There is Magic in the Air

I remember sitting in my living room as a kid watching black-and-white television. I was watching the Wonderful World of Disney, and asked my father why it wasn't in color. In fact, I was complaining to my parents that some of the neighbors had color television sets.

"Well," my father said, "you have to use your mind's eye."

"My mind's what?" I asked.

"Well, my son, in the not too distant past, all we had was radio, and we sat around at night and listened to radio shows."

"You mean music?" I asked.

"No, my son, shows, real shows – continuing sagas that went on for weeks, much like the serial shows of today. There were even radio shows of famous movies. So, as we sat listening to these shows, our mind's eye created the scenes that were depicted over the radio."

"That worked, Dad?"

"Yes, it worked," he said. "These shows took us places we'd never been before, and through them, we learned; it was almost like being there."

Soon after this issue of Card Player comes out, you will have a chance to listen to an Internet broadcast of the final table of the championship event of the World Poker Challenge at the Reno Hilton. After listening to every word of CardPlayer.com's Internet broadcast of the recent United States Poker Championship in Atlantic City, all I kept thinking to myself was how this kind of broadcast could lend a "mind's eye" to the beginning poker player.

The broadcast's host, Rick (DaVoice) Charles, is a poker player, which is sorely needed to enhance any poker broadcast. He has a complete understanding of the game that's being played. He understands tournaments, how they work, how they are played, and why certain things happen. His background is in lower- and middle-limit poker, as is most of ours, so his commentary is geared to enhance even the most novice player's understanding of what's going on.

The broadcast described the action, color, and atmosphere. The action was presented in a succinct manner, while never leaving out the color, configuration, and glamour of the location. Several times during the broadcast, Rick described the lush surroundings of the Taj Mahal, and the throng of onlookers, which grew larger as the tournament progressed. The fans made it evident as to whom they were rooting for, as their applause varied depending on who won a pot. Then, there was the glamour and pageantry of the final hand, the winner's emotions, the crowd's reaction, the ceremony surrounding the award of the prize money, and, finally, the interviews with the winner and runners-up.

The emotions of the outgoing players were captured (as each final-table participant was eliminated, he went to the broadcast booth), and the expert commentary that accompanied their interviews was tremendous.

From the beginning of the broadcast, an expert analyst commented on the action with Rick. This commentary and analysis was usually given by a touring pro who didn't make the final table, which should have been very informative and interesting to the listener. Oftentimes during the broadcast I heard odds of making a hand, what kind of an odds favorite one hand was over another, how those odds changed based on the flop and turn cards, and so on. Just as invaluable was the hand reading that was going on, such as, "I think he has a small pair," "I think he's bluffing," and so on. What a great look inside the minds of the tournament pros.

During the broadcast, Card Player's Barry and Jeff Shulman, both great tournament players in their own right, contributed their expert analyses. Also during the broadcast, a visual was set up in Barry's On the Road feature on the home page of www.cardplayer.com. This feature showed critical hands as well as chip count updates, which were further enhancements to the mind's eye.

So, just as in the old days sitting by the radio, the story was told. However, it was real and happening as you listened, and instead of being in your living room with the whole family gathered around, you were on the Internet virtually anywhere in the world, and instead of just reading about it, you had the opportunity to listen to the strategy, hand play, analysis, and color of it.

If you have a computer and get the chance, listen to the CardPlayer.com Internet broadcast of the World Poker Challenge championship event final table from the Reno Hilton on Friday, Jan. 25. Let your "mind's eye" take you there and put you in the middle of the action, and when you're ready to take the magic off the airways and put it into practice, come and join us.