My observations on watching the final table on Pokerstars:
1. Holy friggin' crap they could do it a whole lot better! What's with the huge delays "waiting for the next batch of hands"? What's with "Ooops, sorry,
we lost four hands"? How hard is it to write some software and get a guy with a laptop to watch the action and upload it while it happens? I thought
it was a half-assed job at best. Nonetheless I watched the whole friggin' thing.
2. Is it just me or did the deck run over "Fossilman" about as hard as it could?
The first two off the table (PokerMats and I forget who else) were particularly terrible beats. That said, Raymer does play the big stack very well.
What's with the huge delays "waiting for the next batch of hands"?
I think the simplest explanation for this is simply that the players in large B&M tournaments take a large amount of time. A 5 or 10 minute delay probably means that the last 2 or 3 hands actually took that long.
What I didn't like was the overall timing of the presentation. You basically had to stare at the screen the whole time. If you were trying to watch it on the side, you basically missed most of the hands because they were usually already over before you noticed a hand was going. *Much* better would have been the option to pop the WSOP window to the front when a hand was about to be shown.
it was a half-assed job at best.
I'd agree with this to some degree. However, I bet they were facing the same problems faced by the "B&M media"... i.e. I sort of get the feeling that everyone's media access was somewhat cut off by ESPN. And that's probably fair enough since ESPN has some sort of broadcast rights to the tournament.
2. Is it just me or did the deck run over "Fossilman" about as hard as it could?
The first two off the table (PokerMats and I forget who else) were particularly terrible beats. That said, Raymer does play the big stack very well.
Maybe, but being the large stack he loosened up quite a bit. He's going to hit a lot more flops since he plays more hands.
I didn't actually watch all of it, but I did notice that he seemed to be rarely in a big pot with chances worse than a coin flip. This was probably a combination of his cards and play.
To be honest, I can't really tell who's good and who's lucky at this level. Except for the fact that the final 9 are probably a whole lot better than I am. Probably most of the the final 1,000 too. 8)
I think the simplest explanation for this is simply that the players in large B&M tournaments take a large amount of time. A 5 or 10 minute delay probably means that the last 2 or 3 hands actually took that long.
Sure, that's fine. But why not upload the action as it happens -- however slowly -- instead of in batches every few minutes? It would give us a better feel for the pace of the game, etc, too.
I didn't actually watch all of it, but I did notice that he seemed to be rarely in a big pot with chances worse than a coin flip. This was probably a combination of his cards and play.
In the two hands I referred to he had TT against AA and flopped a T. Not exactly a coin flip. And the other one he had AT against AK and rivered a straight. Not exactly a coin flip. And there were a few others like that later, too. Sheesh! :?
3. There is no third point.
I'm going to have to disagree.
Damn! You got me there. First I thought there was,
then there wasn't. Turns out there is after all.
Pretty pointless point, though....
Yeah he surely played very well and very deserving IMHO. I can't believe that another PokerStars.com guy one. They must be the happiest people on earth...besides Raymer of course
Comments
I watched the ending on Stars. Painfully friggin slow. :? lol
1. Holy friggin' crap they could do it a whole lot better! What's with the huge delays "waiting for the next batch of hands"? What's with "Ooops, sorry,
we lost four hands"? How hard is it to write some software and get a guy with a laptop to watch the action and upload it while it happens? I thought
it was a half-assed job at best. Nonetheless I watched the whole friggin' thing.
2. Is it just me or did the deck run over "Fossilman" about as hard as it could?
The first two off the table (PokerMats and I forget who else) were particularly terrible beats. That said, Raymer does play the big stack very well.
3. There is no third point.
I think the simplest explanation for this is simply that the players in large B&M tournaments take a large amount of time. A 5 or 10 minute delay probably means that the last 2 or 3 hands actually took that long.
What I didn't like was the overall timing of the presentation. You basically had to stare at the screen the whole time. If you were trying to watch it on the side, you basically missed most of the hands because they were usually already over before you noticed a hand was going. *Much* better would have been the option to pop the WSOP window to the front when a hand was about to be shown.
I'd agree with this to some degree. However, I bet they were facing the same problems faced by the "B&M media"... i.e. I sort of get the feeling that everyone's media access was somewhat cut off by ESPN. And that's probably fair enough since ESPN has some sort of broadcast rights to the tournament.
Maybe, but being the large stack he loosened up quite a bit. He's going to hit a lot more flops since he plays more hands.
I didn't actually watch all of it, but I did notice that he seemed to be rarely in a big pot with chances worse than a coin flip. This was probably a combination of his cards and play.
To be honest, I can't really tell who's good and who's lucky at this level. Except for the fact that the final 9 are probably a whole lot better than I am. Probably most of the the final 1,000 too. 8)
I'm going to have to disagree.
ScottyZ
Sure, that's fine. But why not upload the action as it happens -- however slowly -- instead of in batches every few minutes? It would give us a better feel for the pace of the game, etc, too.
In the two hands I referred to he had TT against AA and flopped a T. Not exactly a coin flip. And the other one he had AT against AK and rivered a straight. Not exactly a coin flip. And there were a few others like that later, too. Sheesh! :?
Damn! You got me there. First I thought there was,
then there wasn't. Turns out there is after all.
Pretty pointless point, though....
hmmmm mite add that to my signature :shock:
i wonder how many new players they're gonna get now :shock:
first monkeymaker :shock: and now fossilman