Wow, what a thread. Given the atmosphere here for the past few weeks it is surprisingly quite. I wonder why? I have to agree with both Ace and RKuczek in that both had great points/posts – especially when they come at the topic from totally different angles.
While I think it’s too early to start playing taps for the UBT they definitely have a hole to dig out of. It is my belief that they “overplayed” their hand in the beginning. Holding land based $2,500 events created too high of a barrier for novice players. Who made that decision? Well when you compare the UBT $2,500 entry fee to the poker world it looks comparable, however that is comparing apples to oranges. If the goal of the UBT was to create a high rollers “club” for bigger name players to create a name for themselves, in essence a vehicle for notoriety, then it could be considered a success as Team UBT members Hollywood and Kenny Einiger both won multiple UBT medallions.
However, if you want poker players to play EBJ then you’ve got to market the game to the poker players and market it heavily. The game plan that was done in Aruba where the UBT was piggybacked off the UB weeklong poker event was in my opinion, a very smart and strategic move. Holding the EBJ freeroll the day before and having the SNG and satellites was great marketing. However since that time the relationship between UB and UBT has grown strained and as evidenced by the upcoming UB Aruba event WITHOUT EBJ I don’t think the two parties are talking anymore (just my assumption). I think that an alliance with UBT and with WSOP or WPT would be very beneficial to BOTH parties and would be the quickest and easiest way to infuse the UBT with “new blood.”
The relationship of EBJ with Bet21.com started off great. There was definite interest – everyone remember sitting/laying all those freerolls in September-November? However due to specific problems (UIGEA and poor communication on the part of Bet21.com) that relationship didn’t prosper to the full extent that the powers behind EBJ/UBT & Bet21.com had hoped for.
Another area that has hindered the UBT is the relationship between UBT and the land based casinos. With the exception of Barona most of the other casinos have done a less than stellar job of promoting EBJ. That, in my opinion, is the biggest reason that UBT will have trouble succeeding. Unless people can actually play a live game, the UBT is doomed to fail. Playing online is one thing – in person it’s a whole different animal and therein lies the problem. Why has Barona succeed and the others not done as well? Marketing, clientele, location, etc. My personal belief is that Max Rubin probably has a lot to do with this – but than again what do I know? Unless a broader assortment of land-based casinos start to provide EBJ style tournaments &/or SNG’s the UBT concept WILL fail. Sad – but true.
That transitions directly into the observations make by RKuczek. While Ace’s comments looked at UBT from a profit/loss and general overall consideration, I believe that RK’s viewpoint is more from a player’s viewpoint and in particular a BJ players viewpoint.
I wrote earlier about an article in the July All In magazine that was written about EBJ from a poker players perspective (an article that I highly recommend) and one of the reasons that I found it so intriguing is the insight that the article sheds upon the psyche of poker players. For example the article mentions that Freddie Deeb used his poker skills to talk his opponent into using their secret bet earlier than they should have (according to the article). From most of the land based BJ tournaments that I have played in talking and in particular smack talking, in definitely frowned upon. RK is correct in that the BJ players, for the most part, are non-confrontational. (This is a GENERAL observation and doesn’t apply to many BJT.com members).
Poker players and BJ players are just too different breeds and I don’t think that there are many who will demonstrate the same passion for both TBJ and poker. While RK, and many others feel that secret bets and elimination hands “muck up” the BJT experience I believe that they enhance it and were done to market the poker market. Unlike most experienced BJT players I take the stance that EBJ didn’t go far enough. I would like to see EBJ do the following: have the dealer use a SINGLE DECK and deal FACE DOWN, while keeping everything else the same. Use the poker cams for the TV version.
The BJT purists will definitely cry foul and say I’m nuts (like I haven’t heard THAT before) but EBJ isn’t about the BJ players is it? It’s about creating a NEW market, an amalgamation between the best of BJ and poker. Think about this – how many people watched poker BEFORE the pocket cams? When all the cards are visible and everyone knows what the chip totals are who has the advantage – the math whizzes not the people who have skills in reading “tells”, which by the way is a very important skill.
Finally – I had an opportunity to view a prior GSN broadcast of WSOB season 3, in particular the match featuring Kenny Einiger and Paul Haas. I watched the entire episode and all I have to say is this. If anyone believed that skill played a bigger role than luck in BJ tournaments have them watch that episode. I don’t have the background between Kenny and Paul, nevertheless I briefly remember some of Paul’s postings earlier in 2007 as he tried to qualify for the 2007 WSOB. I can say this – Paul was definitely lucky and got some good cards. He demonstrated his lack of experience several times but it didn’t matter as he went on to win that round.
Watching Kenny and Paul reminded me out a post by eliburk, “I love watching grown men fight”. There’s something about that type of behavior that captures the viewers – I mean look at Jerry Springer! In fact I believe that many people just pull up this site to see the “fighting” between certain members. Forgive my digression on this but my point is that the antagonist/protagonist is a necessary factor in order to viewers to tune in and care about the characters. The way WSOB is done this provides the audience an opportunity to find “characters” that they care about. UBT is just a snapshot in time and there is no telling who the characters are week to week.
In my opinion the UBT would have been better served showing the tables that lead up to the final tables. In the intro/lead sections there are several shots of “antics”/smack/etc. that would have made for better TV than some of the final table shows (just a personal opinion). An example of this would be American Idol. Does the best singer win? NOPE. Why? American Idol is a reality TV show that uses singing as it medium. The UBT should follow the same format and do it as a reality TV show that uses BJ as its medium. However with season 2 “in the can” it will be more of the same as season 1, another version of WSOB with lights and little gimmicks.
So finally how do you define success? Is it to show profitability? Is it to have recognition, fame, and fortune? Is it all of the above or none of the above?
I think it’s a little premature to throw dirt on UBT at this time. However, in my mind it definitely has a long journey in order to dig itself out of the financial hole in which it currently resides. What is the solution? Will ClubUBT be the savior of the UBT? How about better ratings for season 2? More land based tournaments? How about an alliance with a poker tour?
Lots of questions abound – anyone got the answers? I hope so because I for one, would hate to see EBJ go away.
