For better or worse, I’m on the outside looking in at the 2008 World Series of Poker.  My request for Media Credentials was refused.

In 2006, I received a Media Pass under the umbrella of PokerWorks, spending a week at the beginning of the WSOP then returning for the Main Event.  I was fortunate enough to be invited by my buddy Otis to work on Team PokerStars Blog.  It was a terrific opportunity, and I felt like the lucky lottery winner to be writing with actual writers of high talent.

In 2007, I received a Media Pass under my own company while leading a team of writers for PokerWorks (including Dan, Tuscaloosa Johnny, Amy, and Carmen).  I also had the opportunity to work again with Otis and the PokerStars Blog team.  One of the reason I registered last year under my company’s name was to have more flexibility with who I worked with in the future.  If I was tied to one outlet as far as my history with the WSOP, then it might hinder me from returning.  It looks like that didn’t exactly work out.

The WSOP never acted on my request for Media Credentials until I emailed them, which is a problem in and of itself (not that mine wasn’t acted on but that there process seems to be broken).  I did not list a specific publication or outlet that I would be writing for, and my ability to independently gain Media Credentials was going to play a part in my decision of whether to go at all or not.  I wrote 275 articles for PokerWorks, probably half of which were about the World Series of Poker.  I came away last summer as damaged goods, my business taking a right turn while I dutifully plugged away at the WSOP.

It was always a bit dreamy yet unfair for me to even be there.  I am not a journalist nor a writer and worked among peers whose livelihoods depended on their word counts and meeting their deadlines.  I couldn’t hold a candle to most of them when it comes to the craft, but I always tried to find some depth to all of these seeming degenerates called poker players.  Were they superstars or just like us?  Was there more to interviewing them than asking them what their favorite hand was or what they felt like when they won?

I will miss sitting next to Nolan, holed away trying to be productive.  But let’s be honest, Harrah’s has much bigger fish to fry than if they are giving a random guy a Media Pass.  These are a few of the big questions I think they need to figure out (and a couple that players need to take a hard look at, too):

1. Is the World Series of Poker beneficial to Harrah’s? It seems to be more of a distraction than anything else, hardly a core brand when you put it up against Caesar’s, Harrah’s, and Total Rewards.  Head to their website and you’ll see where the brand stacks up–at the bottom of their brand less than a couple of weeks before the WSOP kicks off.  The revenue can’t be very much in the corporate big picture.  The greatest opportunity to leverage the brand (the WSOP Circuit Events) seems to be a failed experiment as the numbers appear to be fairly low.
2. Is there growth in poker? Poker seems to be alive and well in America and around the world, but that seems to be a struggle to connect to the WSOP.  This is primarily due to the difficulty of the WSOP to work with online entities.  PokerStars and FullTilt will send thousands of players to this year’s WSOP, yet they are unable to work with Harrah’s to drive growth.  It is a broken process.  Clearly, the online sites are the engines that drive poker growth.  As I write this, there are 75,393 players playing online poker around the world (from PokerScout).  How many new players will there be this year at WSOP events, and how does that compare to the number of new online players?  1% of the latter number I assume is generous (I’m sure someone has the numbers).  Here’s a sobering statistic.  PartyPoker, the #3 or #4 online site (depending on who measures things), signed up 573,000 new cash customers in 2007.  Again, how many new poker players did the WSOP sign up?  This isn’t a knock on Harrah’s but rather a blunt assessment of who is driving growth in poker.  The lack of partnership between these sites and Harrah’s has to drive strategies like PokerStars developing their own tournaments in Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.  Which is more important, FTOP VIII or the WSOP?  Which should be?  Which has more media cost and coverage?
3. What should the role of online media be at the WSOP? I really believe that poker blogs primarily (Pauly, Pokerati, Up for Poker, IGGY) and poker web sites in general have helped shape poker and interest in the broader WSOP events.  I also believe that their place at the WSOP was ahead of the game in comparison with other ventures like sports and professional leagues over the last decade.  Is the WSOP driving a leadership position in how to foster online access?  What is the vision for the Poker Media and the WSOP?  I’ve always headed to Pauly and others before I headed to CardPlayer.  With the current media guidelines, the current Tao of Poker (Pauly) I assume would not be allowed access to the WSOP nor would Pauly be able to write for any outlet other than the one he (or anyone) has on their Media Credentials (see Media Guidelines).   I assume we would miss out on the next great Pauly blog due to lack of access, whomever he or she would be.  When FullTilt is out innovating you by having a blogger write-off to win a trip to the WSOP, then you may want to dust off your vision of what you believe the role of the online community is.
4. Can poker become a viable professional venture with contemporary management? Since the WPT changed the televised game, the vision has always been to change poker into the PGA Tour where players can play for sponsor’s money and not their own.  This would only come through corporations seeing a Return on Investment (ROI) on par with other sponsorship opportunities (e.g., product placement in television/movies, other leagues like the PGA, etc).  This seems to no longer be a viable dream when it comes to poker.  How far away is poker?  The smallest purse on the Nationwide Tour (the PGA’s minor league of golf) will be found at the Knoxville Open presented by Food City ($500k).  That is $500,000 more free money in one tournament than will be contributed by sponsors or Harrah’s to the entire prize pool of the 2008 World Series of Poker.  I submit that it is not the job of Harrah’s to find free money to give to poker players, nor is it there job to share in the profits created by running the WSOP.  Having said that, whose job is it then?  Or has the last five years simply proven that there is no group called Professional Poker Players nor any value for utilizing their involvement in events?

