Dungeons and Dragons, their popularity will fade..
Duzn't make 'em any less fun or challenging..simply less popular..
I'm not a fan of poker, and never really understood how it got so big on TV, but like the Atkins diet, it was a fad. ESPN and other sports networks have overplayed it, and I personally can't stand it on GSN, but if ever there was a network for it, it's GSN. Let ESPN carry the WSOP, but otherwise, let's tone it down a notch.
I used to watch, then got burned out. The tour on Travel Channel was the best for two reasons. The best play by play man, and the hottest POA in poker---and, yes, I'd love to---Shana Hiatt.
I don't have a problem with it, although reruns of the same event become intolerable. I prefer the High Stakes poker they show on GSN. Hellmuth walks into that room and all the other poker players lick their chops thinking easy money.
As a fledgling poker player, I enjoy watching different styles and different ways to play each hand.
See, Ultra named two I left off my list.
I officially add them to our mandatory poker watching. The announcers matter.
High Stakes Poker's announcing squad includes Gabe Kaplan, a player, so how can we not love it. I do.
Kaplan's co-host is another cutup, A.J. Benza, who had a great part in Rocky Balboa.
As the reigning FoxSports poker champ, I thought I'd weigh in. see... http://community.foxsports.com/blog s/chuxtory/2006/11/17/POKER_INTELLI GENTLY
also... http://community.foxsports.com/blog s/chuxtory/2006/09/14/WSOP_Poker_be longs_on_ESPN#comments
The over saturation of poker on TV will soon die out. Then the game will go back to what it was... a gentleman's endeavor. Until then... just enjoy what you will on the tube, and be thankful so many "donkeys" are showing up at the tables.
