http://pokerati.com/2008/10/11/re-sinking-wpte-stock-prices-wsop-andor-full-tilt-to-buy-the-world-poker-tour/

http://pokerati.com/?p=4552

Pure conspiracy theory … inspired by the winner’s pic of “Harold and” Vivek Rajkumar proudly displaying his WSOP WPT bracelet at the Borgata. Without even a rumor to base this on (just circumstantial observations and wild speculation) I called Pauly hoping we could start one. Pauly was in London after covering the entirety of the last WPT event in Atlantic City, and had a brief stop-over in Amsterdam, which I figured put him in the exact right frame of mind to feel the rhymes I was droppin’ … and sure enough, by the time our jam was done we’d have Full Tilt moving in on PokerStars’ brick-and-mortar territory by bailing out Steve Lipscomb & Friends in an effort to challenge the EPT.

So you heard it here first … be sure to spread the word:

Tao of Pokerati: Episode 2.1
WPT Bailout Rumors (7:28)

http://politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2008/10/12/labour-get-global-collapse-boost/

http://politicalbetting.com/?p=7511

But the Tories are still well above 40%

As expected Gordon Brown personally and Labour have received a poll boost in the wake of the global financial crisis. The figures from the latest survey in the Sunday Times with comparisons on the last poll from the firm are: CON 43%(-2): LAB 33%(+2): LD14%(-1)

As ever we have the usual problem of the paper comparing not with the last published poll from the firm but from the last survey that it commissioned - as though that mattered more than seeing the direct trend from the firm itself.

The broad movement, however, is good for the government though they need that Tory share to get consistently below 40% before they can harbour any thoughts about David Cameron being stopped from getting a majority

The recent polling in the marginals with the suggestion that the Tories are doing disproportionately better in seats they are trying to win means that the idea of a 10% comfort zone might be misplaced. We’ve also seen other polling that shows that the Lib Dems can get higher shares when voters are told about the specific circumstances in their seat.

Given the massive exposure and the general view that Brown has been performing to his strengths the outcome is not unexpected. In this context it is hard for the opposition parties to say anything that will merit more than the most minimal coverage.

There are the usual non-voting intention questions with poll showing that Brown-Darling lead Cameron-Osborne by 33% to 27% on who is trusted most to handle the crisis. But to other questions 53% of those interviewed thought that the government was “too slow in acting” and while only 29% thought Brown was handling things well, against 37% who thought think he was handling things badly.

As Anthony Wells of UK Polling Report notes when asked which team they think will improve their standard of living, people also continue to favour Cameron and Osborne over Brown and Darling by 34% to 25%.

YouGov also asked about Peter Mandelson’s return. According to the paper by 41% to 17% people said it was a bad move, with 50% saying they still link him to spin and sleaze.

Mike Smithson

• 15:49 I have coffee, I have text books and the internet. All I need now is the will... #
• 18:05 I don't know about playing it but watching someone try and play Braid (sorry, studying) is hillarious. #

http://zoomy.blogspot.com/2008/10/successful-but-unconvincing-display.html

http://pokerati.com/2008/10/11/review-club-wpt-on-fox-sports-net/

http://pokerati.com/?p=4550

ClubWPT is the newest show to come out of the World Poker Tour family and the first to premiere on Fox Sports Net, and, well, I expected better.

Let me start by saying that I’m a fan of the WPT and have been since I was employed in their accounting department. I always secretly pull for the WPT to do well. And in truth, despite my criticisms of the company and its decisions at times, I feel that they’ve weathered some storms and still managed to put together a quality product every time. That is why it pained me to watch ClubWPT when it premiered on Saturday.

The premise of the show is to take six tournament qualifiers from the ClubWPT subscription website, send them to Los Angeles for a ritzy stay at the Four Seasons, and arrange for them compete in a live SNG where the winner takes the $5K prize on camera. The six that made the first show were…saying it gently…beginners. Frankie, the irritating New York bartender who loved to trash talk, was the only one who seemed to have any real grasp of live play. Granted, this is a show about amateur players, but most of them seemed to have never handled real chips before. Some of them may have played before but were on camera for such a short time that they weren’t able to show it.

Announcers Barry Tompkins and Bart Hansen did as well as they could as commentators, questioning plays in a way so as not to disparage the players but indicate that there were better plays to have been made. I’m not familiar with Tompkins but Hansen I know from Live at the Bike and PokerRoad podcasts, and he is a great announcer, though seemed a bit nervous for the moments he was actually in front of the camera instead of just calling the action. All in all, they were in a tough position of analyzing play without insulting anyone.

The TV hostess, Alison Waite, was there in full-makeup to take the show to and from commercials and plug ClubWPT as “exciting!” at every opportunity. Again, considering it was the first show, it is understandable that she was a bit nervous, but her feigned enthusiasm was a bit much to take. If she gets more comfortable in the spot, or if they’d let her talk to the players - anything to be in a more relaxed setting - she might seem more at ease.

And the players. Oh, the players. The whole idea of the show is to put the online players in a new setting and see what happens, but what happened was almost embarrassing. Every other play had me shaking my head, either at the betting amounts or the cards they were playing. And more than once, a player acted out of turn.

Frankie and Betty ended up in heads-up action for the winner-take-all prize money. Frankie continued to trash talk Betty, the mild-mannered truck driver who was clearly inexperienced in live play, which was like watching a high-school kid try to bully a kindergartener. He even made a crack at the tournament director with regard to his inexperience, and that TD just happened to be Bellagio’s own Jack McClelland, one of the most respected TD’s in the country. Betty tried to make some witty comebacks, but they were overshadowed by her inability to handle her cards or chips; she had a tough time counting out her chips and remembering what amounts each represented, and she was completely unaware of the who-bets-when action in heads-up play. I’m not even sure she was aware that she won when she did.

All in all, I thought the production quality looked cheap and flavorless, the complete opposite of what we’ve come to expect from WPT by watching the World Poker Tour. And between the discomfort of the players and the level of inexperience with live play, it was tough to watch. I hope to see it get better as the season progresses…

Earl Burton wrote a review for Poker News Daily in which he pointed out some of the faults but proclaimed it a “refreshing change to poker television” because of the possibilities that lie in WPT’s hands, such as creating a tournament of champions or bringing winners in to play with top poker pros. In that respect, I agree that there is potential.

jlh

Often the industry (especially at the network level) thinks of their viewers in simple, market-research oriented terms. Executives often forget that viewers are complex human beings who come to any given program with a plethora of expectations that can defy what a survey reveals or what a PR professional assumes about a given audience for a show. Networks are so very much driven still by numbers and trends--the business elements demand this--and people more often fall outside the norm than within it.

NOTHING is more irritating as a person than having someone make assumptions about you--we don't like it in everyday social circumstances, so why would we like it in storytelling? This is why the industry has to work harder (with writers and producers especially) to communicate with their viewers--"you can mess up, if you fess up" is how I see it. Admit when something misfires, be willing to take risks but explain why.

The real value comes in brand loyalty, I think. When viewers think a network will go to bat for their creatives and their viewers, they are more likely to commit to a new project the network offers.

     In Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, petrol was the issue.  Most of the Gulf
of Mexico's crude-oil production halted before Gustav, and after the hurricanes hit the
refineries were slow to recover.  As of Sept 29th, according to the DoE, more than half
of production was still shut down.  Two pipelines serve most of the southeast, and severe
shortages resulted.  People started to fill up whenever they could, sometimes queuing
up for hours.  Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, sad that in Atlanta and
Charlotte and Chattanooga the situation was "like a third-world country."  People
contemplated public transport and telecommuting.