Why even say anything?
Lon McEachern earned the nickname “the voice of poker” for his long-standing run as the play-by-play announcer of ESPN’s coverage of the World Series of Poker. He has been nominated for the Poker Hall of Fame. He’s seen a lot in the poker world, which is the reason why many were flummoxed on Wednesday when he seemed to downplay Leo Marget’s run to the 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event final table, saying it wasn’t “historic.”
“Unpopular opinion disguised as fact:” McEachern posted on X. “As great a run as it was, Leo Margets did not make any @WSOP history. Media folks really WANT to announce something historical and will ‘massage’ the storyline to meet their desires. Thus we wind up with, ‘…in the modern era.’ It’s bullshit.”
Margets became the first woman since Barbara Enright in 1995 to reach the WSOP Main Event final table. Several women made it to the final table bubble in recent years, but Margets was the first to break through. She bowed out in 7th place on Tuesday.
Naturally, the poker world was excited for Margets, joyful that a woman, in a sport whose tournament player base is predominantly men, finally broke through on the biggest stage after three decades. Obviously, she was not the first woman to reach the Main Event final table, but is the first to do so in the age of internet poker and massive tournament fields, hence the “modern era” qualifier.
Poker community comes down hard
But McEachern wasn’t having any of the modern era “bullshit,” as he called it. While he defended himself, saying that Marget’s run was phenomenal, he remained insistent that something happening for the first time in 30 years against a field that was nearly 36 times larger than in 1995 (9,735 entrants vs. 273 entrants) failed to be “historic.”
And people are letting him have it.
“Just celebrate what it is which is a monumental feat. Doesn’t take anything away from Barbara,” replied poker pro and podcaster Matt Berkey.
Poker pro and commentator Bart Hanson told McEachern, “Haven’t seen a take this bad since you defended Mike Postle and Stones.
World Poker Tour television host Tony Dunst responded to McEachern, putting Marget’s accomplishment into a different sort of perspective: “Dude Leo won $500k more than first in ’95.”
As a capper, long-time poker journalist and executive Lance Bradley posted a video of McEachern announcing the 2012 WSOP Main Event for ESPN. In the video, he said Gaelle Baumann, who finished 10th, was “trying to make history as the first female to make the final table since 1995.”
Guess opinions change.
Image credit: PokerGO.com
