GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 1 - May 2007

12 I n late February, Harrah’s confirmed what Internet poker rooms, affiliates and players had feared for several months: The World Series of Poker will not accept third-party registrations from Internet poker rooms that accept U.S. players in real-money games in 2007. “It certainly wasn’t what we wanted to hear,” said Pete Barovich, affiliate program manager for Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. “It definitely will decrease our direct involvement in the WSOP.” A few weeks later, the news got even worse for Internet poker rooms and their affiliates when Harrah’s released limitations on how sites could market satellites with a set of trademark guidelines. “Our goal is to protect our intellectual property rights,” said Gary Thompson, the director of media relations for Harrah’s. “Every major sports brand does the same thing.” Sites are prohibited from using WSOP logos and may not use the terms “World Series of Poker” or “WSOP” in official promotions. Both terms may be used twice on a single Web page and, when a site uses either of those terms, it must be accompanied with an asterisk and the accompanying text: “* World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah’s License Company, LLC (“Harrah’s”). Harrah’s does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with, [company name] or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.” “Sometimes I wonder if corporate America is run by monkeys,” said Jeremy Enke, Director of PokerAffiliateWorld.com in a post on his message boards. “I love howHarrah’s tries to distance themselves from the online poker scene, yet they rely on it so heavily,” said Justin Goff in a response to the thread. “It’s like the NFL saying betting on football hurts their revenue.” Sites that refuse to comply will not be allowed to outfit players with gear sporting their logos during the tournament, losing valuable television exposure for the ESPN broadcast of the tournament. “We have received their trademark guidelines and are working to ensure we are in compliance with all of their requests,” said Bodog founder Calvin Ayre. “We have a solid relationship with most major players in this industry, and will continue to promote, protect, and cooperate with these other stakeholders.” While Harrah’s has made it more difficult for Internet poker rooms and affiliates to promote theWSOP, poker players still want to take a shot at poker’s most prestigious tournament, and many of those players are still entering Internet satellites. If you pay them, will they play? Internet poker is largely credited with fueling the growth of the WSOP, though exact metrics are difficult to determine because Harrah’s says it never tracked how many WSOP players won their seats on the Internet. Main Event registrations have grow tenfold in the three years since Chris Moneymaker shocked the poker world by winning the 2003 WSOP after qualifying through a $39 satellite won on PokerStars. Moneymaker beat a field of 839 players to win $2.5 million in 2003. Last year, Jamie Gold waded through a field of 8,773 to win $12 million. Last year, UB sent 208 players to the Main Event, with AP sening 67, and with the growth the two rooms have experienced in the last year, Barovich expects both to give out even more WSOP packages. The question, though, will be if the winners can actually play. In past years, when a player won a seat in the WSOP in an Internet satellite, the poker room would register the player. Given the restrictions on third-party registrations, many sites are now opting to credit the players’ accounts with the buy-in and hope that they will use it to buy into the WSOP Main Event. “At this point it is up to the player whether he or she registers for the WSOP or not,” Barovich said. “If the player does decide to register for the WSOP, we will provide additional funds in their account for travel.” Bodog, which sent more than 400 players to the Main Event last year, will also give players a choice: Use the money to enter the Main Event, a WPT event, or just pocket the cash. New rules make WSOP promos tricky Move to deny third-party registrations from U.S. facing sites has poker rooms and affiliate programs scrambling By Aaron Todd Phil Gordon suspects that many satellite winners would rather take the $10,000 in cash. Photos by Aaron Todd GPWA TIMES | WORLD SERIES OF POKER