Friday night at the SLS in Beverly Hills, the Entities huddled and said to themselves they said, “Holy crap, people actually showed up to this thing and are taking it seriously we launched Wicked Chops Poker 10 years ago next month!”

Other commitments have made regular posting a damn near impossibility, but you only work in an industry for 10 years once, twice, or maybe three different times in your life, so this is worth smacking the keyboard upside the head again.

Over the next month, we’ll get to some “where is the industry heading” commentary, say what we want to say, unload a few chambers, then probably bury this site once and for all.

Hot damn! ‘member the Cumberland County Chili Cook-Off of Aught-Seven? No? Well it’s a day I’ll never forget! What? You don’t care? Well that was the year Pendleton Wickersham entered his fabled Memphis Flame-Throwing Turkey Chili All-Star Spectacular into the contest for the first time. Now, I reckon I’ve eaten his Memphis Flame-Throwing Turkey Chili All-Star Spectacular at least a baker’s dozen times, but there was something special in Pendleton Wickersham’s chili that year. Because instead of turkey he used muskrat. And I’m not sure he cured this particular muskrat, because everyone who had it reacted like they had just eaten the entire Chipotle menu all at once. I haven’t seen a line to the bathroom that long since the Cumberland County Chili Cook-Off of Aught-Six. So what was I saying? You don’t care? Well here’s the point I’ma makin–just like Pendleton, sometimes it’s best to just move on for good from something. In fact, the next year, Pendleton opened up a chili restaurant. So I guess he didn’t actually move on. Yeeeehaw!

]]>http://wickedchopspoker.com/wicked-chops-10-years-industry-month/feed/0http://wickedchopspoker.com/wicked-chops-10-years-industry-month/2014 WSOP Ratings and State of Poker TV (UPDATED)http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WickedChopsPoker/~3/NlYafDHSNqs/
http://wickedchopspoker.com/2014-wsop-ratings-state-poker-tv/#commentsWed, 19 Nov 2014 16:33:37 +0000http://wickedchopspoker.com/?p=12584We were fortunate enough to receive access to the WSOP November Nine ratings on ESPN. All in all, it’s good news and a sign that poker is still healthy. Ratings for the Monday night marathon...

We were fortunate enough to receive access to the WSOP November Nine ratings on ESPN. All in all, it’s good news and a sign that poker is still healthy.

Ratings for the Monday night marathon were up 10-13% year-over-year, pulling .33 US HHs (459,000 viewers) that peaked with a .5. Given the competition against a key demographic (the show ran against Monday Night Football), this would be considered a strong win.

The Tuesday WSOP night broadcast averaged .81 US HHs (1.16M viewers), down 6% from 2013. It peaked with a 1.01 and held steady at a .81 when Martin Jacobson won the title.

While these are not the same 1.6’s we saw in the heyday of televised poker, the numbers still outclass your typical regular season MLB, CBB and NBA game (and crushes MLS, even though MLS pulls a growing 18-34 male demo). And unlike MLB, CBB and NBA games, ESPN can re-air the shows to steady .3-.4 ratings throughout the year.

The WSOP on ESPN is also typically the #1 or #2 DVR’d show, something that “stick & ball” programming can’t claim.

Also it’s worth noting that unlike the 1.6’s in the heyday, these are not a 2 hour broadcast in primetime. The WSOP airs for an extended duration broadcast for nearly 12 hours one day and five hours the next. This is more of a disruptive strategy–one intended to overtake a network for two days rather than just pulling a specific rating.

Tuesday night’s broadcast in particular is encouraging. The final three was an absolute nut-kicker worst case scenario for TV viewership in the U.S., essentially pitting three mute non-Americans against each other. Between Gaelle Baumann and Elisabeth Hille shanking the final table in 2012, and Carlos Mortensen’s near miss last year, it’s like the poker God’s said, “Hey, we gave you Moneymaker, you’re good for awhile.”

When you look at these ratings along with the WPT’s weekly 1M+ cum and HPT’s continued strong regional .4-.5’s, poker is maintaining a solid core cable audience.

Also encouraging is the uptick in the quality we saw in the POKER PROductions final product this year.

