Wednesday, November 11, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Seven players left and we’re an hour into the coverage. Expect fireworks!
Peter Eastgate sitting with Doyle Brunson, after Eastgate blew off a photo session during the WSOP that had Doyle steaming. Hopefully the young buck made amends to the Big Poppa.
Phil Ivey folds pocket Jacks to a re-raise from Antoine Saout holding pocket sevens and it’s like the world’s turned upside down. Did I just SEE that?? Apparently Ivey doesn’t speak French, even when it comes to non-verbal communication.
Jeff Shulman doubles through Joe Cada and leaves the youngster with just 1% of the chips in play. 2 million. 5 big blinds. Oh well, gg, right?
Interesting approach by Jeff Shulman, setting up a nine-handed table and having players simulate how his final-table opponents will play. I’m not sure how folding pocket nines to a raise from Phil Ivey fits in there but it’s kinda hard to simulate Phil Ivey.
Can’t be a good feeling to be all-in for your tournament life and it’s Phil Ivey holding the door open for you. But it must be an awesome feeling to see that final card fall on the river and know you’ve doubled up and have new life. Which is just what happened to Joe Cada as his pocket fours held against Ivey’s A-8.
Antoine Saout was kinda the forgotten man of the November Nine, in large part because he’s French. But there were three Frenchmen who went deep in the Main Event and for a time it seemed like half of Media Row was from la belle France. Seriously, during the WSOP I’d say that more than half of the media in attendance was from across the Pond. It’s an international game, believe it.
I like apples, they’re tasty and nutritious, but Phil Ivey might be the first person since Adam to make eating an apple look cool. Unfortunately, as with Adam, eating an apple was unlucky for the best player in the world. All-in with Ace-King and dominating Darvin Moon’s Ace-Queen, the flop had a Queen in the door. After an obligatory Mike Matusow expletive Ivey continued munching away on his apple and waited to see his fate. And then that was that and hearing the keening from the audience you’d think someone had died. And then the ovation as Ivey walked off the stage and the complexion of the final table took a sudden turn. Up to then you had the impression that everyone, including the other players at the table, were focused on Ivey. With him gone everyone realized that someone else was gonna win the title.
Gotta say this for Darvin Moon–the guy wasn’t afraid to get his chips in the middle. He didn’t turtle and try to fold his way up the money ladder, he was blasting away with both barrels. And he sure didn’t fear playing Ace-Queen, cards that are considered a diabolical trap-hand by many players. Then again if you flop a Queen to beat Ace-King, as Moon did to Ivey, or river an Ace to beat pocket Queens, as Moon did to Steve Begleiter, it gives you a bit more confidence with those two cards. Good Lord, Darvin Moon runs good.
Hey, there’s Tony, the head of security at the WSOP carrying the briefcases of cash! When the Stanley Cup came to the Amazon Room for the NHL Charity Event (shortly after my beloved Penguins won it) I thought about running over to hug it, but the thought of Tony tasering me and then tossing my body in a dumpster held me in place. Probably would’ve lost my press pass, too.
Wow, Joe Cada won with pocket threes to Jeff Shulman’s pocket Jacks. I guess we all have one big double-up like that in our poker careers…
Nice to see ESPN showing Joe rocking the UB logo before the November Nine was set. Do we hold a grudge against Joe for signing with PokerStars the enemy another online site? Not all all, we’re all bigger than that.
And then Cada quickly doubles when Moon decides to bully and finds out you can’t bully a guy holding pocket Aces, as Cada was. Moon’s K-9 is the equivalent of bringing a knife to a gunfight and Lon McEachren uses that word, “Destiny”, for the first time to describe Cada.
Jeff Shulman doubled through Cada but couldn’t win that next big hand to catapult him into contention. He lost a race with pocket sevens to Saout’s A-9 and sometimes that’s how the end comes, with a whimper not a bang. After playing so many hours in July, then dealing with the hype and the waiting, to have it end on the losing end of a race has gotta feel both crushing and anti-climatic.
I should say here that the COVERAGE tonight hasn’t been anti-climatic. It’s been great, especially when you consider they turned this around in just a few days. Standing O to the ESPN team, great work all around.
Once again Ace-Queen takes center stage, as Eric Buchman tried to shove Saout around but ran into the Frenchman’s Big Slick. I believe that was the biggest pot up to that point, Saout was the first player close to 90 million. And somewhere my French journo friend Benjo was going nuts.
