Can anyone answer: Blackjack is so much more popular than poker, just compare the number of BJ tables to the number of poker tables in the casinos . So why are poker tourneys much more popular than BJ tourneys. Just look at Tulsa for example BJ event 5 days, poker event 20 days. Even Tex's tourneys only last 3-4 days yet most poker events last 10-20 days. Is it the BJ players won't stay and support several days of play inorder to play in mutilple tourneys or what? As far as TV exposure BJ has had the WSOB, Celebrity BJ, King of Vegas and UBT while poker has had Celebrity poker, WSOP, WPT, High Stakes cash games and NBC Heads Up.
Imho......... Just my opinion, but I think that poker's TV exposure has been a swimming pool compared to TBJ's comparative puddle. Folks have seen "nobodies" win stunningly huge, life-altering trainloads of cash at poker. The Moneymaker effect altered the balance of TV exposure between the two games to staggering proportions. The instant availability of Internet poker fed the fire, and the UIGEA came along to kick the legs out from under TBJ just as it was starting to pick up speed.
Many Many more I think if you were somehow able to calculate the number of table live BJ players vs. live table poker players the poker players would be multiples and I mean major multiples of BJ. Poker is an easy home game and has exploded as a game played at home and dorm room....etc. To compare the casino table numbers doesnt even tell the true story IMO. I say there are way more poker players here in the US. One reason the tournaments are so popular is the Travel Channels WPT. There just isnt a better made gambling program in the world. Great players like Howard Lederer, Guss Hansen, and Daniel Negreanu have been great for the tourney game as well.
It's back to the skill vs luck debate With the usual caveat that I have never attended a live tournament in my life, .... Slot machines are more popular still, but you wouldn't expect slot tournaments to rival poker tournaments in popularity. Surely the fundamental difference between poker and BJ lies in the mindset of the vast majority of players. Everyone knows that poker is a game in which you attempt to beat the other players, while BJ is you against the house, with the house having the best of it. It requires no great mental leap to switch from the idea of a poker cash game to a poker tournament. With BJ, on the other hand, it's not immediately obvious (even to people who know something about BJ, let alone the majority of recreational gamblers) that it is possible to take on other players and develop skills that can give you an edge. I think most people, coming across the concept for the first time, would see BJ tournaments as a total game of chance. As for the duration of the events; with more people attending, plus the inherent open-endedness of poker compared to BJ (i.e. you keep playing until someone has all the chips) poker probably lends itself more to long, drawn out events. Plus, if only a few dozen people are likely to be even considering turning up to a BJ event then the longer it is, the less likely they can all attend for the whole time.
I bet The execs at Travel Ch. see WPT as a misfit in its solid lineup of shows that include Samantha Brown and other "hot" shows. http://travel.discovery.com/tv-tv-shows.shtml Interestingly I see Discovery Ch and Animal Planet are sister stations to Travel. All of them cranking out solid lineups.
