{"id":3353,"date":"2014-09-12T14:24:45","date_gmt":"2014-09-12T14:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/slategray-wallaby-310340.hostingersite.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/12\/jason-somerville-part-1-bringing-back-the-fun-in-poker\/"},"modified":"2014-09-12T14:24:45","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T14:24:45","slug":"jason-somerville-part-1-bringing-back-the-fun-in-poker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/12\/jason-somerville-part-1-bringing-back-the-fun-in-poker\/","title":{"rendered":"Jason Somerville \u2013 Part 1 \u2013 Bringing Back the Fun in Poker"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Having a conversation with Jason Somerville is about as far removed from what most people consider \u2018normal\u2019. Words come flying out of his mouth at warp speed; his analogies are sharp, to the point, but also all over the map.<\/p>\n

The host and creator of the successful YouTube video series \u2018\u2018Run it Up\u2019<\/em>\u2019 has uncanny energy levels when he talks about his passion and his wit remains unmatched during our conversation that lasted almost three hours.<\/p>\n

In the four parts of this interview with Somerville, you\u2019ll get a unique perspective on what drives this young poker professional to putting countless hours into his passion: making poker fun again.<\/p>\n

Poker is Not Fun<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Phralad Friedman once rapped, \u201cPoker is fun, for every one,\u201d and both professionals as well as serious amateurs probably agreed with him. Over the last couple of years the fun in poker, for the casual amateur and enthusiast has not been brought to the forefront too much, as the emphasis was on the strategy aspect of the game. Somerville, who\u2019s also very big on the strategy of poker, thinks that in order for the game to have a bright future he needs to make it more fun. Fun is the key word when it comes to Somerville\u2019s YouTube show \u2018Run it Up\u2019, and it\u2019s safe to say there\u2019s nothing like it out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there are too many things that exist like \u2018Run it Up\u2019, nobody has really tried to make poker more entertaining and try to incorporate the things that really made poker fun,\u201d Somerville stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that poker programming and poker content, as an industry, was put together 10-years ago on the fly. \u2018Oh we have hole-card cameras, these guys are playing poker, they are playing for a lot of money, let\u2019s do it.\u2019 That was what the idea, that was the formula and that worked. It was awesome and I loved it, and everybody else loved it. That was all very sweet, but it never really evolved much from there, in America at least,\u201d Somerville judged the current state of poker on TV.<\/p>\n

High Stakes Poker<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI watched High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark and I loved all of it. I\u2019ve seen every episode of both of those shows. We, as an audience, didn\u2019t really see anything happen beyond that. We saw more and more poker training content, serious content, but I wonder, where is the fun part?\u201d Somerville questioned poker content.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs someone who consumed a lot of poker content, it would always drive me crazy when I would watch a poker video and a guy would say, \u2018Ok so I have ace-jack here so I\u2019m going to call.\u2019 And that was the end of the sentence,\u201d Somerville spurted out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?!?! What if you had ace ten? What if you have ace queen? What if he bet twice as much? Give me some other variables here,\u201d Somerville yelled off the top of his lungs to ad more power to his argument. \u201cOn that level it frustrated me very much and that\u2019s what initially got me into making content myself. From there on it was just a matter of \u2018I\u2019m bored out of my mind watching most of these guys. Why do these people have to be so dry? Why can\u2019t we lighten it up a little bit? Let\u2019s have some fun,\u2019\u201d Somerville said.<\/p>\n

<\/a>The line-up of High Stakes Poker Season 5 with Daniel Negreanu, Eli Elezra, David Benyamine, Peter Eastgate, Ilari Sahamies, Tom Dwan, Doyle Brunson and Barry Greenstein.<\/em><\/p>\n

Eating Cake and Following Negreanu\u2019s Example<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Somerville\u2019s operation, \u2018Run it Up\u2019, started with a small following but grew quickly, as the long-time poker pro put emphasis on making sure his fans were having a good time. Somerville keeps his videos light hearted, entertaining while also keeping an eye on the poker action.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere definitely was not an ideology behind it whatsoever when I started. It was an idea I had always wanted to do back in 2011. I did a YouTube show called \u2018Eating Cake\u2019 where I tried to spin up my 400 dollars on Cake Poker to some goal higher than that,\u201d Somerville said about the origins of his video-casting career.<\/p>\n

Something new<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI enjoyed it but I had never done anything like that before really, never on YouTube. I had done videos on Poker VT before, but again I found I didn\u2019t like some of the restrictions on Poker VT. I didn\u2019t like not being my own boss and I felt like I had to stick to poker content. \u2018Eating Cake\u2019 was my first experiment that was more than just regular poker casting,\u201d Somerville said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom there it was a long and winding journey of meeting certain people who convinced me that it was possible to do something like \u2018Run it Up\u2019. Seeing the Rise of E-Sports, and League of Legends in particular, was a big influence on me as well. These kids are so excited about playing League of Legends. It\u2019s a video game for no money at all. They have so little chance of making it and making a lot of money. Why can\u2019t poker be as fun, as viewable, as exciting as E-Sports? I believe that it can be and will be once you have it in the hands of the right lord protectors who can really make that happen,\u201d Somerville said in his characteristic jovial and energetic manner.<\/p>\n

