Ask Ben Bagdikian Why...

[BTW, for those that haven't seen it, there has been a payout update:

The numbers are in, and this year's winner of the main event will walk away with $12,000,000. 2nd will receive $6,102,499 and 3rd will take $4,123,310.

Now, to the real purpose of the post... ]

There have been rants all over the poker blog world about how bad the WSoP has been run. Before I talk in detail, I should start by pointing out that most of my rants in my last post hold Full Tilt to blame, since they didn't have a better process set up to handle their online qualifiers. However, it did generally seem to me that the WSoP staff were a bit over their heads with the level of the crowds, but I didn't see too much mess first-hand.

The strangest part of this story that I'm seeing is blaming Card Player, which is the official and (more or less) the exclusive media outlet covering the events live (all ESPN's coverage will go to tape first). The story goes that Card Player has censored has ignored or refused to publish stories about the mistakes and problems. Now, I'm certainly always one to blame corporate control of the media for everything. However, it's important to note the corporate control of the media, when it happens, isn't usually a conspiracy. Instead, it's usually self-censorship. People in medium and low level positions don't like to question the authorities that sign their paychecks, and in the media world, staff writers are particularly attuned to this issue. I'm sure that's so at Card Player just as it is at more traditional media outlets.

Those who derive their paychecks or a lion's share of their income from Card Player are going to think twice before second-guessing the corporate sponsorship afforded to the news outlet via Harrah's and its WSoP franchise. Just as happens in the traditional media monopoly, I seriously doubt many orders come down that say no negative stories about the running of the WSoP. Rather, what has likely occurred is well-documented, “don't rock the boat” self-censorship.

Some secondary evidence of this has been seen (well, heard) in one Card Player medium, The Circuit. Gavin Smith, who in April took over as a co-host (with Joe Sebok) when Mike Matusow left, has, on at least three different shows during the WSoP, talked extensively about serious mistakes made by WSoP officials. Guests on the show have done the same, including criticizing the payout structures being designed specifically by Harrah's to draw small-time players in again the following year.

Of course, any time there is an exclusive media deal with an event like this there is going to be some self-censorship of reporting. But, The Circuit coverage seems to indicate that no official censorship is going on.

People have been hard on Card Player about this, which doesn't make much sense. Last year, it was almost impossible to follow the WSoP as the action happened due to lack of coverage. Compared to the level of information that was coming out of the events last year, I'm pretty happy with how things have been going. From the point of view of a guy sitting in his office with limited time trying to get quick information about what's happening, the Card Player coverage has been a huge help.

Finally, I'd note that we should give them all a break. Poker is still coming into its own, and there is bound to be some corruption, poor decision-making, and some failures of the “media outlets of poker” in their coverage of things. But, having tried for the last few years to follow the WSoP action as it happened, I have to say that this year has been much better than most, even as I have a heck of a time trying to extract the Card Player video clips onto my Free Software box.

I know there's a poker boom on, but the lackluster coverage last year when there wasn't a sweetheart coverage deal in place indicates that Card Player was the only entity willing to step up to the plate to try and take it on. They're in over their heads, just as the WSoP organizers are, and the whole community is facing the classic growing pains. Chill out, everyone. If you want to be upset at some media conspiracy, Viacom and Clear Channel would be the better targets.

[ You've probably noted that I didn't get specific about the negative WSoP incidents that have happened and blogged about. I frankly don't want to contribute to their google page ranks by linking to them (or, heck, maybe I'm part of the whole conspiracy myself?). For details, I point you to Gavin Smith's rants on the air of the The Circuit over the last few weeks. The old shows are worth listening to anyway; so, I highly recommend them regardless.]