Poker on Television is Very Different from The Game You Play

It is amazing to me how often I will be in a game where somebody will do something ridiculous and claim it is how some pro would play the same situation. I always enjoy quietly listening to how somebody has watched some player that they admire on television, and then claim to know how they play. You can only tell a little bit about your favourite pros by watching them on television.

There are a few things you have to keep in mind when watching players on television. First of all, many of them are paid to appear. That means exactly what it sounds like. Shows like Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker are television shows first and gaming events second. Meaning, they want to attract a viewing audience so that they can continue to grab their big sponsorship money. They ask professional players that they think will attract a particular demographic to play so that you, the viewing audience, will watch.

Most of the time, the television shows you see have players who are competing with other people's money. They are being given the cash to play. Usually by the producers of the show. Many of the games are not even for real. This is so you can see a lot of exciting moments and watch the big pros that you emulate, do things they normally would not do. Imagine, how long you would watch these guys play on television if they kept getting runs of bad cards and just chose to hardly play. Probably not very long.

When the pros are on television playing for real, again it isn't their money because it is a sponsorship appearance. You have seen these hundreds of times. A pro will be sponsored by a gaming site for example, and they will be wearing a baseball cap or wind breaker with the company's name all over it. That company in turn, pays that player to appear and often gives them the playing money to compete with. It is not often that they are playing with their own money in those situations and again will play differently than if it was their own cash at stake.

The other time to be weary of what you are watching is during tournament play. Usually when you see a pro playing on television, you are seeing how they would play at that stage in a tournament. However, you have to realize first off, that tournament play is very different from cash game play. What you also have to realize is that where you are in a tournament, meaning, early stages as opposed to final table, will vary your style of play. All of this, will be different from how you play in a cash game. Most of the televised tournament play that gets broadcast is final table play. This tends to be more aggressive and open since the players are already in the money and are trying to win the whole thing. You will generally not get to see these players at the early stages because it is boring and not worth televising hours of folding.

Poker on television is also generally a showing of the most interesting hands. You are not getting to see every hand played out. So a player who appears to play a lot of hands on television, isn't actually playing that many hands but rather the show has been edited to appear that way. What you should also be aware of is how these shows are structured. I can assure you that if the session is slow and uneventful, the producers have juiced it up to keep it interesting for viewers.

These are several things you should keep in mind when watching poker on television and play your cash games accordingly. Remember, poker on television is much like most things on television, it is designed to entertain you, not educate you.