Man, Moon like putting his chips in there. Calling about 25 million with KING-JACK?? CALLING with it. Holy crap on a stick, what hand can you be ahead of there? Buchman had just lost a big hand, sure, but he still had enough chips to put a hurt on Moon. But he made the call, flopped a straight draw, turned a King. Cada and Saout had to be praying “Oh God (Mon Dieu), let me get Aces just one more time against Darvin. Just once…”
Here’s something you should know about the final table you’re watching–it was the longest in WSOP history. They played for nearly FIFTEEN HOURS. So it’s not like they were throwing haymakers all day. But it’s amazing how quickly these massive confrontations develop. Like the one between Cada and Saout, as Cada shipped in his entire stack holding pocket deuces and then looked sick when Saout said “Call”. You’re hoping you’re in a race, instead you find you’re crushed by pocket Queens. And then you flop ANOTHER SET to wriggle off the hook. Extraordinary…there’s luck, and then there’s Luck, and then there’s LUCK. At some point it almost has to become embarassing.
But not before Cada spiked a King on the river to knock Saout out of the tournament. Look, I’m a patriotic American and all, but I kinda wanted Saout to win. The poor guy played great, suffered the slings and arrows with an esprit I admired, but in the end he could not overcome Cada’s golden run. Sometimes it just isn’t meant to be, and for a poker player that has to be very, very difficult to accept.
Funny that Moon consoled Saout by saying “it should’ve been me and you” and Cada told his friends “this is the tournament” during the Ace-King vs. pocket Eights race. Neither seemed to think much of the other’s play, or it might’ve been be nervous bravado. Who’s to say.
Heads-up play begins to a full house. My friends covering the event said the line stretched from the Penn & Teller theater all the way back through the atrium and down the long hallway past the business center. For those of you who’ve been to the Rio you know that’s a freakin’ long line. Like three football fields, maybe?
I really thought the heads-up match would be over quickly and Moon’s rush to start things off did nothing to change my mind. He won a huge pot with QQ to Cada’s pocket nines (Cada probably felt fortunate not to double Darvin up) and then after Cada flopped top pair Moon check-raised with air yet made a pair of Queens on the river to take the pot and the chip lead. That had to stagger Cada, to be dealt a pocket pair and flop top pair yet lose the both pots.
Cada righted the ship in a hand where he won the pot with a huge 35 million bet on the river that had Moon thinking. We now know Moon had fourth-pair to Cada’s top two…hey, Moon might’ve called! And then, once again, we see Ace-Queen come into play, with Moon raising with Ace-Jack and Cada re-raising with AQ. Moon then stood and shoved 25 million into the pot and what do you do? It’s Ace-Queen. You’re dominated by lots of hands, you’re racing a pair…Cada mucked. “I had a monster,” Moon said, not exactly true, and Cada said he had a huge hand too. But the confrontation was averted.
Cada no doubt thought he was the better player and the longer the match went the better his chance at victory. Yet it’s hard to be patient and play small-ball when your unpredictable opponent keeps pushing chips forward. Cada had to bring all his skill and experience to the fore, and that’s what we saw in the hand where Cada regained the chip lead. With the board reading 10c-5d-9h-10d Moon made an all-in raise and Cada, after thinking a bit, made a monster call with Jh-9d. Moon was semi-bluffing outs with 7s-8s but, God, what a call! Sure, Moon probably doesn’t have a ten…but with Moon you can’t be sure. And he could have an overpair, he could have pocket fives, he could have K-9! Some of the play tonight has been questionable but not that hand. That, ladies and gentlemen, was poker.
Cada started the heads-up match with pocket nines, and one wonders what he was thinking when he looked down at them again. And decided to move in after Moon raised. And then heard Moon say, “I call”. But Moon didn’t have Queens this time, he had Queen-Jack, and perhaps Moon felt that he needed to win a decisive hand one way or another and with Cada’s chips in the middle now was the time to strike. Regardless, Moon called and the two were racing for the most prestigious title in poker. In-credible. And when the board failed to hit Moon and the final pot of the 2009 Main Event was pushed Joe Cada’s way, we had a new World Champion, and once again the winner is the youngest-ever champion. It was a remarkable weekend of poker and tonight was a fantastic showcase for the game. It’s sad to think that we have to wait over six months for the 2010 World Series of Poker to start. Let’s hope the time flies.
