More Complex, By A Nose

Handicapping ESPN’s expanded coverage of the 2007 WSOP H.O.R.S.E. event
BY MARK McGARRY

WINNING THE H.O.R.S.E. EVENT AT the World Series of Poker isn’t easy. And neither is providing TV coverage of it. But ESPN welcomed the challenge this year with a whopping six hours of coverage. The network didn’t really have a choice; the H.O.R.S.E. event is considered by many to be the most prestigious event to win on the entire poker calendar next to the Main Event.
H.O.R.S.E., as ESPN explained at the start of each broadcast, is a combination of Hold ’Em, Omaha Eight-Or-Better, Razz, Seven-Card Stud, and Stud Eight-Or-Better (the “E” standing “Eight-Or-Better”). “We added special graphics and had Lon McEachern and Norm Chad explain more strategy and highlight the rules more than they would in our non-H.O.R.S.E. shows,” said Jamie Horowitz, senior producer. “It was a particularly challenging production.”

And yet it came across as a seamless production. “I do know that before the TV Hold ’Em craze started, most people playing poker were playing all these games,” said Chad. “They were playing Stud, they were playing high-low, they were playing wild cards. The people we’ve seen come along since the Hold ’Em boom just know Hold ’Em. So we had to assume a lot of people didn’t know Omaha Eight-Or-Better and Stud Eight-Or-Better. I don’t like to analyze much to begin with, so I tried to keep it as simple as possible and give people the basics and hope it wasn’t too confusing. There wasn’t a science to it.”
There was a science to how ESPN calculated the percentages, though, as viewers were shown the chances a player had of winning the high and/or the low in each hand. But Chad didn’t think that graphic necessarily helped the novice player in the viewing audience.
“If nobody understands the game to begin with, they’re not even going to look at those numbers,” he noted. “Those numbers are there if you understand the game on a more advanced level. They’d be mind-blowing for some; it’s too much information. So they were there if you wanted them, and also there to ignore.”

What was the toughest game to call? “As I said to the producers, even though Omaha/8 is my second-favorite game (next to Stud/8), it’s the most difficult to call, because there are so many possibilities. You would think it’d be Stud/8, but that has less variations.”

Even if you were a little lost watching the H.O.R.S.E. event, you could still sit back and enjoy watching poker’s biggest names battle for the coveted bracelet and top prize (this year’s winner, Freddy Deeb, took home $2,276,832). “The H.O.R.S.E field was a veritable all-star event,” said Horowitz. “It was a who’s who of the top players. We believe H.O.R.S.E. is a great complement to the Main Event. While we see the Main Event as the last American gold rush, H.O.R.S.E. helps highlight the all-around skills needed to be one of the top players in the world. Fans love to see the best players competing against each other, and that’s what they saw.”

Chad had his favorites going into the final table. “It’s a sports event, so it’s hard not to root for someone,” he admitted. “Even if you try to be objective, it’s impossible. I found myself rooting for the players who handled themselves well. When we got down to the final table, of course I’m going to hope Barry Greenstein does well. I like the way he plays. I like that he plays the highest level in cash games. It wasn’t that I was rooting against anybody in particular; it’s just you root for some guys more than others.”

Greenstein finished seventh, earning $259,296. When asked how he thought ESPN fared covering the event, he said, “They did a good job. They did as good a job as we can expect on the high-low games. They are harder to present than No-Limit Hold ’Em and lead to inevitable confusion in the graphics and explanations. Norman seemed to always think that whoever started with the best hand should win. In poker, there is much skill beyond starting-hand selection. But I give them an ‘A’ for their overall approach.”

And Greenstein gets an “A” for his clever on-screen explanation of Razz. “You need five lower cards than the next person,” he summed up succinctly, leading Chad to crack, “I had to read three or four books to learn how to play Razz.” (Chad had another gem when Gabe Kaplan was about to bust out: “Gabe knows he’s deader than a WB sitcom.”)

“I was being facetious,” said Greenstein about his Razz remark. “Even more than most forms of poker, the rules of Razz are easy to understand, but there are always strategical and psychological subtleties that determine the skill levels of the players.”
Indeed, besides being entertained, viewers may have also gotten a great lesson in H.O.R.S.E. watching this year’s event. As for what viewers can expect next year, Horowitz said, “Every year we tweak the schedule—always trying to deliver the best, most compelling poker to our fans.”
For those who look at poker as more than just Hold ’Em, there can be no denying that ESPN did just that this year.

Mark McGarry is a writer and editor based in New York City.