ESPN Coverage of the '09 Series

I'm really disappointed with the changes.
The poker viewing public is getting screwed.
In years past they have shown at least
a few episodes of non-NLHE games
throughout the series but not in 2009.

There will only be a total of 4 events shown
over 32 hours of broadcasting (31 episodes).
Of course, the Main Event gets the most attention.
Each of the 4 M.E. Day 1's will get 2 hr episodes,
followed by coverage of thinning the field.

The other 3 events are first timers.

The 40th Anniversary $40,000 NL Hold’em
will be the first major tournament this year
and the first to be broadcast.
I think we'll see every internet kid with
a big ego pony up the $40k for this one,
so a field eclipsing 300 players is possible.
Having said that, the logic of having this
monster event at the start of the series
escapes me. When Harrah's makes their
money from the juice on these tournies,
why would they risk busting players at
the start. This event should be played
between the $50k HORSE and the ME.
Give some people a shot at winning
some money in the early events so they
will take a shot at the $40k NL.

The $40k will be followed by the new
WSOP Champions Invitational which
will have a "field built for TV".
Dont confuse this with the Tournament of
Champions that Mike Sexton used to run.
This new event will probably disappoint.
To quote Mike Matusow, "Its just stupid,
especially since half the people who've
won the World Series are dead or are just
complete jokes of a poker player. I mean
you're gonna have (Robert) Varkoni there ?
Out of the 25 who've won maybe 10 or 12
are great players."

The other event showing up on ESPN will be
the Ante Up For Africa Celebrity Charity Event.
A $5,000 charity event that attracts top pros
as well as celebrities playing poorly. Great TV !
Well...maybe not. If you prefer watching Ben
Afflack and Eva Longoria play poker I guess
this is your event.

WSOP Fantasy Pool on FTP

Its that time again !
Full Tilt Poker is running a
WSOP Fantasy Poker contest.
Pick a 15 man team for each event.
Get your selections in soon.

I won half a dozen hats and
entries into freerolls last year.
In the freerolls I won a couple of
$215 tournament entries.

Its definitely worth your time to fill
out your best picks for some events.