The guys bring you up to speed on all things 2012 WSOP with a 2-hour conference call about a one-hour conference call outlining what to expect from the World Series in Las Vegas this summer.
When Calvin Ayre got indicted this past week, some were wondering what took so long … because if the DOJ couldn’t nab the brashest of online gambling kingpins (Bodog did sports-betting for chrissakes!) then there had to be a formula — a legal-enough way to run an online gambling empire while steering clear of America’s internet police.
Stu notes that the investigation leading to Bodog’s shutdown wasn’t singular in scope, and asks who might be next on the DOJ’s hit-list. The answer to that question, I believe, is in the indictment itself — and though they don’t name any magazine or website by brand, the DOJ does reveal that after more than five years of investigation they consider certain media part of a criminal conspiracy to facilitate illegal online gambling.
Read and decide for yourself on the not-so-subtle nuances of the DOJ-Maryland office’s carefully chosen words:
6.Through these communications, members of the conspiracy caused the media reseller to create and execute an advertising campaign to increase the participation by gamblers in the United States on the BODOG.com website.
7. Through these communications, members of the conspiracy caused the media reseller to send invoices to BODOG ENTERTAINMENT GROUP S.A., d/b/a BODOG.com. These invoices represented the costs and fees for the creation and execution of the advertising campaign.
8. Members of the conspiracy caused funds to be sent by wire from accounts located outside the United States to accounts located in the United States to satisfy the invoices sent by the media reseller. These wire transfers totaled more than $42 million during 2005 through 2008.
Come in, sit down, and let me slide an analogy across the table. Imagine that two businessmen meet over a game of poker. During the course of that game, they hammer out a deal to create a brand new company. Should the poker media report it? I don’t mean morally. I mean, is that something you – our particular audience – would find interesting? I doubt it. Even if you happen to possess a particular partiality for late-night business deals, that interest is irrelevant to poker. To co-opt a bit of Latin, your interest in the story qua poker is nil.
Here comes the second half of the analogy. Imagine that two gentlemen meet over a game of poker. During the course of the game, they get into a disagreement that results in one player wounding his opponent by means of gunfire. Exciting right? Violence, crime, projectiles! I’m sure you’d be interested in that sort of thing. Hey, and it involves poker too, so that means that we can report it in the poker media. Win win!
But really, does a reader’s desire to learn about this violent crime have anything to do with the fact that it occurred next to an upturned circle of felt? Once again, your interest in the story qua poker is minimal. It’s unlikely that you’ll be asking what the stack sizes were when the shooting took place or whether the man with a bullet in his leg has ever won a WSOP Circuit ring.
At this point it’s fair to ask, ‘so what?’ If a story provides titillation, who cares that it only has a tangential relation to poker? If the audience enjoys it, print it.
There is a problem however and to expose it we can ask for a helping hand from one of the great thinkers of the Enlightenment. Scottish philosopher David Hume argued that we could never truly know when one thing caused another. Instead we could only establish that two events were regularly correlated. We can lay aside his intellectual musings for the moment, but his insight into the human condition is extremely relevant. Hume’s discovery was that when two events happen frequently one after the other it is a natural human tendency to assume that the former plays a part in causing the latter, even if their connection is just coincidence.
In many ways, the press have the power to curate your world view. So far as the poker media are concerned, what we choose to report makes a big difference to what information you absorb. Twitter and Facebook have broken down those barriers to some degree, but a written report from a major poker news outlet still highlights an event in a way that the burbling of social media cannot match. In other words, we can make certain correlations more distinct.
To quote another equally important thinker, “with great power comes great responsibility.” If we choose to regularly report on poker shootings, both ‘poker’ and ‘shooting’ become more commonly correlated in the minds of our readers. The knowledgeable sorts who bookmark Pokerati can see through such illusory causation, but not every site is blessed with such learned readers. The openness of the internet also means that anyone could pick up on a story at any moment, immediately highlighting it in even bolder lettering; adding to the weight of correlation. Not to mention poker’s many enemies, who will leap at the chance to trumpet any bad press they can find.
