Tilt

people have asked me, Mark why haven't you written anything about the new ESPN show yet. You play lots of poker, watch lots of tv, why not?

I'm not really sure what the answer is. I really don't know what to think. Its a drama series with lots of back stories which haven't really been explained in the first episode which make it a bit complicated. However, this could really be said of any good drama series.

However, the poker aspect of the show is horrible. For instance in the scene with the hand between the 12 year of girl. The other guy put $7K in on the bottom end of a 4 straight on the board. No legitimate player playing at that level would ever try to make that move. Addtionally, the level of corruption at the big table is also unrealistic as well. That just doesn't happen. I am not saying that there is never team play, but having the entire table involved is just not realistic.

Moreover, I have no idea why ESPN is jeopardizing its WSOP interests through this portrayal of poker players. Now, if they had presented this as a rounders-style beat the odds story of a group of young poker players, i think it would help the WSOP. However, this show which shows poker players as cheats can not help them at all.

On a side note, some of the message boards have made a big deal about Daniel Negreanu and TJ Cloutiers cameo appearance on the show. For once, I complete agree with the masses. I admire Daniel a great deal. I think he is personally responsible for much of the growth of poker and is one of the most accessible and personable people you will ever meet. However, he just fucked up on this one. He even admitted as much on his blog (http://www.fullcontactpoker.com/poker-journal.php?subaction=showfull&id=1105771749&archive=&start_from=&ucat=&) that he never read the script before he did his cameo. Hopefully, he will learn from this in the future and will not make the same mistake again.