I typed this throughout the day and really have no idea if any of it either makes any sense or is of any value.  It’s late now, and I’ll go ahead and fire it up.  I’d be interested to hear if any of this is relevant, as well as other folks’ thoughts.

Sorry, poker content.  I know this is probably irrelevant in the zillions of hands we play, but do you ever fold this hand in a 6-max cash game?  With that betting pattern, I put him on that hand more than the majority of the time (seemed pretty rockish).  Regardless, I just cannot fold there.

PokerStars Game #17546356135:  Hold’em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2008/05/19 - 16:02:28 (ET)
Table ‘Appella III’ 6-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 2: pokerlarry ($50 in chips)
Seat 3: chipking33 ($39.25 in chips)
Seat 4: Peufje ($70.55 in chips)
Seat 5: csquard ($73.55 in chips)
Seat 6: johnyb41 ($179.30 in chips)
Peufje: posts small blind $0.25
csquard: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to csquard [Kc Kd]
johnyb41: folds
pokerlarry: folds
chipking33: raises $1 to $1.50
Peufje: raises $1.50 to $3
csquard: raises $4.25 to $7.25
chipking33: folds
Peufje: raises $63.30 to $70.55 and is all-in
csquard: calls $63.30
*** FLOP *** [9c 9s Ks]
*** TURN *** [9c 9s Ks] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [9c 9s Ks 5h] [Qs]
csquard said, “sweet”
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Peufje: shows [Ac As] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
csquard: shows [Kc Kd] (a full house, Kings full of Nines)
csquard collected $140.60 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $142.60 | Rake $2
Board [9c 9s Ks 5h Qs]
Seat 2: pokerlarry folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: chipking33 (button) folded before Flop
Seat 4: Peufje (small blind) showed [Ac As] and lost with two pair, Aces and Nines
Seat 5: csquard (big blind) showed [Kc Kd] and won ($140.60) with a full house, Kings full of Nines
Seat 6: johnyb41 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)

My buddy, Liz Lieu, is in the midst of a very rough time. She got sick in early April right as she arrived in Monte Carlo for the EPT Grand Final. She missed the event, made her way to Las Vegas for the WPT Championship at the Bellagio, then missed that $25k tourney as well. A couple misdiagnoses later, she ended up having major surgery and stayed in the hospital almost a week.

She was discharged last Sunday and is recovering with family in Las Vegas. It’s been a long year for her.

I’ve been a road warrior, and it’s not easy for a big grown man like me. She spent most of her time in Europe and Asia, different cities and hotels every week. I can only imagine what it’s been like for Liz over the last eight or nine months. She’s surrounded by family and friends, and hopefully she’s getting lots of rest and care.

If you have the time, head over to her MySpace page and give her your happy thoughts and good wishes.