While we still strongly maintain that the WSOP and HPT in particular could benefit from putting more producers on the ground mining human interest stories—POKER PROductions found many ways to add entertainment value to this year’s show. It didn’t feel as isolating to recreational players as the previous few years, which may explain the only nominal ratings dip in 2013 vs 2014.

These are all positive signs. Over the second half of this decade, there will be more, not less, poker on TV. The fact that ratings are climbing or holding steady despite limited online market expansion to feed the beast—and that TV products are becoming more sophisticated and creative in presenting information—bode well for the industry and poker’s place as a form of mass consumer entertainment.

]]>http://wickedchopspoker.com/2014-wsop-ratings-state-poker-tv/feed/0http://wickedchopspoker.com/2014-wsop-ratings-state-poker-tv/Martin Jacobson Wins 2014 WSOP Main Eventhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WickedChopsPoker/~3/vWRQOGFNhak/
http://wickedchopspoker.com/martin-jacobson-wins-2014-wsop-main-event/#commentsWed, 12 Nov 2014 06:00:33 +0000http://wickedchopspoker.com/?p=12579Seriously. Really. On Day 1A of the 2014 WSOP Main Event, we joked that Martin Jacobson needed to slow his roll because you can’t win a poker tournament on the first day. And then look...

Martin Jacobson won the 2014 WSOP Main Event, banking $10M. He defeated Felix Stephensen heads-up for the title. The heads-up battle between FelixsonMartinsonStephenjacJacobmart Stephensen and Jacobson pitted two guys who outplayed the table and deserved to be there. In the end, Jacobson played what many observers noted may be the best final table performance ever, going from 8th in chips to win the championship.

Stephensen takes home for $5,147,911. Jorryt van Hoof took third for $3,807,753.

Jacobson may not lead any future boom–but he makes a great case for any poker is a game of skill argument. He earned this championship from Day 1.

]]>http://wickedchopspoker.com/martin-jacobson-wins-2014-wsop-main-event/feed/0http://wickedchopspoker.com/martin-jacobson-wins-2014-wsop-main-event/Wow That’s Howard Lederer! And Other Thoughts from the Poker HOFhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WickedChopsPoker/~3/85mQV-vLbOM/
http://wickedchopspoker.com/wow-thats-howard-lederer-thoughts-poker-hof/#commentsMon, 10 Nov 2014 17:48:19 +0000http://wickedchopspoker.com/?p=12571Last night, poker’s ruling class all gathered at Binion’s to honor the game’s latest Hall of Fame inductees: Jack McClelland and Daniel Negreanu. The Poker HOF induction ceremonies have taken a number of different forms over...

Last night, poker’s ruling class all gathered at Binion’s to honor the game’s latest Hall of Fame inductees: Jack McClelland and Daniel Negreanu.

The Poker HOF induction ceremonies have taken a number of different forms over the years. The 2014 iteration was closer in line with the Mike Sexton, T.J. Cloutier years–big banquet, formal, speeches, etc. It’s the way (we think) the HOF needs to be handled. Anything that elevates what we do in this industry is a positive, so the WSOP officials got the format and feel right this year, especially given the magnitude of influence represented by this year’s class.

Having said that, heading into the night, we were a little iffy on whether or not Jack McClelland really had the bonafides to be inducted. This wasn’t due to a lack of respect for the man, he just felt more of a forced head-scratcher along the lines of Linda Johnson and Barry Greenstein.

McClelland though brought a real air of class and dignity to the ceremony. Phil Hellmuth provided the context of McClelland’s career with a heartfelt induction speech (one that also, by one media member’s count, included 26 “I’s” or “Me’s,” gotta love PH). Hellmuth noted that after trying an early career as a professional bowler and striking out*, McClelland got a job as a prop player at the Sahara and worked his way up the ranks, eventually writing the book on tournament directing. You could tell the room had great admiration for the man, and McClelland’s speech delivered the best joke of the night**.

The talk around the room was that Doyle Brunson had pushed hard for McClelland’s induction this year as Jack’s health was faltering. If that’s true, it’s great McClelland got a big dose of respect and admiration from his peers.

Also, HOLY CRAP THAT’S HOWARD LEDERER!

