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Written by Marcus | Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
Phil Hellmuth, known lovingly as the “Poker Brat,” is acting out again, but not for the typical bad beat. Instead, his aggression is aimed towards Harrah’s, owner of the World Series of Poker, and their announcement of plans to open an online poker site. Hellmuth even went so far as to say that this could mean that the major online poker sites could unite to form a breakaway series in the future in an interview on the Hardcore Poker Show. “There’s a huge battle brewing,” he said sternly.
Apparently it has recently surfaced that 888 Holdings was contracted by Harrah’s to build an online poker platform to launch in early 2010, which is now only a little more than three months away. Not much more is known regarding specifics, but the prospect of a WSOP poker site shutting down the competition has made people nervous, including Hellmuth.
There has been speculation that the big land-based gambling companies would use their power to infiltrate the industry, especially when the story broke that Harrah’s had hired ex-CEO for PartyPoker, Mitch Garber to oversee Harrah’s new online division.
Where the problem lies is within satellites that feed into the WSOP, which is a major promotional event for pretty much every online poker room, big or small. If Harrah’s decides to take away the privilege sites like Full Tilt, PokerStars, and Ultimate Bet now have to host satellites to the world’s biggest poker event, it could mean trouble for all non-WSOP sites. With so many WSOP champions on the professional teams of these existing poker sites, Harrah’s could even ban the advertising rights for all poker sites, putting a serious monkey wrench in the system that presently works in everyone’s interest.
There have been numerous complaints about the way in which the WSOP has been executed since Harrah’s Entertainment took over, and this just stirs the pot even more. Hellmuth claims that many of his colleagues share his concerns, including Howard Lederer, co-founder of Full Tilt and other big names in the business. Harrah’s has just rubbed many professional players the wrong way, like refusing to pay for Hellmuth’s hotel room this past summer, despite the fact that they capitalize on his face and name. In addition to demanding more respect for himself, Hellmuth also feels that more money should be returned to the players in the form of cash winnings who have made the tournament series what it is today. Without the players, the WSOP would be a bunch of empty tables and chairs.
Furthermore, Hellmuth feels that a breakaway series would hinder the WSOP virtually powerless and has self-proclaimed himself as coach for November Nine member, Jeff Shulman, who has his own issues with Harrah’s WSOP.
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