SunBurst
Originally uploaded by csquard

It’s been quite a tough week, I won’t kid anyone. I’ve been up to my ears in pure stress, four weeks late getting started with a last phase of a big client project, late due to their delay then totally screwed-up data set needed to complete said project.

I’ve used poker as a stress relief, just toiling away at the $0.25/0.50 NLHE 6-max tables. Gone are the days of four-tabling away at $0.50/1 or $1/2 NLHE 6-max. Not enough time, not enough bankroll. Poker has moved from an interest to an obsession to a grind to now an escape. I play two tables at their normal size while multi-tasking for maybe an hour or so every third or fourth day, with the occasional SNG thrown in (btw, I’m now a master HU SNG player, undefeated in six straight $2+0.20 PLO and NLHE HU SNG’s).

My game has gotten a bit sloppier at times, chasing more often if the bets stay small, focusing on the single big guy at the expense of the weaker stacks.

I’ll have a very busy weekend as I keep working on this stuff while also taking in soccer. We’re also working feverishly on the redesign and hope to get it moved to the new URL and to the new WordPress template. I’m pretty excited about it. I’ll probably post some throughout the weekend, so drop by if you have a chance.

Because of my mad skillz, I’m super-goot again…

PokerStars Game #17300210676: Hold’em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2008/05/08 - 23:45:08 (ET)
Table ‘Ophelia III’ 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: morodepoco ($42.70 in chips)
Seat 2: mahkiemahk ($55.20 in chips)
Seat 3: Bill Maz89 ($41.90 in chips)
Seat 5: KentuckyRuLz ($45.95 in chips)
Seat 6: csquard ($62.60 in chips)
morodepoco: posts small blind $0.25
mahkiemahk: posts big blind $0.50
bw07507: sits out

Holecards:
Dealt to csquard [ ]
FOLD Bill Maz89
FOLD KentuckyRuLz
RAISE csquard , $1.50 to $2
FOLD morodepoco
RAISE mahkiemahk, $5 to $7
CALL csquard , $5

Flop: (Pot: $14.25)
[ ]
BET mahkiemahk, $10
CALL csquard , $10

Turn: (Pot: $34.25)
[ ] [ ]
CHECK mahkiemahk:
BET csquard , $10
RAISE mahkiemahk, $28.20 to $38.20 and is all-in
CALL csquard , $28.20

River: (Pot: $110.65)
[ ] [ ]

Showdown:
mahkiemahk: shows [ ] (a straight Ten to Ace)
csquard : shows [ ] (four of a kind Jacks)
csquard collected $108 .65 from pot

SUMMARY:
Total pot $110.65 | Rake $2

Board:
[ ]
Seat 1: morodepoco (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: mahkiemahk (big blind) showed [ ] and lost with a straight Ten to Ace
Seat 3: Bill Maz89 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: KentuckyRuLz folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: csquard (button) showed [ ] and won ($108 .65) with four of a kind Jacks

I’ve been out of the blogger tourneys for the most part since they moved almost exclusively to FullTilt about six-eight months or so. I rarely played Wil Wheaton’s tourney but was a mainstay back in the days of two-three tables of the Mookie and the MATH. The fact that I never won a Mookie event (and thus never got to answer all those questions about me) frustrated me to no end. I also hosted a small weekly tourney on PokerStars, even getting the PokerWorks folks to give me some cash to add to the prize pool (I think $1k). My tourney was never very popular in numbers, more of an intimate gathering of knuckleheads than anything really.

It’s been stunning to watch the growth of these tourneys, and AlCantHang along with Hoy, Mook, smokkee, and MiamiDon, have been instrumental in pushing the envelope. FullTilt especially has embraced the marketing value of having bloggers playing regularly on their site, driving traffic, affiliate revenue, downloads, and conversions in the process.

I know there has been alot written about what blogger tourneys have become. Since I haven’t been playing in them this year, let me chime in (always great to have an opinion about something you know nothing about, right?).