The biggest surprise of the evening was that Howard Lederer showed up (to honor his friend McClelland). As far as we know, Lederer was unharassed. For those who had a grudge with Lederer, it wasn’t the time or place to take it up with him. He sat undisturbed at a table with the always affable Mori Eskandani and others. The only acknowledgement of Lederer was during Daniel Negreanu’s speech. Negreanu, when he was discussing why he voices his often strong opinions, said something to the effect of, “I’ve had strong opinions about many of you in the room. And REALLY strong opinions on SOME of you. [raises brow, laughs].”

As far as Negreanu, he was flanked by Choice Center leadership (including founder Robyn Williams, who has historically white teeth). Also with him at surrounding tables was his agent Brian Balsbaugh, who delivered an excellent induction speech. With Brian were Doyle Brunson and Jack Binion. Friends and business associates like John Caldwell filled out the remaining Negreanu tables.

Some other notes:

:: WPT founders Lyle Berman, Steve Lipscomb, and Adam Pliska hung out all night, and Ty Stewart (pictured below) joined their table at one point.

:: We all like Nolan Dalla, but his Master of Ceremonies speech was full of comedy and laughs…except completely minus the comedy and laughs. Uffda.

:: Great side note from Brian Balsbaugh’s speech: when he got into poker, he met with WPT execs and they came up with a list of the top possible people to represent. Daniel was number 14 on that list. He was the first person Brian met with. Daniel told him, “I’ll end up making you more money than the rest of your clients combined.” He was right.

:: All in all, it was a solid night with a great community feel to it. Poker needs more nights like this.

* Nolan Dolla joke alert.

** There were mic problems all night. Every minute the mic would cut in and out. When McClelland started talking, the mic cut out, and he ad libbed, “That’s all right, we had the same problems with the mics 20 years ago.”

]]>http://wickedchopspoker.com/wow-thats-howard-lederer-thoughts-poker-hof/feed/0http://wickedchopspoker.com/wow-thats-howard-lederer-thoughts-poker-hof/Where the Eff Is Carlos? And Other Thoughts on the Poker Hall of Fame Nomineeshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WickedChopsPoker/~3/VKWvUUnquHo/
http://wickedchopspoker.com/eff-carlos-thoughts-poker-hall-fame-nominees/#commentsWed, 10 Sep 2014 22:40:09 +0000http://wickedchopspoker.com/?p=12563First, let’s start off with this: we generally like the Poker Hall of Fame process. It’s flawed. So it stirs discussion. And people discussing poker is Good for PokerTM. Some years, the public/committee nail their...

Daniel Negreanu is a shoe-in to find a spot in the HOF alongside the likes of Barry Greenstein.

First, let’s start off with this: we generally like the Poker Hall of Fame process.

It’s flawed. So it stirs discussion. And people discussing poker is Good for PokerTM.

Some years, the public/committee nail their picks. The HOF induction classes with Seidel/Harrington, or Mike Sexton, for example, were spot on. Other years, they utterly whiff. Barry Greenstein and Linda Johnson (great examples of what sucking up to the media will get you) getting in over Scotty Nguyen (who was wrongly held back solely for his 2008 WSOP H.O.R.S.E. behavior) or the continued omission of Carlos Mortensen are the most egregious recent examples.

This year’s nominees contain some head scratches. Bob Hooks? Maybe Chad Holloway deserves a spot on this year’s Power 20 if his Poker News piece on Hooks–who 99.9% of the poker community had never heard of before November 2013–gets Hooks in the HOF. Chris Bjorin, Humberto Brenes, Bruno Fitoussi? What what what? And is Jack McClelland a towering figure in the industry–or just a guy good at his job?

Hall of Fames are hallowed. They celebrate excellence–the best of the best. Too many nominees are fine players with good careers and deserve respect and admiration–just not in the HOF.

While controversy stirs discussion and debate–which is good–omitting the likes of John Juanda, Carlos Mortensen (seriously how’d this happen again?), or builders like Steve Lipscomb and Isai Scheinberg and Ruth Parasol in place of some current nominees is not. The HOF loses credibility.

With that in mind, based on this year’s list–we’d cast our vote for one person and one person only: Daniel Negreanu. He’s a true superstar, has the results to back it up, and would overshadow anyone else to such a degree that it wouldn’t give that aforementioned anyone his/her proper moment.

This year is a no-brainer, Negreanu all the way. Hopefully next year, some more deserving players and industry builders get their recognition and due.