Poker Tournament Schedule Ruins Integrity: Joe Saumarez-Smith

Commentary by Joe Saumarez-Smith

May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Organizers of the World Series of Poker, the game's top competition, have thrown players a curve ball that threatens the integrity of the multimillion-dollar tournament.

This year Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment Inc. has changed the event so that instead of playing over two weeks in July, those who make the final table of nine players will be asked to come back and finish during two days in November.

This, the organisers say, will allow the final table to be shown on Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN and give the broadcaster time to generate publicity that will maximise the audience. The 12 days in which the estimated 7,000 players are whittled down to nine will be broadcast in the weeks before the final, allowing viewers to get a feel for how the players have progressed to the summit of the poker world.

Players will benefit, the organizers say, because the additional coverage and raised profiles surrounding the final table will mean they can demand more cash from sponsors.

For me, and for many others in the poker community, it is an extraordinarily stupid decision. It is a plan that ruins the integrity of the tournament and stinks of corporate greed being placed above the interests of the game of poker.

Consider the possible implications:

-- Players get coaching. If a rank amateur manages to get through to the final table, then, if they have any sense, they will employ a top player to coach them for the next four months. Even if this means giving away 10 percent of their final table purse, this will be good value for them.

Coaching

This effectively means that the nine sitting down in November will have a completely different skill level to the nine that would have sat down in July. Is this fair to the more skilful players?

-- Increased likelihood of player collusion. Poker isn't a team game but it is a game where a group of players can gang up, to their mutual advantage. It's certainly not impossible that with four months before the final table that several players could agree to target other players.

-- If players don't agree to collude, it is far more likely that they make a deal about dividing up the prize money. Last year there was $22 million final table prize money, with the winner getting $8.25 million and the ninth-place finisher receiving $526,934.

Private Guarantee

Even if you are the most skilful player at the table, you have to accept there is a fair degree of randomness about who wins. The structure is so distorted toward a massive first-place prize that players are almost certain to agree on a deal. For example, every player could privately be guaranteed $1 million in winnings and agree to play for the rest.

Deals may be a pragmatic way for players to reduce randomness but it doesn't do much for the integrity of the tournament.

-- Previous coverage distorts future play. ESPN will be broadcasting highlights from the run-up to the final table so players will be able to find out how their opponents play. Table image is such a huge part of a player's game and television simply allows people to see through that image.

All these pitfalls, just to boost ESPN's ratings and Harrah's sponsorship revenues? It's not even as though either of those companies add money to the tournament. Competitors are playing for each other's entry money minus the rapacious 6 percent deduction made by Harrah's for entry and staffing costs.

`Fantastic Idea'

Not everyone agrees with me.

``I'm not sure I buy any of the theories,'' said Seth Palansky, a spokesman for the World Series of Poker at Harrah's. ``Various theories have the amateurs and professionals both at a disadvantage. A lot of the theories are conspiracies and not reality and I would say wait until Nov. 9 to see how it works.''

Rob Tobias, a spokesman for ESPN, said the schedule ``will add a new element to a very successful and popular event. We look forward to documenting all of the exciting stories that make the World Series of Poker Main Event the seminal competition in all of poker.''

Tom Schneider, who was World Series of Poker player of the year in 2007, said at the official launch, ``I think it is fantastic idea, and I can't wait to make a final table like this. Two years ago, who came in fourth? You probably don't remember. In this format, everyone who makes the final table will be remembered. They will get promoted properly and everyone will get the attention that they deserve.''

Mental Marathon

But 2006 winner Jamie Gold summed up many people's feelings. ``It is supposed to be a mental marathon, and you aren't supposed to get a break of several months in between,'' he told Card Player magazine. ``It's making it two separate events instead of one poker tournament, which I thought was part of the allure and the great competitive nature of the event.''

For me, poker has clearly benefited from the involvement of big corporations like Harrah's and ESPN, whose mass marketing has undoubtedly brought new players into the game. But there are things you can mess with and things you cannot. This year's changes have overstepped that line.

(Joe Saumarez-Smith is chief executive officer of Sports Gaming, a U.K. management consulting firm to the gaming industry. He also owns European online bingo companies and odds comparison Web sites. The opinions expressed are his own.)

News Added: 12 May, 2008

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