With the significant added value arranged by Al et al, the blogger tourneys have been one of the few series of poker tournaments in the world where someone is adding to the prize pool. Let me repeat that. The blogger tourneys are one of the series of poker tournaments in the world where there is significant added value to the prize pool. The WSOP made news last week for their delayed Main Event, and I noted that one of the other items mentioned was that the interest on the prize pool for those at the Final Table would be given back to them. A quick calculation of this: 0.17% added to the prize pool, and none of that coming from the host or sponsor of the WSOP. I’ll let someone more familiar with the blogger tourneys figure out the overall prize pool, the rake, and how much FullTilt is adding, but I assume it is more than 0.17%.

So this has moved from being a gathering of virtual acquaintances and friends to a competitive regular happening. Folks have reacted differently to this, with some getting test and nasty in their chat and IM’s about donkey play or bad beats. Sometimes those comments have gotten heated and personal. Additionally, people have come to care more about playing in these, about doing well in them, about getting points and getting money.

Has all of this taken away from the general feeling of community that brought everyone to these events in the first place? I’ll let others comment on this. I do know that one of the terrific parts of blogger tourneys is that a new person can gain entry into this strange community of people called poker bloggers. All it takes is visiting one of the above sites, finding the password, having $10-25 on FullTilt (or Bodog), then signing up and sitting down. You can chat away with the people you’ve read and trolled and commented on, these big figures in our little world.

You can play with neophytes or the best we have to offer, folks like Lucko and Fuel and LJ and Gnome and cmitch. Is it the same as playing with annette_15 or Gus Hansen or Jason Strasser? It isn’t too far from it, I don’t believe. Because of it, bad players have become mediocre and good players have become really good. It is one of the real draws of blogger tourneys, that you can test yourself with such a wide array of players who you also know a little about.

Did the intimacy get lost as the fields grew? Sure, just as some of the connectivity and community that originally developed in poker blogs has been broken by Bloglines and Google Reader. Much of that intimacy now comes from subsegments of our group, IM’s and chats with smaller groups of people.

Do we need a tourney that isn’t part of all this, just a place to have fun like the good old days? I wouldn’t be the judge of that. My impression is that the field is pretty packed, what with 1-2 events going on every single evening. How anyone stays married or attached to a significant other or remains a competent parent while spending all these evenings on their computer is one I don’t fully understand. It’s probably what has kept me away from the events the most, just that I’m now enjoying sitting four feet away from my wife in front of the television rather than returning to The Pit (as we’ve come to affectionately call this office/dungeon) to play poker with my virtual friends for 10 minutes-4 hours (depending on how quickly I bust out).

Having removed myself from these tourneys and currently holding down last place on the leaderboard with 0 points, I can tell you I miss doing eighteen things while having a tournament open with you guys. I miss shoving, hitting, then reading all of the chat about how stupid I am and how could I make this play when so and so hasn’t re-raised in five weeks (even though I am never paying any attention to even my cards, much less all this complicated stuff like what other players are doing or have done or their position or M’s or size of raises or position). I do miss it, I do. I almost reached out last night to get some FullTilt funds for Stars funds into my account so I could jump in to the Mook. My wife was out, and I had the evening free. Work and work and putting the boys in bed led me away, and I didn’t reach out and didn’t sign up. I looked for some way to jump into some ring game to turn my $0.04 at FullTilt into the $11 I needed, but I couldn’t find that either.

So poker blogger tourney folks, here’s my wisdom: take a couple steps back then return to the table with a fresh view of the Mookie or MATH or Riverchasers or the Big Game or whichever other event you’re signing up for. You get whatever you want out of the event, but don’t forget that one of the best parts is seeing friends and finding new ones.

A terrific analysis in a 2+2 post of the starting chips and structures of a $1.5k WSOP compared to Venetian and Caesar’s Deepstack tourneys this summer.

There are four mid priced series going on during the summer, but the structure for the Bellagio Cup III is impossible to find, so I will compare the other three series:

World Series of Poker $1500
Venetian Deepstack $1060
Venetian Deepstack $540
Caesar’s Megastack $540

First off, I would like to note that the Venetian has auto shufflers, so you should be getting in more hands on those events. This increases their value, but I am not directly taking it into account.

Starting Chips

WSOP $1500 - 3,000
Deepstack $1060 - 10,000
Deepstack $540 - 10,000
Megastack $540 - 15,000

You get less starting chips with the WSOP, so you won’t be starting out deepstacked.

