erik seidel

ugliest man in televised poker?

he is worth a couple of millions so i doubt he cares.

Smartest man in televised poker. He's 100% right about not letting cameras see his hand. Networks are making bank off televising tournaments and not adding a single dime to the prize pools.

Great thread, who can we say is as ugly as him, we need polls, votes pie charts and stuff for this! Seriously I think he and most people couldnt give a damn but he is a good player so thats good for him.

He seems like a genuinely good guy and has been persistent even when getting knocked out early in some big tourneys.

*raises eyebrows*

I've gotta disagree. TV 100% drove the poker boom. Tournament field sizes around the world have gone up significantly since poker started getting more airtime in around 2003. Compare the field sizes of the Main Event or the prize pools at WPT events between now and then.

Also, look at the events that TV doesn't cover. Entries for the $50K HORSE at the WSOP, supposedly the most prestigious tournament in the world, were down significantly last year because the event wasn't getting televised. Without TV there wouldn't be anywhere near as much sponsorship money in poker either because really, who's going to pay to put a logo on a player that only a dozen people at the casino are going to see?

Thanks to TV the poker world is a lot better off, even if the networks don't add money directly to the prize pools, and I think you'll find poker still needs TV a hell of a lot more than TV needs poker.

Good points. Hadn't thought about it that way