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Action and stuff from Charlotte

Posted By: Alex Schofield
Date: Friday, 4 September 2015, at 3:51 p.m.

In Response To: Action and stuff from Charlotte (Phil Simborg)

Commentating is a very difficult skill to do well and remember that this is amateur commentators doing a job that people in other sports/games on TV/radio get paid a very handsome salary for.

Falafel is a superb commentator. He explains his reasoning very well (providing a wealth of information to players who are nowhere near his level), gives alternatives, analyses how the other players' rolls will play (very important) and is very entertaining. He is also the most credible option, as everyone knows he is one of the worlds very best players.

In mind sports such as Chess, Backgammon and Poker (perhaps a slight exception) there isn't much room for a "play by play" commentator. Saying things like "He rolled 6-1 and made the bar point" or "He moved the King's pawn to D4" with no colour commentary is going to have everyone reaching for the mute button. For Backgammon to have any chance of growing in this age it needs to be more of a spectator sport and great commentary with expert analysis is a big part of this, look at last years London Open coverage for an example of what great coverage looks like- it had interviews, analysis and great commentary from Falafel, Carter Mattig, Julian Fetterlein and others. It was excellent.

A big part of Poker's growth was due to two men- Mike Sexton and Gabe Kaplan, the commentators on World Poker Tour and High Stakes Poker respectively and the great coverage that their networks produced. They helped change the image of poker, with more great coverage Backgammon could be on the same path.

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