Tags: 2009 november nine, 2009 wsop, darvin moon, joe cada, november nine, phil ivey, world series of poker
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Friday, July 17, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
There is a story in the Detroit News today about Joseph Cada, who is the youngest member of the November Nine. Here’s what it looked like on the front page:
There’s a line from the article I thought was a bit amusing. Here’s Joe’s mother, Anne Cada:
“We had 15 people all huddled around the computer getting updates,” she said Thursday. “There was a delay in what’s going on there and the updates on the computer and all the sudden I got a call from Joe and all he said was ‘I made it.’ The place just erupted with the loudest ovation.”
I found it amusing because some of my friends were writing the updates that Joe’s mom was reading, and as I watched the crowd going nuts after Darvin Moon eliminated Jordan Smith in tenth place I took this shot of Joe, who was probably talking to his mon:
Tags: 2009 main event, 2009 november nine, 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, joseph cada, Main Event, november nine, world series of poker, WSOP, wsop main event
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Thursday, July 16, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
We thought, based on stack sizes, the blinds, the rapidly escalating payouts, that it would take a very, very long time to get down from 27 to nine. Last year we didn’t finish until 4:30AM. The year before it took even longer to get to the final table. And with more chips on the table and a slower structure, we all thought we’d be playing until, oh, dawn.
We thought wrong.
We have reached the final table of the 2009 Main Event and the second November Nine is set. As has been the case all day and all night, it was Darvin Moon who was the catalyst. Already the huge chipleader, Moon called a raise by Jordan Smith with pocket eights and flopped top set. All the money went in after the flop and that’s when Smith saw that his pocket Aces had been cracked wide open. The 5h on the turn gave Smith a gutshot draw, but the 10h fell on the river and pandemonium broke out among the already raucous crowd.
Here’s the lineup for the November Nine (chipcounts are still being verified by PokerNews):
Seat 1: Darvin Moon
Seat 2: James Akenhead
Seat 3: Phil Ivey
Seat 4: Kevin Schaffel
Seat 5: Steven Begleiter
Seat 6: Eric Buchman
Seat 7: Joe Cada
Seat 8: Antoine Saout
Seat 9: Jeff Shulman
And for those who have complained that the last few Main Event final tables lacked star power, I direct your attention to Seat 3, where Phil Ivey resides. Ivey may get the lion’s share of the attention over the next four months as he goes for his third bracelet of 2009 and his first World Championship, but there are eight other stories we’ll be hearing until the fall. And Darvin Moon, with something in the neighborhood of 60 million chips, will be one of the most talked-about players in poker.
Much, much more on this tomorrow and in the coming days. Heck, in the coming months. It’ seems impossible to believe but it’s true–the 2009 World Series of Poker is on hiatus until November.
Tags: 2009 main event, 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Main Event, november nine, world series of poker, WSOP
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Friday, July 10, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
For the first time since May 27 the Rio was quiet yesterday, with no tournament action scheduled. After the opening six days of the Main Event the World Series of Poker paused to take a breath before the six-day march to the final table. But not everyone pulled their noses from the grindstone as play concluded Wednesday night.
Like Phil Hellmuth, for example. Let’s see, Phil’s won eleven bracelets, millions of dollars, and he hobnobs with celebrities and seems to spend half his time with TV camera pointed at him. Yet as he walked out of the Amazon Room Monday night he passed the press box and said, “Hey, are you guys media?” There’s a sign that says “MEDIA PRESS BOX” right by the stairs but we didn’t snippy and acknowledged the fact. “I’m gonna give you guys some books!” he said, and rushed out the door, returning twenty seconds later with a box filled to the brim with copies of Deal Me In, the book Phil’s new publishing imprint just released. And so we were favored with the sight of one of the most famous and successful poker players in the world hustling down the row and handing out books like a glad-handing salesman. Here’s a shot of Phil giving copies to the PokerStars blogging team (gotta stick it to the competition):
Phil handed out the lot, signed a few autographs, and chatted with we ink-stained scribes for a few minutes before finally making his departure from the Amazon Room:
Scott Ian is also back to play today, this after he flew from Vegas to Tulsa yesterday to play at Rocklahoma yesterday with Anthrax. While others among the 2,044 players remaining the in Main Event field were lounging by the pool or catching up on sleep Scott and Anthrax were headlining one of the biggest music festivals of the year. Then Scott hopped on a flight at 7AM to get back to Vegas in time to take his seat today. Makes your typical day off seem pretty (deleted) weak, yes?
