Poker News Daily: Tell us about the feedback you received from the first episode of the UB.com-sponsored poker news show “Poker2Nite” on Fox Sports Net.
Scott Huff: People in the poker world seem to be excited about the show and hope that we can do a good enough job with it to last beyond our 13-episode run. The majority of people enjoyed it and sensed our nerves. Everyone felt like it moved quickly and was paced well. They felt like we needed to be the team we once were with PokerRoad and be less rigid.
PND: Along with Joe Sebok, you represent quite a young broadcast team.
Huff: I was sweating our YouTube hits after we put the first show up online. People have been putting up their own versions of the show and one of the comments was, “Look – babies delivering poker news.” I guess I didn’t realize it, but I got a lot of people Facebooking me and Tweeting me that we looked young. Until someone pointed it out, I didn’t even think of it. I’m just hoping that it doesn’t take away from the credibility of the show. Once we get comfortable, the youth will translate and it will be a positive thing for us. Most of the people consuming this content are young people anyway.
PND: Have you received any feedback from Fox Sports Net?
Huff: I haven’t gotten much feedback. What I’ve gotten is that the guys who were with us in studio have seen it and really liked it. Overall, they liked the product the first time through and thought we didn’t do anything offensive. They are more concerned with us not breaking the network’s rules.
PND: Talk about developing the content for each show.
Huff: We got lucky in the timing of the first show being right after the World Series of Poker and we didn’t want to leave off Durrrr signing with Full Tilt. With any news and anything related to poker, you have to let what’s out there be your guide as to what content to discuss. This week, we’re covering a charity tournament because we don’t have a huge World Poker Tour event to structure the show around.
PND: Speaking of Durrrr, what’s your take on the high-stakes action on Full Tilt Poker that has also featured Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, and Isildur1?
Huff: I don’t understand how anyone gambles as high as they do. It’s more interesting to me what the online tournament grinders are doing and what the mid- to high-stakes players are doing. When I know that $1 million will be exchanged every 15 minutes, it’s not as interesting. It just seems psychotic.
PND: How do you, Sebok, and the rest of the crew divide tasks to create “Poker2Nite”?
Huff: Joe Stapleton is the head writer on the show. Joe Sebok and I are in a support capacity as far as coming up with lines and such. Overall, I think we’re all trying to throw ideas out there for segments and we’re all in for that part. A ton of the workload is falling on Stapleton as far as the script goes, but we’re all in there for ideas week in and week out. We already have things planned out for the next few weeks and will get content from the WPT Five Diamond at the Bellagio. We are hopefully a three-headed beast and we have a producer who helps us rewrite spots where he knows things can sound better. It’s definitely a collaborative effort.
Poker News Daily readers can catch “Poker2Nite” every Wednesday at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for full details.
