WSOP Commentary – Should Players Be Afforded Protections in Televised Tournaments

I was in a brief discussion tonight with a colleague regarding whether players playing in a Televised Event should have some type of protections and whether the game should be protected.  The discussion came up as the result of a player at the 2011 WSOP that refused to show his hole cards.

If you want to be on TV, you have to give up some of your game protections.

The producers told him that he was contractually obligated to and that is what he signed when he signed up to play the event.  The player still refused and he was threatened with a penalty from floor staff.  He at first told them to give him the penalty, but cooler heads eventually prevailed and he showed the cards to the camera.

This brought up the point as to whether players should be afforded the same protections in a televised tournament that they get when they are playing a normal game of poker.  The simple answer to this question is of course they are.  However, the question is not as simple as that.

First, players that agree to play in a televised event are required to sign a release and agree to the demands of not only the floor staff, but also the production staff.  In addition, players are given a release form that they are given ample opportunity to review before playing in an event.

In the case of the WSOP, press released were sent out months in advance regarding the extra coverage and the press release specifically stated the following:

What if I don’t want to appear on TV?

You should not enter the WSOP Main Event. Any player registering to play in the WSOP Main Event is required to accept the television production element and cooperate with tournament staff, officials and television production.

Players that play in a televised event need to realize that they are sacrificing elements of privacy and protection that they would normally get in a regular game for the benefit of being exposed on TV.  For many players, this is not a problem and they gladly make the trade.  For others, this can pose a problem.

Unfortunately this is what TV poker has become.  It is a business and those running it truly don’t give a damn about your game, your privacy, or really about you in general except for the ratings that you can earn them.

If you are not comfortable with this situation, there is a simple thing you can do and that is not play in those types of events.  I know that is not an ideal spot to be put in, especially since many TV events are so lucrative, but that is the reality you are going to be faced with.  So you have to make a choice, is TV coverage worth exposing your game?  If so, good luck and I hope to see you on TV.  If not, there are still plenty of non-televised events for you to play.  Good luck to you at the tables.

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