What did I do on my day off? Well, it turns out that the Rio wasn’t totally quiet yesterday, as the World Series of Poker Media Event was held in the Brasilia Room. After attending the press conference Jeffrey Pollack held at Martorano’s restaurant in the Rio (and enjoying the buffet laid out for us) the WSOP media took to the felt in a tournament using the new Dream Team format. We played in teams of three and your overall score is determined by the order you and your mates are knocked out. I’m proud to say that my team finished third (whoo-hoo!), as my buddy Pauly carried me and Kristin to near the top of the leaderboard by finishing third overall. It was fun playing poker as opposed to merely covering it, though I got knocked out about 90 minutes in and spent the rest of the time sweating Pauly. But I represented UB with poise and class, if not skill or cunning.
And now everybody’s back to work, 2,044 players fighting tooth-and-nail for every chip on the table. No more days off, not until we know the names of the players who take a break until the November Nine reconvenes.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, november nine, Phil Hellmuth, Scott Ian, world series of poker, WSOP, wsop media event
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Monday, April 27, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
There are 30 days until the start of the 2009 World Series of Poker–this I learned from the Twitter feed of WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. Yes, even the Commish is Twittering now, God help us all. A month until the Series starts, and then a 50-day marathon of bracelets and bad beats and Benjamins until the next November Nine is set. And for the third consecutive year I’ll be there providing gavel-to-gavel coverage for the ‘ol UltimateBet Blog.
Every year the WSOP seems to be better organized and better run–last year there were so few complaints that people were writing stories about how strange it was that no one was complaining. Lots of people expected the number of players to decrease, but instead there was a substantial upticks. There was an uproar when Harrah’s announced they would delay the final table for four months, but TV ratings for the November Nine were up around 50%.
And people are talking about the changes to this year’s World Series. No more rebuy events–the insane shove-fests that characterized the rebuy periods were deemed unfair to players who didn’t bring a bandolier of rebuys (and who perhaps found themselves at a table with half the chips as other tables). The opening event is a $40,000 Hold-Em tournament to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the World Series–how might that deplete players’ bankrolls just as the WSOP begins? And the rules about verbal abuse have been dramatically tightened–forget the “F-bomb” rule, just about any nastiness directed at another play could result in a penalty.
There’s also been a change in the TV scheduling. Only four events will be televised by ESPN–the Main Event; aforementioned $40K Hold-Em tournament; the Ante Up for Africa event, and a special invitational event for past Main Event champions. None of the other bracelet events will be televised and there is going to be even more Main Event coverage than before.
This year’s WSOP will be held in a world that’s in a serious state of flux. The current economic crisis is the worst the world has seen since the Great Depression, who knows how that might affect attendance. There’s also the potential for great change in the poker world as well, as Rep. Barney Frank is planning on introducing legislation that would legalize online poker (and perhaps online gaming in genera) in the United States. A repeal of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) could trigger a new poker boom, one that might first make itself known at this year’s Series.
But all that will happen outside the confines of the Amazon Room. Inside, the game will go on as it always has and always will. Even if there are fewer players this year the World Series of Poker is still an event of staggering size. In 2008 a total of 58,720 players competed for prize pools that totaled a jaw-dropping $180,774,427. Peter Eastgate won more money as the Main Event champion than Tiger Woods (U.S Open), Roger Federer (U.S. Open), Ryan Newman (Daytona 500) and Scott Dixon (Indy 500) won, combined, for capturing their sports’ premiere events.
If you play poker and you’ve never visited the World Series of Poker, you really should make a pilgrimage to see it for yourself. Because once you see it, you’ll want to find a way to play in it. It is a sight to behold, and even if you spend 50 consecutive days and nights in the belly of the beast it’s still an awesome spectacle. And it’s just 30 days away.
Tags: 2009 november nine, 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, amazon room, Ante Up For Africa, november nine, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, world series of poker, world series of poker main event, WSOP, wsop main events
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Monday, January 26, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
We may be five months away from the start of the 2009 World Series of Poker but it’s never too soon to start making your plan for the biggest event in the game. Harrah’s has released this year’s schedule and there are a number of significant changes that will no doubt spark some discussion.
Well, one thing that wasn’t changed is delaying the final table until November. The Main Event begins on July 3rd and runs until the 15th, at which point the nine remaining players will scatter around the globe before reconvening at the Rio on November 7th. The bracelet will be awarded on November 10th, so it looks like there will be a day off for the final two players before they begin the heads-up battle.
