Daniel Negreanu<\/b> is no stranger to making news in the poker world. One of the biggest faces in poker recently took to Twitter<\/b> with bracket-style polls of some in the poker media.<\/p>\n
The subjects have ranged from podcasts<\/b> to televised event hosts<\/b> and play-by-play<\/b> commentators and analysts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe point of these polls will be to showcase some lesser-known podcast hosts, have a little fun with it, and narrow it down to your absolute favorites,\u201d Negreanu noted in a Tweet. \u201cSome of the numbers will be lopsided. And that\u2019s okay folks. It\u2019s just a poll.\u201d<\/p>\n
The polls brought a nice reception from some poker players and fans. Others were critical and wondered if they were mean-spirited and unnecessary.<\/p>\n
The polls began on Aug. 13 when Negreanu asked his many followers which poker analyst they enjoyed most. Surveys would continue in the coming days with from 4,000 to 5,000 followers weighing in.<\/p>\n
\nOver the next week or so I\u2019m going to run some polls on the different voices of poker and who you most enjoy listening to. They will be split into three categories:<\/p>\n
Play by play<\/p>\n
Poker Expert Analyst<\/p>\n
Color Commentary\/Humor<\/p>\n
Polls will be head to head<\/p>\n
\u2014 Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) August 13, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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As an anchor for PokerGO<\/b> and other outlets, Jeff Platt<\/b> in was one of Nagreanu\u2019s polls but lost handily to Lon McEachern<\/b>. The poker host from Texas seemed to take the loss to the legendary voice of the WSOP in style.<\/p>\n
\nWhich of these two lead anchor\/play by play commentators do you most enjoy listening to?<\/p>\n
Matchup:@jeffplatt<\/a> vs@lonmceachern<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) August 14, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nHahaha, thanks for the kind words!<\/p>\n
\u2014 Jeff Platt (@jeffplatt) August 15, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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Longtime poker player and analyst Gabe Kaplan<\/b>, topped McEachern\u2019s broadcast partner Norman Chad<\/b>. The former host of High Stakes Poker<\/i><\/b> and star of Welcome Back, Kotter<\/i><\/b> earned some high praise among fans.<\/p>\n
\nWhich of these two color commentators do you most enjoy listening to?<\/p>\n
Only four that I felt truly belonged in this category so this is the finals matchup:@GabeKaplan<\/a> vs @NormanChad<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) August 15, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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Many players took some time in analyzing and explaining their selections. Regular poker host and analyst Maria Ho<\/b> won handily in her matchup over David Williams<\/b>.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaria Ho!\u201d one commenter noted after voting. \u201cShe seems a little more analytical and has opinions prior to action, not an armchair quarter(back).\u201d<\/p>\n
Longtime poker broadcasters Ali Nejad<\/strong> and Kara Scott<\/strong> produced some real conflict among some voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cReal tough one,\u201d another commenter noted. \u201cI like both of them a lot. They both work with everyone very well and there is no evidence of self promotion with either of them, which is kind of hard to find in sports commentary these days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Polls also bring criticism in some quarters<\/span><\/h2>\n
Not all followers and poker players were keen on the polls and showed their displeasure on social media. Some, including frequent Negreanu critic Doug Polk<\/b>, believed the polls are merely popularity contests and mean to those who lost.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to thank Daniel Negreanu for being brave enough to stand up and do the right thing,\u201d Polk Tweeted on Aug. 16, \u201cwhich apparently is non-stop Tweeting popularity contests about your friends to 471,000 people every few hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Polk followed that up on Aug. 22 with a video about the subject on his popular YouTube<\/strong> channel<\/strong><\/a>. The video received more than 143,000 views as of Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people felt like this was over the line, totally irrelevant, and also was just angering people,\u201d Polk notes about the polls.<\/p>\n
The polls serve to promote Negreanu\u2019s popularity and image, Polk argues, as well as his friends in the industry. The contests even produced some criticism from those who were in them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese polls are so lame, pitting commentators against each other are for the birds,\u201d longtime player and commentator Nick Schulman<\/b> noted in a reply to a poll in which he was featured.<\/p>\n
A look at the polls and the growth of poker media<\/span><\/h2>\n
Whether one likes them or not, Negreanu\u2019s polls offer an example of the expanding world of poker media. The game\u2019s growth over the last few years has not only been good for many poker tours and players, but also media.<\/p>\n
Streaming services like PokerGO<\/strong> have now partnered with tours around the world. The service recently announced it will launch the British Poker Open<\/b>, running Sept. 2-12. The service also expands its Super High Roller Bowl<\/b> to London, running Sept. 13-15.<\/p>\n
The WSOP has expanded coverage in recent years with ESPN<\/b> and PokerGO. The World Poker Tour<\/b> continues adding stops around the world and recently signed a major expansion into Latin America<\/b>.<\/p>\n
PokerStars<\/b><\/a> and the Triton Poker Series<\/b> continue streaming some of their events online. Players continue streaming and viewing online poker<\/a> content on Twitch<\/b> and YouTube<\/b>. The number of poker podcasts also continues to grow.<\/p>\n
This has fueled a growing pool of live reporters, broadcast personalities, writers, photographers, and more. The debate may continue about the Twitter polls, but Negreanu said they were meant in fun and he didn\u2019t regret them.<\/p>\n
\nLots of people are bothered by these polls so I\u2019m over it.<\/p>\n
The podcast host polls will happen next week in an effort to help promote a wide variety of smaller poker podcasts you may not have heard of and enjoy.<\/p>\n