Poker fans get rare behind-the-scene glimpse

When the World Poker Tour brought a high-stakes championship to the Beau Rivage, poker fans not only got a chance to mingle with some of their favorite professional players, including James "Krazy Kanuck" Worth, Vanessa Rousso and eventual champion Bill Edler, they also got a rare glimpse at what goes on behind the scenes of a televised tournament.

Televised poker is big business, with ESPN, NBC, the Travel Channel and the Game Show
Network among those anteing up for ratings. Beautiful young hosts, colorful expert announcers, tricky camera work, and careful editing all play a role in the big production.

On the final day of the Gulf Coast Poker
Tournament, the Beau's Magnolia Ballroom was temporarily transformed into a television studio set. The walls were partitioned and lined with black draping, with one poker table located center stage under the bright lights. Cameramen zoomed in on the players' poker faces against a backdrop of the hushed crowd in ring-side spectator seating. Every minute or two, a smoke machine churned out more gritty "poker room ambience" into the (non-smoking) ballroom.

The crowd hung on every hand, letting out "oooo's" and "ahhhh's" and applause in response to the flips and flops throughout the evening. About 150 viewers, including pros Gavin Smith and Clonie Gowen, watched from seats around the set, with a few dozen more watching a live feed from another ballroom.

Announcers Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten gave their commentary off to the side, WPT Season VI host Layla Kayleigh recorded promos and interviewed players as they were eliminated, while worldpokertour.com Web host Kimberly Lansing looked on. "I'm loving this," said Michael Barlow, who came down from Jackson to join friend Allen Cotton in the audience on the final day of the tournament. "This is my first time here, first time to see this kind of thing. It's all new to me, but I'm loving it."

Professional dealer Gary Hebert of New Orleans and his wife JoAnne stayed on to watch the event even after his card-dealing duties were finished.

"I've been to a lot of tournaments, this is very professional. The whole event is really first class. The Beau Rivage did it first class," Hebert said.

The tournament will air on GSN early next year.

News Added: 16 September, 2007

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