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RE: Don’t Give Us Choices

Comments (7)
by , Jun 16, 2008 | 11:35 pm

Semi-related … do you know how much the WSOP spent on media food and water last year? Reportedly $440,000. Yeow! That means collectively, we sandwich-eating, water-and-Pepsi-product-slugging hacks grossed more than Tom won en route to becoming POY.

The key word in that sentence, of course, is “gross.”


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  • http://pokerati.com/?author=117 California Jen

    That’s why the media gets water from a cooler this year – no bottles, no soda, no sandwiches, no croissants. We used our bankroll (without knowing it) for the next four years.

  • http://pokerblog.com Poker Shrink

    FYI, that $440,000 number was what the Rio food and beverage department billed the WSOP division. You see one way to keep profit down is to shift lots of cash to other accounting columns of Rio/Harrah’s/Caesars. Unfortunately, that bit of slight-of-hand bean-counting comes back to bite the WSOP entity in the butt each and every year when the big mucky-mucks look only at the bottom line and see a much smaller net profit for the Series.

    Imagine, as just one example, the cost to set-up, wire, light and tear-down the Amazon Room for a normal three or four day convention. Now imagine the savings of having the room in the WSOP configuration for seven weeks. Do you think the WSOP division’s budget gets a break for that? Hell they are probably charged overtime.

  • tbonezz111

    I know all big companies are like this. When I worked for the mouse… aka Walt Disney World… when a department would want to have meetings, that department was “charged” the same as any hotel guest for services…. Gallon of coffee $45, Gallon of OJ $90, tray full of pastries $150 (about 9 bucks a piece) and this was in the early 90′s. No wonder everything costs so much. And those damn $15k hammers in the government.

  • olivert

    > FYI, that $440,000 number was what the Rio food and beverage department billed the WSOP division. You see one way to keep profit down is to shift lots of cash to other accounting columns of Rio/Harrah’s/Caesars. Unfortunately, that bit of slight-of-hand bean-counting comes back to bite the WSOP entity in the butt each and every year when the big mucky-mucks look only at the bottom line and see a much smaller net profit for the Series.

    Exactamente, amigo.

    Any wonder why the “grand poobah” of the WSOP now spends more time at his new digs in Beverly Hills than in Vegas?

  • http://pokerati.com/about-us/#danm DanM

    I certainly have no problem with the head of such a big event earning enough bank to live in Beverly Hills. Gives me hope that there is a future in serving degenerates!

    I also don’t feel “shorted” by having to drink from a shared water dispenser as opposed to individual bottles. I may feel differently come the main event. Ask me again in two weeks.

  • http://pokerblog.com Poker Shrink

    JPOMS post by DanM.

    Jeffery Pollack Over My Shoulder.

  • http://jasonkirk.net/blog Jason

    A few things:

    First, the accounting methods that led to the amount billed to the WSOP reminds me of the way Drug War busts are reported. The $440,000 number is the “street value” of the food and drinks, not what the big bad dealer paid before splitting it all up.

    Second, having a shared water cooler is a good thing. You can bring your own water bottle instead of using those little plastic cups that you’d normally be throwing away after one or two uses. You fit more water in a bottle than you can in a cup, and there’s no waste.