Bob Dylan sang about it, people are scared of it

I want to start with something big, that a lot of people find really, really scary.

CHANGE

There it is, that thing that makes grown ups angry, confused and frightened!

But why? I have always thought that it is because humans like to be comfortable. They like knowing where things are and how to get them, and when that is changed it brings out irrational feelings that we fear. I have seen this so many times over the years, especially when I had a ‘proper’ job; changes in working practises, change in management, change in shift patterns, change in company goals. Many people dislike it and some try to fight it. The latter always end up looking for a new job and the gold at the end of the rainbow (which is generally in  field of Unicorns).

Poker had one of those moments this week. It wasn’t a surprise, we knew it was coming, we knew who was behind it, but yet there are still some surprised people out there when it was announced.

The entrepreneurial Alexandre Dreyfus has finally announced the Global Poker League, which is a ‘franchised’ based poker league, played in ‘The Cube’. For those needing to play catch up at this point, please click on the links to understand what is involved.

Let us look at things this way; you are involved in a very niche industry that can only grow if it has broader appeal and new customers walking in through the door. To get the new customers you have to reach out to them and offer them a vision of your product that interest, excites and motivates them to try it out. If the do, and they like it then they will buy into the product as a whole. For example, Formula 1 fans, may not love NASCAR and Le Mans, but they will watch it as they are Motor Racing fans.

There are too many people in the poker industry who are too keen to bat away new ideas and new concepts. I have always felt that these people are like the ones in my old career who do not like change. Change is bad, change is evil, yet change is what will (I am not going to say grow) keep poker alive. Too many people think it is played in back rooms by grumpy old men, or young kids in hoodies and headphones who sit in silence looking angry, or by mouthy frustrated people who want to berate their opponent for making a bad decision. Guess what, THEY ARE RIGHT!

We need fun, we need audience, we need music, lasers, arenas, T-shirts, LED screens, heroes, villains, laughs.

Why would nobody want that? Why would nobody want new players? Does it matter how we acquire them? Does it matter if someone wants to invest time and money to get them? Does it matter if they need an ROI on getting them?

If you don’t want the change that will keep the game alive, then step back into your provincial card room, shut down your Twitter account and stay out of the limelight. This industry needs change and it needs people who will invest (and get make money) to get there. Maybe a Global Poker League is not the definitive answer, but there is not a line of people with there hands in their pockets, enthusiasm and fresh ideas.

Let’s break the mould and EMBRACE CHANGE. Let’s be better than regular people with regular jobs. Let’s support ideas that can bring new life into our industry.

Heroes can't live forever

I haven’t blogged since December 2012. I guess there has not been much to say, although there have been some huge changes during this time where I have fallen out of the Poker industry and then fallen back in again, I haven’t been inspired to write.

I haven’t really felt loss (outside of family and friends) that meant anything since May 1994. On a Sunday afternoon at Imola, I found out that your heroes aren’t immortal and people that you were in awe of were just human like the rest of us.

Regardless of personal opinion, the world is a poorer place, with the news that Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott lost his battle with cancer on the 6^th of April 2015. Probably the first Poker player to attract mainstream popularity in the UK, Devilfish had swagger, sunglasses, a cool nickname and a sketchy past. What other ingredients do you need to be a legendary card player in the Nineties?

While the game has changed beyond all recognition, moving from smoky backrooms to Hilton Hotel Ballrooms, Poker is still a card game that is widely perceived as gambling yet there is still an aura around the game, a mystique that is both intoxicating and inviting to those who play or just have a passing interest. I quite often wonder where I would be today if it wasn’t for those backroom heroes from 20 years ago.

Back in 1999 I, like so many others, watched the card game I used to play at school and during my teenage years after it was thrust on to our TV screens courtesy of a little camera hidden under the table.

Yes, we have all seen the interviews where Steve Lipscombe says it was the World Poker Tour that did it first, but those of us who finished work late or stayed up late in the UK have always known it was not true. Channel 4 pioneered poker television, four years before the world had heard of Chris Moneymaker. Watching Series 1 of  ‘Late Night Poker’ introduced us to the Devilfish,  ‘Mad’ Marty Wilson, Liam Flood, Surinder Sunar, Simon Trumper, Joe Beevers, Ross Boatman and his brother Barny all with commentary from the equally legendary Jesse May.