But while the November Nine returns for 2009, rebuy events will not. There had been talk that the rebuy events might disappear because many people felt that it gave deep-pocketed players a chance to “buy” a bracelet. I can’t say that I agree with that philosophy–once the rebuy period ends you still have to figure out a way to get all the chips. Plus the rebuy events usually featured extremely tough fields some kray-zee gambling that was loads of fun to write about. But the rebuy events are gone, replaced by several new tournaments that will be of considerable interest to poker players and fans alike.
And there’s a big one right off the bat–the first open-field event of the 2009 WSOP (on May 28th) will be a $40,000 No-Limit Hold-Em event, and that’s not typo–the buy-in is $40K. That number was picked to celebrate this being the 40th anniversary of the World Series of Poker and no doubt that event will draw a small and elite crowd. For those of us unable to easily scrounge up forty big dimes, especially in these tough economic times, Harrah’s is offering a $1,000 “Stimulus Special” tournament beginning on May 30th. Harrah’s is hoping that this will be the biggest non-Main Event field in history and is expecting a total prize pool of near $5 million.
There are ten $10,000 “World Championship” events this year (including the Main Event) in various forms of poker, as well as the $50K H.O.R.S.E tournament. There are also seven $1,500 tournaments for those of us who want to play in the WSOP but aren’t quite ready to play a $10K event. In all there will be 57 tournaments at the 2009 World Series of Poker–and that doesn’t even include the celebrity-laden Ante Up for Africa tournament that Annie Duke and Don Cheadle will once again host the day before the Main Event starts.
So that’s five months to peruse the schedule, make your travel plans, and build up your bankroll. And believe me, those five months will fly by faster than you can imagine. Plan ahead, and don’t be standing on the rail when the Amazon Room once again becomes the center of the poker Universe.
Tags: $40, 2009 november nine, 2009 world series of poker, 2009 world series of poker schedule, 2009 wsop, 2009 wsop schedule, Ante Up For Africa, harrah's, harrah's schedule, november nine, ub, ub world series of poker, ub wsop, ultimatebet, ultimatebet world series of poker, ultimatebet wsop, world series of poker, WSOP
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Sunday, December 7, 2008 - Gene Bromberg
The final table of the WSOP Main Event was just about a month ago–quick, can you name who won? Yes, Peter Eastgate is now about 8% of the way through his reign, and if you haven’t heard much from him during that time it should come as no surprise. The poker world doesn’t stop spinning, not even when a new King is crowned, and in the last month there have been major tournaments in Australia, Costa Rica, Poland, and right now the Five Diamond World Poker Classic is being held at the Bellagio.
But the Main Event is still by far the biggest tournament in the world. The biggest fields, biggest prize pool, biggest media magnet. No other poker tournament comes close to the Main Event as the game’s showcase, and it was hoped that the decision to postpone the final table until November would create a surge of hype that would lure mainstream media outlets and entice corporate sponsors into pulling out their checkbooks.
That part really didn’t pan out. None of the November Nine signed big sponsorship deals (other than their alliances with online poker sites), and while the tournament received considerable media attention it’s not like Peter Eastgate appeared on the cover of Newsweek. Still, it’s hard to ignore the signs that the decision to postpone the final table was a rousing success. TV ratings were up 50%. The final table drew a large and raucous crowd, without a really big-name player in the mix. Indeed, the WSOP as a whole was a rousing success, with bigger fields, bigger prize pools, and a dramatic reduction in the logistical snafus from the year before.
But this is poker we’re talking about, and in poker no one is ever satisfied. Still, it was a bit odd to hear WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky’s explanations to Gary Wise about why the Main Event’s final table wasn’t an even bigger media spectacle. One of the issues Palansky raised about why there wasn’t more buzz around the final table was downright bizarre:
But the Presidential elections, when we made the decision May 1, no one knew it was shaping to be what it ending up being…
No one knew that the Presidential election (held a few days before the final table) was going to end up being a big story? One that would hold much of the world’s attention? That really makes no sense. The election of Barack Obama perhaps made the Presidential election an even bigger story than it normally is (and had Hillary Clinton become the first female President there might’ve been a similar spike) but Presidential elections are ALWAYS huge news. So huge that it tends to drown out everything else that’s happening. Even poker tournaments. When the final table delay was announced I thought the timing was odd, because it would closely coincide with the election, but I thought perhaps Harrah’s and ESPN were hoping to offer some counter-programming for those tired of seeing pundits declaim about The Importance of it All. But to have the WSOP Communications Director say that no one saw this coming…it’s very odd.
