Breaking the Mold
“I’m not going out on a limb when I say that that this will be the best new poker show on TV this year. It’s a damn fact.” Jesse May, May, 2007.
Over a decade has passed now since the late Rob Gardner created Late Night Poker and pioneered the use of the under-the-table-cameras that have become the protocol for any respectable poker show. Since those smoky, dimly lit days, many programmes have come and gone, some flourishing, but most ultimately slipping by the wayside due to falling foul to a tired, beaten down format lacking in originality and star power.
When Black Belt Poker blogger and Matchroom commentator Jesse May pre-empted the success of the Premier League before a single card had been dealt, he alluded to some fundamental flaws in televised poker: “the quality of the drama and the sophistication of the strategies.” With the Premier League, both of these holes would be filled due to an exciting, untried format that allocated points to placings and financial gain to laddering. Coming first was no longer the be all and end all, with subsequent rounds offering players another ‘bite at the cherry’ and a chance to battle variance head on. Essentially, the idea of a televised STT being little more than a crapshoot was finally being challenged.
Like any industry, big names attract big audiences, and the poker world is no different. The Poker Million temporarily diverted their attention to online qualifiers, but viewing figures plummeted and they quickly reverted back. But it’s understandable. Poker has its idols, heroes that people want to watch, those who are at the top of the their game. We want to see how the pro’s play A-J under-the-gun, not Joe Bloggs who fluked a satellite. Random WPT preflop all-ins with no back story are of little interest to the majority of the poker audience these days – they need, want, and deserve more.
Even in its first outing, the Premier League satisfied the thirst of both the aforementioned intelligent, analytical members of the audience, and those that are either beginners or fanboys that help support the idea of the ‘poker celebrity’ due to a Heat magazine mentality. In other words, the big boys were in town: Roland De Wolfe, Tony G, Devilfish, Andy Black, even Phil Hellmuth – for a first outing, this wasn’t a bad turnout and Joe Bloggs was nowhere in sight.
Three years on and Jesse’s crystal ball has been proved correct: the Premier League has become one of the highlights of the poker calendar, for both players and audience alike. Not only that, but it has thrived from its debut outing with bigger buy-ins, bigger prizes and bigger names. In 2007, Juha Helppi took gold when he toppled German veteran Eddy Scharf to pick up the $125,000 first prize. In 2010, that prize is almost the buy-in, with 12 players stumping up an eye-watering $100,000 buy-in to create a mammoth $1,500,000 prize pool. A poker world in recession? Judging by these developments, it would appear not.
But it’s not only the spondoolies that have changed, but also the location. Instead of being confined to the studios of Maidstone, Kent, players have been whisked off to the lavish M Resort Spa and Casino in the all-that-glitters-is-gold surroundings of Las Vegas, the undeniable home of poker. But of course, no decision this big is made without motive, and with a Vegas setting comes the increased likelihood of a stellar cast. Again, the Premier League is able to deliver as the show’s fourth venture sparkles brighter than before with more stars than the night sky. OK, we might not have tempted Phil Ivey to dip into his back pocket, but the inclusion of household names such as Daniel Negreanu and Phil Laak (originally Doyle Brunson) provides a vivid sign of how far the event has come.
Similar, but not exact, to previous years, the Premier League’s format requires 12 players to participate in a series of heats in which they can accumulate points towards a league placing. The top four at the conclusion of all heats qualify for the final, whilst the remaining four play heads-up for the remaining two spots. Each finishing position is awarded a set amount of points, and prizes are allocated to all but the first man out. In essence, this is a league where four qualify, four perish, and four fight to survive.
To me, this is what makes the Premier League special: not that it’s just a league, but rather that it’s multi-faceted with a league, heads-up, and straight up knock out – as viewers, we are treated to three different types of poker, and due to the points system and the way in which prizes are allocated, each and every step of that ascent requires a slightly different approach, one that may vary from player to player. And what’s more, the players making the decisions are some of the greatest the game has ever seen, and a genuine eclecticism of what the modern game has to offer.
My adoration for the Premier League and its efforts to revitalise the bedraggled world of televised poker is the reason why I’ll be dedicating the upcoming days to the event. Over the next week, I’ll be publishing a series of articles brimming with information on both the current Premier League and Premier Leagues past, as well as profiling the participants through bios, results, and hopefully a couple of exclusive interviews. In addition, each article will be accompanied by a video clip of Black Belt Poker co-founders Nik Persaud and Neil Channing as they dig deeper into the workings of Premier League IV and offer their thoughts on both the players participating and the event itself.
On that note, I leave you with the first of those videos. Today, Nik and Neil introduce the Premier League and discuss the history and prestige of the event and how it came about.
Read Part Two…