BB vs Starting stack

Starting level

WSOP $1500 - 60
Deepstack $1060 - 200
Deepstack $540 - 200
Megastack $540 - 300

Again the WSOP does not offer deep stacked play. The Megastack starts incredibly deepstacked.

Four hours in

WSOP $1500 - 15
Deepstack $1060 - 50
Deepstack $540 - 16.66
Megastack $540 - 25

The $1060 remains deep, while the remaining tournaments start dropping.

Eight hours in

WSOP $1500 - 3.75
Deepstack $1060 - 8.33
Deepstack $540 - 2.5
Megastack $540 - 5

The WSOP $1500 is now actually deeper then the $540 Deepstack and is gaining on the other events. The $1060 Deepstack is looking to have great value.

Twelve hours in

WSOP $1500 - 1.5
Deepstack $1060 - 2.5
Deepstack $540 - .33
Megastack $540 - 1.25

The $540 events are showing the disadvantages of faster levels. They have swung from very deep to very very shallow.

Fifteen hours in

WSOP $1500 - .500
Deepstack $1060 - .833
Deepstack $540 - .0625
Megastack $540 - .375

The $540s should be over, or close to over at this point.

Overall

I think I wanted to highlight in this thread what I believe the strength of longer blind levels as opposed to just giving you more chips. The Megastack started the deepest event, but by the end of the tournament it became one of the shortest structures. The first level of this series is going to be like torture playing 300bbs deep with no antes.

The WSOP actually redeems itself once the money is reached. Day 2 of the $1500 events will be must more pleasant because of this, and actually allow some good play at this point. This is at the cost of less play during the first 8 levels.

The $1060 Deepstacks overall have the best structure as shown. The Venetian is really giving players a good tournament here.

Atlanta’s own Josh Arieh is out at Bodog, and Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo is in as a sponsored player at Bodog (read this interview with Bonomo, I assume by Haley). Of course, Bodog hasn’t gotten around to erasing Arieh’s image throughout their website. I’ve tried to interview Arieh several times, as I’ve been especially interested in his decision to remain in Atlanta rather than uprooting his wife and three daughters. Bonomo should have been snapped by a site a long time ago as he’s a threat in any tourney he enters.

The dismissal of Arieh two months after adding Jean-Robert Bellande is a bit more curious to me. Bellande has little tournament success to show for his last thirty months. Here is a nice comparison of Arieh vs Bellande vs Bonomo over the last few years (08/07/06):

• Bellande ($9.4k, $44.7k, $105.1k)
• Arieh ($71.7k, $193.1k, $561.1k)
• Bonomo ($229k, $574.8k, $275.4k)

I’m sure the folks at Wicked Chops could chime in on the matter as they’ve always been close to Bodog Poker. Arieh’s website is no longer there; I haven’t checked it in quite awhile. I’ll try to track him down through contacts to get his thoughts. Again, I’d say picking up Bonomo is a no-brainer for anyone. His previous transgressions may have kept him from being signed up by PokerStars or FullTilt, but that would only be a wild guess of mine.

New on my radar, Hard-Boiled Poker has fast become one of my new favorite poker blogs. He has a great analysis of the history of the Main Event as well as his take on the delay. Otis has a detailed analysis of the downsides of this deal. I strongly urge you to read both of these.

Jeffrey Pollack, WSOP Commissioner for Harrah’s, held a teleconference for the Media regarding the announcement of the 117-day delay in the WSOP Main Event Final Table. Included on the call: Jack Effel (Tournament Director), Seth Polansky (Communications Director), Jamie Horowitz (Senior Producer, ESPN Content Development), and Dockery Clark (Director of Sports and Event Sponsorship at Miller Brewing).