Daniel Negreanu, a long time friend<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Daniel Negreanu, a long time friend, has been a big inspiration for Somerville from both a personal and poker perspective. The two became friends when Somerville was just 20-years old, and we all know there\u2019s no better person to learn from when it comes to interacting with poker fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving him as a friend was never prearranged. He wasn\u2019t\u2019 like, \u2018Yep I\u2019ll show you the ropes kid.\u2019 We were just friends hanging out and I was like every other poker fan boy, happy to spend time with Daniel. I guess he didn\u2019t mind having me along for some of his adventures. I got to witness him with so many fans over the years. Every single time he would see a fan, it\u2019s like \u2018Hey how you doing? What\u2019s going on? You\u2019re here to play a tournament? Where are you from? Oh you\u2019re from this random country?\u2019 And he goes to the language of the place that he somehow knows,\u201d Somerville said, with much admiration for his good friend and mentor.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving him as a role model to look up to is like \u2018Wow\u2019. Every time he sees a fan he makes them fans for life because he\u2019s so energetic, dynamic, enthusiastic and he has this legitimate zest. I felt like we had that in common to some degree. He brought that out in me and showed me how I could be, indirectly. Not until the last couple years has he explicitly given me direct advice. For years he was just leading by example and I think that was a major impact for how I\u2019ve become,\u201d Somerville thankfully said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure if that made me want to do this, because that\u2019s a longer conversation, but he definitely gave me a blueprint on how to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Partnership with Ultimate Poker<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Somerville has been an Ultimate Poker sponsored pro almost from the start of its legitimacy in Nevada, but \u2018Run it Up\u2019 remains his own. Even though the two are partners, the videos on YouTube are completely Somerville\u2019s idea.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Run it Up\u2019 is my baby and my project alone. Nobody has any say or direction or anything about \u2018Run it Up\u2019 and I\u2019m always going to keep it that way. Ultimate Poker is a partner, and one that has been great to me over the course of our relationship. Our goals, targets and ideologies are not necessarily entirely aligned. I have almost the same, if not more, fans in Europe than in America. Over the last year and a half I had about 1.8 million views, of which 700k in America, 700k in Europe and 400k in the rest of the world. It\u2019s very close for me between Europe and America, most of that being from the UK. If the UK were a state, it would be bigger than California, so that\u2019s pretty big. Obviously Ultimate Poker doesn\u2019t care at all about my European audience,\u201d Somerville said, as his sponsor\u2019s not available outside of the United States.<\/p>\n

From a business perspective Ultimate Poker might not get the direct crossover into new sign ups, but they do get a lot of brand familiarity among the poker industry across the world. As poker makes small steps forward in the United States, so does Ultimate Poker with Somerville as its most prominent pro on the biggest video platform in the world.<\/p>\n

Adding value<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI feel like the value that I bring to Ultimate Poker is that when you watch a \u2018Run it Up\u2019 video, you\u2019re going to watch for a pretty long time. My average view is something like 13 and a half minutes, which is a really long time given that my videos are around 30 min. Getting the average view to be like 33% of the video is awesome. You\u2019re not going to get too many people that are going to actively watch anything for 12 or 13 minutes. For Ultimate it makes sense that I\u2019m showing people how to use the software, giving them confidence in the brand and showing them that their money is safe and secure,\u201d Somerville said.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Jason Somerville with Scott Seiver during one of the Run it Up videos. (Video link<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIf anyone has a problem I\u2019ve tried to make sure that I am there to facilitate them, but there haven\u2019t been too many, at least that I\u2019ve heard from players\u2019 point of view. I\u2019m also there to give them guidance and help. I feel like it\u2019s a tough industry that they\u2019re in. Ultimate Poker is in a tough battle,\u201d Somerville said, as online poker in Nevada hasn\u2019t been a great success so far.<\/p>\n

