Behind the Scenes at the WSOP with Lon McEachern

ESPN World Series of Poker commentator Lon McEachern is one of the most recognizable faces in the poker industry. Fresh off the production of the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event, McEachern sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss the process of airing poker. He also shares how he got his start in the industry and reveals what Norman Chad is really like when the cameras stop rolling.

Poker News Daily: What led you to become a broadcaster?

McEachern: Major league baseball scouts ignored me when I was playing baseball at the city college in Santa Barbara and so I needed a backup career. I had always been interested in broadcasting. My dad was in television in the early days back in the 1950s and my brother got into it as well. When baseball did not work out for me, and that was my original career path, I decided to take up broadcasting like the men in the family before me. At UC Santa Barbara, I got into all of the communications classes I could, worked at the college radio station, got a job in commercial radio in Santa Barbara, and worked my way up from the small time.

PND: How did you become involved in announcing poker?

McEachern: After several years of small town television, I moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area and got a job as a freelance sports guy in San Francisco. I started working around and got hooked up with ESPN because they were owned by the same company at the same time. I started working as a play by play announcer and freelance host in 1993. I worked with a number of producers. As you go through, you become your own best agent. Different producers know each other and through word of mouth ask who you use.

It was the 2002 Main Event that I got a call to do. A producer knew a producer and recommended me. I did that show with Gabe Kaplan and it was a one-off thing at the time. ESPN came back a few months later and decided that they were going to do six episodes in 2003. They called me since I had done the last poker show for them. Luckily, Chris Moneymaker won.

PND: Explain how the process of commentating on poker hands works. Where do the scripts come from and when do you record the show?

McEachern: The only real scripts that we have are the show open and the show close along with any feature material we might have that has been pre-produced. Norman and I are given a show outline. We know up front what the hands are going to be. The call of the hand is not scripted. That’s when Norman can be Norman and the chemistry between the two of us, which we’re lucky enough to have, will hopefully emerge. The goal of the shows is to have them voiced a week ahead of time before they air. By the time we get in the sound booth, we’re working pretty much with a finished product. We look at it as doing the hands live. There’s not much of a script when we get into the booth, which is nice.

PND: How long does it normally take to record a two hour episode of the WSOP and what is the mood like on the set?

McEachern: They’re unique to anything I’ve ever worked on. To take a multi-hour event like the final table and compress it into one or two hours is very difficult to do when your goal is to accurately relay the main storylines, personalities, and actual competition to the viewers. In the final product, the producers use every frame of video they have to move the show and the storyline forward. The voicing of the show really has the goal of making sure that those storylines come through to fruition. If we’re lucky, there’s a lot of table talk that we need to talk around. A lot of times, that can be dicey to get in and out and do that right. There are a lot of factors that go into the voicing of the show.

It takes a day to the show. We’ll go in the sound booth in the morning and make a run at it and get through the show. We’ll take a lunch break and then all of the producers, including the Executive Producer, will come in and we’ll all watch the show, segment by segment, take notes, and share notes. At the end of that session, which lasts for a couple of hours, we’ll go back into the booth and fix anything.

I do a lot of fighting shows for ESPN. I do an MMA show on NBC. For those, if I come in prepared, I sit down, do the show, and we can do a number of them in one day. Poker can be tedious and it can make for long days, but the final product is worth it.

PND: You’ve had a chance to cover some of the most interesting storylines and characters in poker. Are there any that stand out?

McEachern: I think it’s the old days that I really enjoy. In the early days that we were televising the World Series, the names and personalities that came out so strong then still hold a near and dear place in my heart. I still get asked all of the time about Sammy Farha, who of course finished second to Chris Moneymaker and had the Humphrey Bogart look that made such an impression on the viewers. During Sam Grizzle’s show we did, he was like a rusty barb in Phil Hellmuth’s side. There are just some priceless moments that stick with me. We’re always getting new characters, but the original ones that we brought forward on the ESPN shows really stand out. They’re still fresh in people’s minds.

PND: We all know what Norman Chad is like when he’s on screen. Can you tell us what he’s like when the cameras stop rolling?

McEachern: What you see is what you get. Norman is cynical and funny. I respect what Norman brings to the show so much. He has incredible journalistic integrity. He’s the backbone of the show. I really respect his opinions. We’ve become very good friends. We’ll spend the whole day together in the sound booth and then still go have dinner and have a fun time. He has a great heart. He loves kids. Once you’ve known him for a while, don’t be surprised if two frozen pizzas end up on your doorstep mailed from his favorite Chicago pizza joint. He’s that kind of guy.

PND: Are there any big changes regarding the WSOP on ESPN planned for the future? What keeps the show fresh?

McEachern: Not that I know of. We generally have a meeting early each year to talk about what we’ve done and share thoughts for the coming year. We’re still trying to recover from the tremendous effort that everyone put forth for the Main Event final table. As far as keeping it fresh, I give all of the credit to the players. If we do our job, it all comes down to the players.

Poker is such a fascinating game. You have nine people competing in a restricted arena of a table. You have big money and the blind structures force weaker players to act. Poker creates its own drama. If we can be a really good fly on the wall and good reporters at the same time, it will stay fresh forever.