What’s New at the WSOP

• No tents; more ballrooms will be utilized for play (five total)
• Player capacity is 2,740 at any one time
• There will be no alternates; instead, there will be Day 2’s for larger events estimated to exceed capacity
• Satellites will not be played in the Amazon Room but in a separate ballroom
• The cage will be separate, with an integration of buy-in and cash-out areas
• Registration will begin 28 May, two days prior to the first event
• All cell phones must be silenced, and players must be a table away from their seat to use a phone or PDA
• There will be a new WSOP Concierge service; although this wasn’t addressed on the call, I found out that this was a primary need of international players. Services will include shopping and other typical concierge services for those with long stays at the Rio. The Rio will also offer upgraded rooms for long-term players, including DV-R’s and nicer televisions.

The Delayed Final Table

• 14 July: Final Table set, 9 November: play from nine to two, 10 November: HU play, with a target of ending HU play early on 11 November; 11 November: show the two-hour Final Table.
• 4 November: ESPN will air a one-hour preview show of the Final Table
• ESPN will follow the nine WSOP Final Table players during their sixteen-week hiatus
• ESPN (Horowitz) “This is a very exciting day for us in what is already the biggest event in poker. We look at this like when baseball added the Wild Card or NASCAR added the Chase for the Cup.”
• Miller (Clark): “We appreciate the partnership with the World Series of Poker, and this announcement adds value to us.” She then explained a partnering with Phil Hellmuth, a 2 June promotion to win private lessons with Hellmuth.

Questions and Answers

• I asked the second set of questions: What about collusion? Pollack: “The biggest mistake someone could make is to test our events ethically. We are putting the players before a global, world-wide audience, and that encourages them to represent players with high ethical standards. We are introducing a new Code of Conduct, which will clarify any act or unethical, cheating or collusion will be met with very severe penalties. When play stops, we are encouraging the world to take a look at these players, and they will achieve a level of fame. We hope it discourages (unethical behavior).
• My second question: Dockery mentioned this was added value to Miller, and I assume it is added value to all parties involved. Will there be anything added to the prize pool of the Main Event? Pollack: The prize pool for the Final Table will be deposited in an interest-bearing account for the Final Table players after the Final Table is set.” My calculation of interest in a 3-month CD @ 3.25% APR: $179,470 (unsure if this is correct or not, calculated at Bankrate.com for $1,000,000 and extrapolated–apologies to the math whizzes and any corrections appreciated).
• Bob Ciaffone (CardPlayer) asked about the late endings of days. Effel explained that play will end around midnight (five levels) for the Main Event as well as for ten levels in most other tourneys. 5:00PM start events will end around 2:00AM.
• Adam Schwartz (2+2 Radio) asked about the potential for things to happen to players in the interim period. Pollack: Probably a hundred scenarios, whether it is entertainment or sports. People should be confident in our ability to stage an event, world-class, customer-friendly.”
• Matthew Shaw (PokerListings) asked about the new photography policy. Seth Polansky asked him to call and discuss off-line.
• BJ Neumeth (PokerNews) asked if there would be media restrictions during the Final Table to keep the winner under wraps as much as possible. Pollack: “We are blowing the doors wide-open. If you are credentialed to be in the room, you’ll be able to report what you saw. This will only enhance the coverage and viewership. 10 November will be a huge media day for the World Series.”
• Bill Ordeen (Baltimore Sun) asked if this change was to move the broadcast to more of a live event coverage feel vs a documentary. Horowitz: “We’ve always had change in tournament coverage, and ESPN has always looked to as the WSOP is the seminal event in poker. There will be twenty hours of Main Event is more than ever, and the preview show will be new as well.” Pollack: “We think this iwll create a greater sense of anticipation, changing the equation, as many people as possible talking about who is going to win?”
• Rick Dacey (PokerPlayer News UK) asked about pay-per view and how this impacts broadcasting in the UK, as well as in other international markets. Horowitz: “The plan is not to do pay-per-view for the Main Event. We are looking into some of the bracelet events on ESPN360.” Pollack: “ESPN distributes this (internationally), but we are not sure about ESPN International and will follow up.”
• Steve Rosenblum (Chicago Tribune) asked about apparel rules. Pollack: “No single company logo can be on the same article of clothing more than once, and no maximum on number of unique logos. I came from NASCAR, and I hope that players can start looking like NASCAR drivers. Robert Williamson, III, for one, is well on his way. We hope that the players at the Final Table (will use) sixteen weeks to sign additional sponsors.”