Poker - the real Reality TV

Lately there has been a myriad of poker shows on TV. You have Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker, Face the Ace, 2 Months 2 Million and on and on. Despite some of the difficulties of online poker around the globe and trying to regulate it the game continues to thrive in various formats on TV. Personally I think this is extremely good for the game and welcome good, well produced poker shows that convey that this is all about skill with very little luck involved in the long run.

True, I don't expect every poker show that hits the air waves to last as long as the World Poker Tour or Poker After Dark but I do expect them to learn from these shows production wise. This brings me to my next point. Poker in and of itself has to be the best reality based show known to mankind. What other sport allows you the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat coupled with the various personalities that make the game interesting to watch? I mean how can you not love watching Phil Hellmuth or Mike Matusow blowing up after a bad beat. To his credit Matusow has turned his image around a bit but there is always some kind of emotional response lurking in the air for Phil Hellmuth just about every hand.

The fact of the matter is that you simply cannot buy this kind of unadulterated drama in stores. Poker is a reality show just by it's very nature. The bad beats and table banter are all natural elements of the game that don't need any scripting at all. Just watching the players play the game in their natural habitat is entertainment enough. As time moves forward I am sure that more poker reality shows will continue to pop up to fill air time and educate the public even more about the players beyond the felt. It's good for the game and I am more than ready for it.