Poker and NASCAR: Not As Similar As Some Might Think

"I equate poker to NASCAR. Everyone drives, so they have an instant recognition for the skill and drama of NASCAR. Well, there's a huge population that plays poker. It's reality programming, with drama, excitement and a tremendous amount of money."

- Neal Pilson, a television consultant hired by Harrah's to negotiate a new deal beyond 2007 for its World Series of Poker property, as quoted in the New York Times on July 12th (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/12/sports/othersports/12sandomir.html)

Yes, it's true: the rotation at a poker table goes in a circle, much like stock cars in a race. But outside of that the two are completely disparate forms of competition. In the interests of informing the public, I present to you the top ten reasons why poker and NASCAR are nothing alike.

1.) You can't die due to poker, unless Chris Ferguson chops you in half with a playing card.

2.) You need a license to drive; saving fish from their chips requires nothing more than brains and heart.

3.) Outside of Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth, poker rarely features explosions.

4.) In NASCAR, racing teams employ several drivers to protect their investments and no one blinks an eye. At WPT events, poker players are officially prohibited from making deals between themselves to protect their investments, lest they ruin the television spectacle of a final table.

5.) The likelihood of a tire flying off Phil Ivey at the final table and killing six people in the audience is slim-to-nil.

6.) Poker players often find themselves frustrated in their attempts at gaining sponsorship by television executives who are more concerned with their own bottom line than that of the players. Ever seen a NASCAR driver who wasn't loaded down with advertisements?

7.) Poker's popularity spans just about every demographic there is - including the hard-to-please "Not From America" market. Can you name me a Dutch NASCAR driver? (HINT: There is no record of Marcel Luske driving a stock car.)

8.) Average Joe can't pay $10,000 to jump into the Viagra car and circle his way to victory at Daytona. Average Joe can, however, pay $10K to enter the WSOP Main Event - and if he's good enough, he can even win it.

9.) Television networks don't edit NASCAR races to show you only the most exciting portions of the race.

10.) At NASCAR's greatest event, the Daytona 500, the action lasts for a small portion of one day and is aired live. In poker's greatest event, the WSOP $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship, action now takes over a week to complete and the production of it for public consumption on a cable network takes weeks or even months.

In all seriousness, Big Media is finally catching on to something you and I have known for a long time: lots of people enjoy poker. Unfortunately they don't understand why people enjoy it. All the focus groups and test audiences in the world don't substitute for sitting at the table. I'll personally show any television wonk around the green felt any time - as long as they promise to warn me of any tires flying at my head.