The other bombshell Palansky dropped was that Harrah’s arranged for members of the November Nine to appear on The Tonight Show and Ellen…and the players chose to pass. From how Palansky phrased his answers it seems that two different players were asked to be guests, but he didn’t say which players. And that led to considerable speculation about who the players were. In the 2+2 thread on the subject and in other discussions it appeared that Dennis Phillips, Chino Rheen, Kelly Kim, Scott Montgomery and Craig Marquis were NOT asked. It seemed logical that Peter Eastgate would be the most likely candidate to appear on a talk show, because he’d actually won the thing. Eastgate is of course from Denmark, English isn’t his first language, and he doesn’t exactly seem the media-whore type. He might not have felt comfortable going on national television and conversing in a language that’s not his native tongue, perhaps he didn’t know how popular The Tonight Show is. Perhaps he couldn’t care less about making ANY public appearances. And, perhaps, he wasn’t even the player asked.
One question I have that hasn’t been addressed so far as I know–if Harrah’s arranged for a player to appear on these talk shows, and the player declinded, did anyone at Harrah’s propose that another player take his place? Dennis Phillips seemed both an obvious and excellent choice to appear on a national talk show. Here’s your American Everyman, a good guy from the Midwest who loves the game, loves his St. Louis Cardinals, and is both willing and able to talk about living out a dream. It would seem that Phillips would’ve been an ideal guest for either show, and if their producers hadn’t asked for him at the start, did Harrah’s propose Phillips appear instead of the player who turned it down?
It will be interesting to see going forward if Harrah’s changes their approach to promoting the final table. I think it’s inevitable that there will again be a long delay (perhaps it’s not an ideal situation but there’s no denying that the TV numbers were WAY up) but will Harrah’s work more closely with the next November Nine in promoting themselves and the tournament? Harrah’s has PR and marketing expertise that most poker players don’t, as Shane Schleger said in the 2+2 thread:
I think it’s sort of ridiculous to expect poker players to take the “initiative” in attracting exposure for themselves as (Palansky) suggested, since this is not our area of expertise. Poker players are not trained entertainers, performers or politicians.
It also remains to be seen how much corporate sponsorship poker can hope to attract in the face of a global financial meltdown. GM just cancelled it’s endorsement deal with Tiger Woods–TIGER WOODS. Companies are battening down the hatches and who knows how bad the storm will be when the World Series of Poker reconvenes next June. Poker does have one big advantage over other games/sports–the fans actually play the game. They bring their own money to the table. I’m a huge hockey fan but I don’t know how to ice skate. The NFL is akin to religion in the U.S. but only a meager handful actually put on pads. People who love poker also love to play poker. And once they start playing they usually never stop through the course of their lives. They may not play professionally, or for high stakes, but they play. There are tens of millions of them in the United States and untold millions around the world. And a big chunk of them dream of playing in an event like the World Series of Poker. Many do more than just dream. Winning corporate sponsors is great, having players on talk shows is super, but in these troubled times it might be smart for Harrah’s to direct a bit more of their energy at the players themselves. Because they’re poker’s best, and most important, customers.
Tags: 2008 world series of poker, 2008 wsop, november nine, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, world series of poker, world series of poker final table, WSOP, wsop november nine
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Sunday, November 30, 2008 - Gene Bromberg
Back on November 19th Gary Wise (who writes for ESPN and Wise Hand Poker) interviewed Seth Palansky, the World Series of Poker Communications Director. During the interview Palansky said that two members of the November Nine were asked to appear on The Tonight Show and Ellen, but in both instances the player (it’s not clear if the same player was asked on both shows) declined the offer. It was hoped that delaying the final table would provide those who made the final table with more media attention and increased endorsement opportunities, and when this failed to materialize Palansky put much of the blame on the players:
But one of the reasons why I wanted to come on here with you tonight Gary, was to express a concern I do have for some of the advice and some of the moves poker players are making. Because if you want to mainstream a game, and if you’re trying to get corporate America to buy into what you’re selling, you need Tom Bradys, you need Peyton Mannings, you need Michael Jordans, etc. If we have guys that aren’t willing to take that mantle, or the same ten, twelve guys that you see getting a lot of attention at the Main Event early on: the known names for their antics or whatever the case may be. If people want to leave it just to those dozen, they can’t grow the game. For all the others, they’ve got to take advantage of the opportunities that get presented to them, and it’s unfortunate that in situations where we had a successful pitch and an opportunity for our players to be on that national stage, they chose not to.