They were all so far removed from the world I lived in and were playing cards for an eye watering top prize of £40,000 (a number somewhat lower than the multi millions of Pounds, Euros and Dollars that are played for across the felt in 2015), yet they seemed like the most fascinating characters in the world. Sometimes I find it strange that I have met all of these ‘Poker Pioneers’ and socialised with most of them at some point over the last few years. The world truly is a strange place.

Anyway, in case you missed Series 1, the Devilfish won the £40,000 and became, as close to a household name in the UK as a poker player will ever be. I always say if you as an American who has followed poker for 15 years to name a player they will inevitably say ‘Phil Helmuth’, but ask someone from the UK who has followed poker for 15 years the same question they will say ‘ Devilfish’.

To say Dave Ulliott helped bring Poker into the mainstream is pretty much on the money, to say I wouldn’t be doing what I do today without Dave Ulliot is an exaggeration, but the truth is that without these heroes of the game back in 1999 it would not be the multi million industry that it is today.

RIP Fish and thanks for the memories.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (Part 1)

So this journey covers 22,000 miles by plane, 2,500 miles in cars and 500 by train. It took my from Plymouth to the USA and involved travelling to or through; New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada, California, Kentucky, Indiana, Washington DC, Quebec (Canada), Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, Delaware and Florida. It also means I will be visiting Heartland Poker Tour Las Vegas, World Poker Tour Montreal, The Venetian Deepstacks Extravaganza, Deepstacks Tour Mohegan Sun and Sands Deepstack Extravaganza.

It was a crisp winter afternoon in Plymouth when the first stage of this 2 month marathon business trip began. With a wallet full of dollars and expenses at the ready, I made my first big nitty decision to walk to the train station. As I dragged my suitcases toward the station, thinking of all the stops and meetings I had planned, from Nevada to Pennsylvania and California to Canada, saving 10 quid in the big scheme of things was not my best idea.

Flying Virgin Atlantic is probably the best way to get to the US these days. The American airlines have given up with free alcohol and their in-flight entertainment systems leave a lot to be desired. Automated check in makes things easier as well, you click some buttons and hand in your bags then wander through security at your leisure. As I wandered upstairs in Terminal 3, ready to stroll onto VS001 which was departing in 45 minutes, I smirked at the thought of my mother still living in a world where, “You need to be at the airport 3 hours before an international flight”.

US immigration is always a bit of a ball ache, and the lines at Newark didn’t fail to disappoint. Throngs of international travellers that are tired and in need of nicotine, sleep and desperate to reach their final destination is never a good mix when having to deal with red rape at its most extreme form.

The Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem Pennsylvania was my final stop, at least for this initial part of the journey. They had kindly sent a Limo to pick me up, and as quickly as my bags dropped from the reclaim belt I was sitting in comfortable leather seats with a beer in my hand driving through New Jersey.

Perception is a huge part of poker, as it is in the real world. 12 hours after that long walk to the train station, I am being whisked towards a resort casino by a driver who thinks I am some High Roller that the casino is looking after. I know it would confuse the shit out of him if he only knew how this started today, so I play the jet lagged, “I am working there for a few days” line. Realising if he played poker, he could take that either way, but the answer seemed to pacify him.

If you have never been to the Sands in Pennsylvania (and I know most people haven’t), it really is a different world. Carved out of the old Bethlehem Steel plant, it cuts an imposing sight in the night sky. Casinos outside of Las Vegas and Atlantic City were never as impressive as their cousins in America’s two gambling meccas, but times have changed. The Sands has over 3,000 slots, 120 table games and a 30 poker room. While not posting the numbers of its sister properties, they still manage in excess of $400 million in revenue, with 92% of that coming from gaming. Mini Baccarat tournaments run on a daily basis with 36 tables’ crowded tables that can be 3 bodies deep craning to see the cards. Over 2,000 Asian gamers are bussed in every single day from New York and New Jersey to add to the eclectic mix of customers.

