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 The
Professional Poker Tour was created by the World Poker Tour parent company, WPT Enterprises. One of the best things about the PPT is the players do
not have to put up their own money. Each event is a $500,000
freeroll. Approximately 200 players are invited to play in each event. The players earn
their way into the event by their performance in previous WPT events, World Series of Poker main events, by their ranking in Cardplayer Magazine,
or by special invitation.
The presentation of the PPT is different from the WPT. The camera crews are in the poker room during all stages of play. When there is an
all-in situation, the dealer holds up the action until the camera crew arrives at the table. I am not sure if all the "bustouts" are going to be
aired on television, but as of now, that is their plan. Each event will be aired in three or four segments so we will be able to see how the players
at the final table actually got there.
When the field is down to six players, there will be a final table filming similar to the World Poker Tour. The commentators are
Mark Seif and Matt Corboy. The host of the show (like the WPT's
Shana Hiatt) is
Kaye Hahn.
Mark and Matt make a great team and do a lot of commentating while the hands are in progress. Most of the commentary footage that will be used for television
will be the unscripted dialogue between Mark and Matt.
Mark Seif happens to be a close friend of mine, so he invited me to watch the behind the scenes taping at the Commerce Casino. The set looked
like the WPT set, but the colors were more subdued. I watched them tape introduction segments and footage to lead into commercial breaks. I also
got to see the commentators choose who they thought would win the tournament (at the time of this writing, Mark is two for two). After watching for a
short time, the crew invited me to the backroom where there were six television monitors. Each monitor showed a different camera angle. Steve Lipscomb sat in
front of the monitors with a headset on and was directing the commentators on what to do. I was impressed with the job Steve did. I know if I was
sitting in the commentator booth, Steve would make me feel comfortable. After one take he told Mark: "You were born to do this. And your Mom
thought you should be a lawyer. What does she know?" Mark's mom was in the backroom with me and all of us got a big kick out that.
 After the preliminaries,
it was time for lunch break. There was a private room for the Professional Poker Tour staff and invited guests to enjoy a catered meal. We only
had about a half hour to enjoy the meal because the play at the final table was going to start. I told Mark that he was doing a great job and he
was soon going to rise on the poker world's buzz index.
Mark and Matt took their seats in the commentary booth and the audience started filling the room. The final six players took their seats after
their introduction and the game began.
I am excited about the PPT. I know part of the reason is because I am proud of Mark, but it is more than just that. It is nice to see freerolls
are being offered to some of the players. I also like the fact that players are able to wear
sponsorship logos during the taping of the event,
so they can get compensated for their TV exposure. The most exciting thing about the way the Professional Poker Tour is televised is that we
(the viewers) see the whole tournament process. We will see how each player's decisions were instrumental in getting them to the final table. |
