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.