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Remaining in the Shadows
Not all the poker professionals out there have become household names. A lot
of the new celebrity style poker players owe their facial recognition to the
popularity of televised poker tournaments, in particular those held by the
World Poker Tour. In order to be recorded paying in one of the WPT events,
though, players are required to sign a filming release for the television
tournament that air on the Travel Channel.
Andy Bloch is one of the professional players who refuses to take part in
the televised games, saying that the release is too broad and give the World
Poker Tour too much leeway regarding how the tour can use each player’s name
and likeness for promotional purposes. Bloch opposes specifically the part
of the release involving merchandising rights. He says that it is not very
smart for players to sign the part of the release that states all possible
merchandising opportunities belong solely to World Poker.
The core of the issue is the debate over the phenomenon of televised poker
itself. Do people tune in to watch established poker starts battle it out,
as is the case put forward by many players, or is poker itself the main
attraction for fans, who are captivated by outrageous bluffs, huge stacks of
chips, and skillful play, no matter who the player is?
Bloch stresses that his decision to not participate in the World Poker Tour
is a personal decision, and should not be considered a boycott. He thinks
that if it were an official boycott, many more players would turn down the
chance to participate in the events.
World Poker Tour head Steve Lipscomb rebuts the theories of the holdouts by
pointing out that he release is nothing more than the standard for televised
filming events. The language in the release is standard, and is meant in the
main to protect both the companies doing the filming and the broadcasters
from frivolous lawsuits. He points out that in four years of business, the
World Poker Tour Enterprises (parent company of the World Poker Tour) has
yet to turn a profit. In the meantime, players like Bloch who do not
want to sign such a release will be left out of the hot action. There are
other avenues to fame, however. Bloch himself is currently affiliated with
Full Tilt Poker.
After the completion of the first betting round, after every participating
player has called an equal amount) there may be more rounds. More dealing of
cards will be followed by more betting. If at any time during the betting
rounds one player makes a bet and all the others fold, the deal is ended,
the player who did not fold gets the pot, no cards are shown, and the next
deal starts. This is the key to poker, as it enables the strategy of
bluffing.
At the end of the last betting round, is more than one player is remaining,
there is a showdown in which each player reveals their hidden cards and the
hands are evaluated. The player with the best hand wins the pot, and the
next deal commences.
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