Wise then asked Palansky about whether it was reasonable for poker players, who often play because it gives them a freedom they can’t find in other lines of work, to become “ambassadors for a selfish game”. Palansky replied:
You know, I do. And maybe my judgment is clouded based on the position I hold, but I believe they owe it to the brethren of the poker community to take the mantle and try to elevate the game, just as any poker stakeholder is trying to do. I understand some people don’t like the spotlight etc., but there are 54 other tournaments at the WSOP and everything else. I mean, you walk into the door of the Main Event, you know the ESPN cameras are rolling, you know what comes with the territory if you advance very far. And it’s unfortunate that it simply comes down to “I want the money, but I don’t want what else comes along with achieving that success”.
Understandably there’s been a lot of discussion about this. Is it fair to point the finger at the November Nine and blame them for corporate America giving the final table a miss? What exactly do poker players owe the game when they find themselves in the spotlight?
I think we need to look at one key word in the previous sentence–”owe”. It’s hard to say that poker players owe anything when they’re the ones who bring the money to the table. Unlike the NFL and NASCAR (the sports where Palansky and WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack formally worked) poker is funded not by TV revenues and corporate advertising, but by the players themselves. One of the more awe-inspiring aspects of the World Series of Poker is that these massive prize pools are created not by some CEO cutting a check so his logo gets some airtime, but by players who think they have a shot to win more than their fair share of the loot.
Let’s also not forget that Harrah’s takes out a percentage of that prize pool to pay for staging the event. This year Harrah’s took 6% of the prize pool, meaning $4,106,400 of the players’ money went directly into their coffers. Each of the 6,844 players paid Harrah’s $600 for their seat in the Amazon Room, regardless of whether they were there for ten minutes or ten days.
To be sure, it’s expensive (and risky) to stage a huge poker tournament like the World Series of Poker. And Harrah’s has to make a buck on this as well or there won’t be a WSOP going forward. But when it comes down to a question about what poker players owe the game (and, by extention, what they owe Harrah’s) the key point is this–the players ante up first. They’re the ones who put the money in the pot first. They bring their $10,000 to the window, they see Harrah’s take $600 of it off the top…now they want to sit down and play. Once players hand over their money, that’s when their obligation ends. That’s when the word “owe” ceases to hold sway.
Because it’s perfectly reasonable for poker players, when asked to do interviews or go on talk shows or be an “ambassador” for the game, to say “no”. Or to say, “what’s in it for me?” Not for their fellow players, not for the game in general, but for themselves. As I said before, the players have already anted up. They’ve taken the same risk as everyone else, and if they’re asked to take on a task no one else has it’s reasonable to ask what’s in it for them personally. And it’s just as reasonable to say, “No, thanks”.
In the 2+2 thread about the interviews a poster named Victor made much the same point and Gary Wise wrote, “I love that there are constant calls from players for a bigger piece of the pie while this is a prevailing opinon.” Not to belabor the point, but the players are the ones who already bought the ingredients, rolled the dough, and baked the pie. Continuing the pastry metaphor, if Harrah’s wants to the players to help grow the pie (by working to bring more corporate money into the kitty) the company has to step up and make it clear that they’re not going to scarf down the extra slices.
So far Harrah’s hasn’t shared with players any of the money it’s made via it’s deals with ESPN, Milwaukee’s Best Light, Planters, or any other sponsor. More importantly, they haven’t shown any inclination of doing so. And therein lies the problem. When the Tom Brady’s and Peyton Mannings of the world do commercials, they get paid for them. The NFL doesn’t ask Peyton Manning to do all those MasterCard commercials because it’ll help “grow the game”. The NFL owners also share television, gate and other licensing revenue. When a player does something to boost the league revenue, he’s also putting money in his teammates (and his own) pocket. If Harrah’s wants poker players to promote the game and the WSOP, they have prove that they’re willing to spread the wealth.
In a later post I’ll discuss the talk show snubs and some other issues surrounding this topic.
Tags: 2008 world series of poker, 2008 wsop, november nine, Poker Poker Poker, world series final table, world series of poker, WSOP, wsop final table
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