113 episodes in season 1<\/strong><\/h4>\n

While many people interested in poker will already have heard of \u2018Run it Up\u2019, there\u2019s still a good chance you haven\u2019t actually watched an episode. In the first season Somerville produced an impressive 113 episodes, and one of the issues he ran into was creating a way for people to jump in at a later stage. Somerville said he was \u201cwinging it,\u201d the entire season with a lack of an onramp for new viewers. In the second season this will change, as Somerville explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe solution that I thought we were going to try for this season to try to do \u2018Run it Up\u2019 into season blocks. To do on times and off times, clear schedules of this is when content is coming out, this is when we\u2019re in active \u2018go mode\u2019 and then we\u2019re going to stop and then there will be a break. During those breaks I get to do other things, disconnect my mind and take care of other projects, focus on those, recharge and plan for the next season. Everyone else can catch up, watch, talk about it and share it with their friends. And then we start again fresh with the next season. Everybody who hasn\u2019t seen the episodes before can start fresh on season 3 and if you\u2019ve been a fan all along, welcome back,\u201d Somerville said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat to me was something that I definitely did think about; viewer experience. There has never been a show like this on YouTube, which I am aware of, for me to learn from. I feel like we are trying to not make the same mistakes this season or just make things better,\u201d Somerville excitedly said about the second season.<\/p>\n

E-Sports versus Poker Broadcasting<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While Somerville\u2019s inspiration for \u2018Run it Up\u2019 comes partly from the hugely popular E-Sports videocasts, it\u2019s also hard to pull a comparison between the two.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Run it Up\u2019 doesn\u2019t really compare to E-Sports broadcasts, but the World Series of Poker does. There are certain things that are being done that I feel are better in E-Sports than in poker. One being that the schedule of content makes a lot of sense for League of Legends, while it doesn\u2019t for poker,\u201d Somerville said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome tables are streamed, some aren\u2019t, there is nonexistent sideline coverage, and no real interviews with players after they bust. There is not like that level of intimacy and understanding, a day-to-day tracking of The World Series: here we are, looking at the field today, these are the events going on, come on down and play!\u201d Somerville said about the live streaming part in particular.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the WSOP there\u2019s no integrated social media like there is at the EPT for instance, which I think is the closest thing we have to an E-Sports situation, the set up they have on the EPT. There is nothing in poker that has that same live events feel,\u201d Somerville said, referring to the EPT Live broadcasts.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Jason in action during the 2014 World Series of Poker<\/em><\/p>\n

ESPN too \u201cold school\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI feel like the ESPN November Nine was the 1990s solution of trying to make this cool. Everything else is going towards super live streaming, next day, same day, same second, let\u2019s push it out, make it fun, make everybody watch worldwide, let\u2019s make it into spectacle. ESPN is like no \u2018No, no, we\u2019ll just record it and release it once a week on broadcast television and we\u2019ll make them play it out in 3 months and that will be cool,\u2019\u201d Somerville said in frustration about this concept.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just not cool,\u201d Somerville continued, \u201cTo me it\u2019s a solution that at this point is not the best one. The summer could be more special; there are so many things we could do. I could go on a long time about this subject, I feel like there is a lot that could be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u2018documentary style\u2019 of portraying the WSOP was in place for many years, but has been replaced by a much more strategy based broadcast for the hardcore poker fans. Somerville believes that there\u2019s not one right way to show poker, but improvements needs to be made to enhance to viewer\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n

Not easy<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not an easy solution or an easy task by any means, to broadcast poker the right way. I know the guys at ESPN, and I know they work hard, and I know it\u2019s a tough task. To me, part of the problem is that people don\u2019t really understand that there is a middle ground. The solution we have tried to put in, kind of tries to hit both worlds. Now the broadcasts are trying to cater to the hardcore players by taking out some of the stories and including things like the VPIP and PFR. There are some segments, some features that feel like they are directed for the serious poker fan, and the 12-hour live stream certainly was one of them. There have been many things that have been catered to the hardcore fans but those haven\u2019t been smashing successes,\u201d Somerville said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen on the other side of things, when production companies have done poker in the super most bottom common denominator, like when they have done it for the FOX broadcast out here for all those poker game shows type of things. It hasn\u2019t done well either. I think people aren\u2019t really sure how to treat poker. Do you treat it like golf? How do you really cover it? Nobody has really figured out what the exact recipe is for that. I\u2019m not claiming that I have figured it out either. I just feel like there is a better solution there. There is some solution that incorporates an element of fun and understanding and it\u2019s a matter of packaging it a certain way. You can\u2019t just spit out a 12-hour live stream of just a poker table and let it roll,\u201d Somerville said about the complexity of broadcasting the game.<\/p>\n

Ideas, ideas, ideas<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In Somerville\u2019s passionate, but sometimes ranty, style he continues to rattle off ideas that could make poker on TV, and the WSOP in particular, more exciting.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to figure out a way, what makes this fun, what makes this compelling, let\u2019s design this around what people like these days, what do they want? They want to interact, they want to see it, and they want to be able to interact with the players. They want to Q and A with the players on break. \u2018While the players are on break, we are going to do a 15 min Q and A get your questions in live, and when we get back we\u2019re going to do an interaction with the fans, you\u2019ll have a chance to win a seat on the WSOP poker site\u2019. And I don\u2019t even work for them. I\u2019m giving them free ideas,\u201d Somerville joked.<\/p>\n