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After a few months of planning the 'Poker Show' is on the airwaves, it debuts tonight at 20.00.
It is based on the TV show Padraig & Jesse hosted a few years ago, undoubtedly one of the best shows ever produced that had poker as its subject matter. Obviously being hosted by these two it didn't take long for all manner of things to be discussed other than poker, which is probably why I was such a fan.
I went to one of the shows, filmed in Vegas on Independence Day, and to this day, I don't know how they pulled it off as the planning meeting was held in the kitchen whilst pouring rather generous vodka measures; the biggest talking point being whether to go with cranberry or orange juice as a mixer.
Pull it off they did (even with Rory Liffey setting fire to the set) and it went down in poker folklore and was probably destined to stay there until a few optimists, investors, nutjobs and some savvy business types decided it needed another airing albeit in a radio format rather than the more expensive to produce TV.
In a market where many independent poker departments are either cutting back on their investment in poker, we keep going to the money men at Boyles requesting investment for ideas like this and so far they have been wonderfully accommodating; long may that continue.
We are the sponsors of the show and the reason why I was so keen for us to be involved was due to the impartiality of the people involved. Jesse is an out and out anorak when it comes to poker, while Padraig is a cross between the most optimistic and most cynical people I have ever had the pleasure to meet.
I remember well the time when Barry Hearn's entry into the poker market was revealed and the amount of cynicism there was in a poker community scared of change. Eddie Hearn took the reigns and year on year their TV productions have consistently been up with the best; the Poker Den cash game, the Poker Premier League and Poker Million are home based poker shows along with the FullTill cash game that are must watch for me. It was Matchroom that conceived the radio Poker Show idea and we are delighted to be working with such a progressive company.
In today's poker market place it's very hard to have your voice heard. Many forums are now affiliated with a poker site, push only their promotions and don't allow a site that doesn't have an affiliate deal to be promoted or even offer a promotion to that sites' members.
It's the same with poker news sites, no affiliate deal no story.
Magazines need advertisers to survive so it's understandable that many magazines promote the brands that advertise with them and only if they have the room or the inclination of a good editor will they carry a story from a poker room that doesn't advertise with them.
I have no objection to affiliate deals or magazine advertising other than the cost; a small site like ours cannot compete with the gravy train brands who can buy up all they want so we need to keep being innovative in getting our message across. (The message being please play with us! The more money we make the more we can invest back into the poker community).
The poker show will hopefully fill a void. It will not be a vehicle just to promote Boylepoker, rather an online audio magazine covering all aspects of poker with no editorial bias. If we fuck up, I expect to be savaged like any other operator, in fact it was a condition of us being involved.
It would be naive to think that on Sunday nights the biggest action isn't on one of the big two which is why the show will be observing, commentating and discussing the action there.
The biggest names in poker won't come on if we are afraid to mention there sponsors/brand/product and afraid we are not.
We are a poker business run by poker enthusiasts for poker enthusiasts. If you don't like the presenters or what they have to say phone in and tell them why. Contribute to the debate about the game/industry etc. Let us know the latest news and the latest gossip, get involved. Like everything we do, it won't be to everyone's taste but we will listen and strive to improve it in areas suggested by the listeners; hopefully that means you.
Comments (5)
<3 padraig