Strong Initial Showing for NAPT on ESPN2

While the legal aspects of online poker get murkier and murkier, poker on television seems to get better and better. The initial two hours of coverage of the North American Poker Tour aired on ESPN2 yesterday. No surprise that the quality and feel of the inaugural episodes was similar to that of ESPN's WSOP coverage, with some PokerStars-specific flourishes (like the PokerStars red spade) added in a mostly unobtrusive way. Yes, some of the B-roll seemed of incredibly poor quality, but that was probably due to the very dark conditions on the Venetian floor where it was shot. 441 could more properly be faulted for some weirdly unflattering lighting during the interview segments, especially if you were watching in HD.

From a production standpoint, 441 has learned a few new tricks this year. They now indicate the button, small blind, and big blind with red B, SB, and BB notations; the card graphics have better, crisper visibility; and a small arrow has been incorporated into the on-screen graphics to indicate which player the action is on. Each change is subtle but improves the overall production considerably.

From an audience-enjoyment standpoint, the NAPT hit the jackpot with the bounty shootout. What makes televised poker most compelling is "the final table". In a bounty shootout, each table is a mini-final table. By setting the price point at $25,000, the NAPT assured itself of a world-class field full of recognizable names, each arrayed at a "final table". There were three such tables in the first hour, and four in the second hour.

We'll see how the coverage of the Venetian Main Event compares to the BSO, but so far I give NAPT and ESPN an A- for this effort. Given: (1) that grade; (2) the price point of NAPT tournaments; and (3) the online qualifying aspect that PokerStars brings to the table, NAPT's biggest problem in the coming months may be finding venues that can fit all of the players that will turn up for NAPT events.