It's been a few months since the last time we heard this garbage, so
it's time for yet another idiotic, ignorant article about how poker has officially jumped the shark.This time, our incredibly insightful shark-spotter is Peter Lauria, writing in the New York Post: The once white-hot gambling fad sailed right past ubiquity into sellout-infested waters with a Diet Pepsi commercial currently in rotation featuring professional players Daniel Negreanu, Scott Nguyen and Phil Hellmuth losing to a sweating cola can.
So poker is a "once white-hot gambling fad." Clearly, Peter Lauria has done his homework, and has no agenda. Nope. None at all. Let's see what kind of quotes he seeks out!
"Poker was a real underground trend, but now it has become so commercialized that the game's lost the gritty flavor that made it attractive," said Ryan Berger, Euro RSCG's creative director of buzz.
Oh, well, if Ryan Berger, the creative director of buzz (impressive title, that) says poker has jumped the shark, it must be true, right? Nobody knows what's hot and what's not like someone who is paid to manipulate public trends, right? Oh, Ryan Berger! Come and save us from other passing fads, like Jackie Chan movies and P.Diddy songs! Dear gods, Ryan Berger! What other underground trends should we run away from? Share with us your unique and brilliant insights so that we may stay one step ahead of the cutting edge, oh creative-director-of-buzz!
As further evidence of the alleged shark-jumping, Lauria cites the explosion and implosion of grunge rock (clearly, rock and poker are the same thing,) then observes that Celebrity Poker Showdown's ratings have fallen. Surely this has nothing to do with the positively awful level of play, the explosion of other poker shows on television to fracture an already-limited audience, or the fact that it's been in re-runs for months, right? It must be because poker has jumped the shark, and Bravo's audience is busy waiting for Ryan Berger to tell them what the new buzz is.
Poker Kreskin Lauria goes on to cite declining audience numbers for World Poker Tour, WSOP events on ESPN, and ends with this deeply insightful quote: "When too many people jump on the bandwagon, it reduces the value of the programming and diminishes the game's buzz," said Marc Ganis, president of SportsCorp Ltd. "Poker does have some life left in it, but at some point it is going to have to be recast in a new light so it doesn't become old news."
Oh! I get it now! Poker is unpopular, because it's so popular! Well, I guess I'll go celebrate the passing of poker into obscurity by registering for a tournament at the Bike -- oh, crap. Poker is so unpopular, they only have tournaments every single day, including special tourneys from now until June fourth. Maybe I'll go to PokerStars and ask one of the 61,229 players spread across 9192 tables why poker is so unpopular. Maybe someone there knows what the game's buzz is all about.
Oh! Amarillo Lauria has already addressed the phenomenon of online poker: "And though the growth of online gaming has proven to be a lucrative new way to resuscitate poker, it also represents a major black eye for a game trying to reposition itself as a sport instead of an excuse to gamble."
Earth to Peter Lauria: online poker isn't gambling any more than live poker is gambling, and it's not a "major black eye" for anything. In fact, it's the main reason poker is so popular right now: anyone who sees the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel or WSOP on ESPN and wants to play a game against a real person can download a client and get into a play money or real money game whenever they want to. Online poker and Chris Moneymaker are the reason the WSOP has exploded so much in the last two years, it takes a tournament area the size of a a football field three days to work through everyone who wants to play in the main event. Some black eye, huh?
Like most of the self-appointed pundits who are chiseling poker's headstone, Peter Lauria has a transparent agenda, and no idea what he's talking about. Columns like his represent a "major black eye" for a media that's trying to reposition itself as credible and responsible, not just an excuse to stir up controversy and sell papers.
1. Amen Wil. It is always so amusing to watch some self-appointed, holier-than-thou, creative director of whatever try and set and control trends and lifestyles. Hmmm. If it's in the NY Post, tho, it must be legitimate. I bet as soon as Negranu, Hellmuth, Matusow and others read this, they'll realize the folly they've been chasing and go out and get real jobs. As soon as I get home, I'm going to uninstall the poker clients on my computer. Glad I read the news here at Card Squad, that card playing is dead. Let me know when Card Squad is ready to become Boring Newspaper Squad so that I can update my links.
Posted at 6:44PM on Mar 20th 2006 by iamhoff