There was a table with two monitors replacing the front row seats in the center of the bleachers on right side of the stage. I was curious about this table and took a seat directly behind it to see what the monitors would show during the taping. There was a man seated at the table and I introduced myself. His name was Jonnie Kedj and he was an associate producer for the show. He was the official statistician for the show and it was his job to record on paper every single hand that was played. One of the monitors on his table constantly showed the picture of the community cards from the camera mounted above the table. This made it easier for him to write down all the hands as they were played.
The sheets he used to write down the hands also had spaces that were used for notations about any interesting events that occurred during the hand. This included humorous dialog between the players, bad beats or times that a player went all in. Kedj also recorded the chip count that was taken during at the end of each round or when a player was knocked out. All this information would be used in selecting the hands that would be used during the final editing of the show.
Anyone who has ever played in a poker tournament knows that it can be a very boring and tedious event at times. Many hands end with all the players folding before there is even a flop and showing these hands would not make for a very entertaining television show. What you see when you watch a poker tournament on television are the hands that have been selected for their most dramatic or entertaining value. This is why many novice players who get their poker education solely from watching televised tournaments are in for a rude awakening when they sit down to play in their first live game. They think that playing poker is all about bluffing and going all in on any two cards.
There might be some hands that were won by a player that did not make it to the final editing of the show. This is one reason why you sometimes see the chip count change even though you never saw the player win or lose a hand from the last chip count shown on the screen.
I watched the taping of all six tournaments held over the weekend. Most of them lasted about five or six hours. I have no idea what the final show will look like and it will be interesting to see what hands actually make it on the air.
Production Truck
During one of the breaks Dan Silberman found me and asked if I would like a tour of the production truck. The truck was parked under the Palm’s Casino Marquee outside. We made our way over of hundreds of cables that lead to the truck out the back door of the Key West Room. The production truck looked like any other 18 wheeler but once you got up close you could see it was quite different. There was a stairway leading to a door on the side of the box. Once inside I entered the production control booth which was a space about 10 x 20 feet.
There were about 30 monitors displaying a picture every camera in the studio. The center monitor was the largest and it showed the active camera that was in use. The director was calling out the commands choosing the shots from the different cameras. If you think poker players need to make quick decisions, you should see a TV Director in action. I watched a few hands from the truck including seeing the cameras showing the hole cards. It was a little tight in the control booth so we moved back inside to the main studio.
Celebrities Having Fun
Some of the celebrities playing in the Celebrity Poker Showdown were experienced at playing Texas Hold’em but there were others who had never played the game before. This is typical of the cross section of players you may find in a low limit tournament at your local card room. During the first season, some viewers used to watching the professional players shown on the World Poker Tour were quick to criticize the amateurish play made by the Celebrity players. However, amateur players are exactly what many of the stars were. The show was made for entertainment and all of the celebrities were playing for Charity. The Stars were very accommodating to all the spectators giving autographs or just talking with the fans during the breaks in that taping of the show.
Several of the Stars I talked to told me they had become interested in Poker through all the media coverage just like many others around the country. They enjoyed the experience of playing in the Celebrity Poker Showdown because it gave them a chance to try the game with their piers in a friendly and fun atmosphere. From what I saw during the three days of taping I think everyone had fun, the Stars, the Spectators and even the crew who had to work 16- 18 hour days to get the show produced.
The Celebrity Poker Showdown can be seen Thursday nights on the Bravo Television Network. Check your local listings for the time.