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Written by Beatrix | Friday, May 13th, 2011
Since the Department of Justice and the FBI’s attack on the online poker industry last month, many areas of the industry have had to adjust, as will the World Series of Poker. Because thousands of online poker professionals and amateurs alike have had their bankrolls frozen in their Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, Absolute Poker, or UB.com accounts, many will not be able to afford to travel to and buy into the WSOP this year.
WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart is very concerned about this issue. He told reporters he had doubts about players being able to afford the buy-ins. He said, “Whether or not it’s a large enough majority of their bankrolls to impact any of our events—it’s a complete unknown, but that is a very salient factor right now.” He remains positive though, adding, “I’m optimistic because again, in the face of every obstacle to date, we’ve continued to see big growth.”
But the WSOP’s luck may be running out. With buy-ins to the 38 WSOP events ranging from $1,000 all the way up to $50,000, it is the biggest live poker event in the world. It is the most prestigious honor to own a WSOP bracelet, and the Main Event winner is even referred to as the World Champion of Poker. However, due to the indictments served to Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker founders last month, ESPN has backed away from sponsorships hoping to unassociated themselves with those companies, as their reputations have been drug through the mud to the point that Absolute Poker and UB.com may cease to exist all together.
Because Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars are missing these sponsorship deals, they may not be able to afford to send as many players to the WSOP. The whole industry is shaken up, and many of the players who went to the WSOP depended on the satellites and qualifiers hosted by these online poker sites. Now US players are just out of luck, and non-US players are being jilted as well.
Although the WSOP tournament director Jack Effel says they are anticipating more cash games, they don’t plan on altering tournament capacity based on the events of last month. Hopefully, they won’t see a massive decline in attendance this year.
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Written by Beatrix · Filed Under news · |