The Poker Room is always busy, with never less than 6 tables running and getting close to its full complement of 30 tables every night with plenty of $1/$2, $2/$5 NLH and $2/4, $4/$8 limit. There is normally a $10/$25 running most nights so plenty of options for all. The sands have only recently dipped its toe into the tournament arena, why would you when you have a full suite of table being used for cash? In recent months the room has expanded and they are keen to expand their offering to include tournaments, so they now host 3 a week and are about to launch the Sands Deepstacks Extravaganza, using their sister property in Las Vegas successful template.

I will be returning here for this series in December, but after a couple of days here, it is time to continue the journey and head for Sin City……..

One Month Down, One Month To Go

As long as you are not grinding one month in Las Vegas seems to fly past. I am looking after just over 1000 WSOP registrations, and we are already at event number 46, from a total of 61. The number of European players is now steadily increasing and we have seen seven bracelets that will be heading back over the pond. There have been a couple of near misses and deep runs, most notably from JP Kelly and Neil Channing who is one of 19 players left in event number 44.

The logistics behinds the scenes are something to behold. It takes an army of permanent staff, contractors and interns to make a series this size work. It does sometimes have a bump in the road, but the teamwork involved keeps it all rolling along seamlessly.

I have found some time to play poker, although its all been pretty much low end stuff due to bankroll and spare time issues. Obviously having pretty much zero on both of those items make it tough. It's all been pretty much bad beat stories, boat loses to bigger boat, kings can't beat ace queen. The high point was flopping a Royal (in spade) on level one of a Binions Classic event. The low point was only making 13bb from the hand, the high point was the round of applause when I showed.

So, one month to go and things are ramping up. Press conference to do, with some BIG news, loads of events for our partners to help with and the small matter of making sure 350 people make it into the correct day of the Main Event

Its WSOP time

So what happens when you are sent to Vegas to work behind the scenes?

It’s a great question, especially when you ask it of yourself! Alongside the day to day grind that players face during summer in the desert, life goes on for those who work in event a player support.

As well as my normal duties, this year I am making sure that playing in the WSOP is a straight forward experience for pro team players and qualifiers who can be playing anything from their first event ever to a full schedule of events. Simple it may seem, but don’t forget that some people don’t turn up on the right day, some don’t turn up at all, some people want to change events and some even don’t want to play and would like cold hard currency instead.

At Living it Loving it we are pretty much on for a record World Series. We have over 1000 entries over the 61 events and in excess of 3600 hotel room nights booked. On top of that we have various receptions, parties and activities for clients that means there is not much time to take a breath until the Main event starts un July.

What never ceases to amaze me about this time of year is the sheer volume of games that are available for all levels of players and levels of buy in. Obviously the WSOP is the daddy of them all, but if you did not fancy the $10k Heads Up or the $1.5k Limit Hold ‘Em yesterday, then a quick taxi to the Venetian/Palazzo gets you back to No Limit land with a $2.5k buy in at the Deepstacks Extravaganza. Want something smaller and more quirky then there was a $500 4-Max at the Binion's Poker Classic, across the street at the Golden Nugget, their Grand Series of Poker had NLH for $125 or PLO8 for $230. If downtown is not you thing and $2.5k for the Venetian Deepstacks makes you nervous then you could just settle for a $300 buy in at the Caesar’s Palace Megastacks (No, the real Caesar didn’t live there), or wait until the evening time and you can play the best value weekly H.O.R.S.E. tournament in town for $120 at the MGM Grand.

Daunting can be the buzzword for anyone coming here to play for the first time, even if you are a cash player, the Rio had over 70 tables running last night. If you are form the UK then think of that if you will as 50% bigger than Dusk to Dawn’s entire table capacity. Even someone like me who has been here over a dozen times still smiles when you here, “table opening 100/200 stud”, and yes that is dollars, not cents my friends.

As usual there has been a number of changes since my last visit, but more on that next time, and who knows I might even get time to play…………..