Let’s leave crime reporting to the crime blogs, except in cases where poker plays a tangible role. Focussing on stories of shootings at poker games adds nothing of interest to the general tapestry of the game and only serves to further denigrate the image of a pastime that is fighting for legal and moral recognition.
So the biggest shiznit of the poker year is underway … please bear with us as some of us “old school” poker media try to find our place and purpose in covering an event that poker nuts can follow officially via WSOP.com, near-instantly on Twitter, and near-live (15 minutes, shmifteen minutes) on ESPNs 1, 2, and 3.
In the spirit of kicking things old-school, we’re going really new school … on the fly no less … and moving to SoundCloud, which we think will work in really neato ways.
November Nine – Evolution (Ep 1) by taopokerati
November Nine – Evolution (ep. 1)
Dr. Pauly and Dan are back with a new episode of Tao of Pokerati live from the Rio in Las Vegas. Dan showed up late, but watched some of the live feed at home. The WSOP coverage is evolving and the two discuss the latest nuances in poker reporting.
And of course to follow an old-school blogger with faster typing skills than mine, be sure to read actual writing from my partner in podcast crime at Tao of Poker.
Check it out, blast from the past … just 2.5 years ago today, only some 30 months ago, Kevmath was reporting on this newfangled medium emerging in poker called “Twitter”. It was a global chip-count texting machine, this Twitter, and it was catching on way bigger than our version here at Pokerati (called CSR, Citizen Stack Reporter, ahead of its time, obv since abandoned).
I can tell you there has been a noted difference in our on-site commentary since Twitter.
Anyhow, go Kevmath … for asking the question:
Could Twitter Replace the Poker Media?
Apr 3, 2009
I’d say in some ways yes … but in other ways no, it’s just changed how many do their jobs. But Twitter’s still got a ways to go before the #hashtag officially usurps the adjective, and I still haven’t seen the concept really work for anyone who’s tried to possess it … so there’s gotta be a reason @KevMath has more Klout than the rest of us.
Who says poker media sucks. I mean sure the writing and diction might be lacking … but being a Pokerati alum (and degenerate Pokerati game player) has its privileges. Check out Mechdawg, former podcast critic, arriving in Vegas for work on the Epic Poker League, apparently not needing a ride to or from the bar at the Palms.
Next Pokerati Game, btw, is tomorrow, Thursday, usual start time. Hoping Merchdawg et al(canthang) play when they’re done with the tournament coverage. Somebody asked me, lol, “Is this a WPT event?”
Apologies to @PokerGuyJoeV and/or @BobbyGriff9, btw, if every 1/2 PLO/NL player now thinks you can hook them up with airport rides just because.
This is an “extra special episode” for Benjo and will be the last time Dr. Pauly, Dan, and Benjo record an episode for the 2011 WSOP…
2011 WSOP – Episode 20: Adieu, Benjo (8:40) – After almost a week of speculation and rumors, Benjo confirms that he’s leaving Las Vegas and heading home to France. His brief stint at the WSOP is officially over. One chapter ends, and a new one begins. Dr. Pauly, Dan and Benjo hang out in the dive bar inside the bowling alley at Gold Coast to listen to Benjo bid his farewells.
For more episodes, visit the Tao of Pokerati archives or subscribe to the Tao of Pokerati feed. 
Holy moly! Pokernewsdaily.com sold on eBay today for the bargain price of $63,100. I think it’s funny that the top bid increased by more than $13,000 in the last 60 seconds of the auction, but the winning bidder got the site for just $100 more than some other guy who wanted it. I guess that’s the beauty of eBay!! I personally enjoy being a last-minute eBay swooper — like that time I got the Weird Al Yankovic Ultimate Video Collection that someone thought they had locked down for 99 cents when I swooped in all ninja-style to nab it for $1.99. Danielle 1, random bidder 0.
With 23 bidders and 88 bids in the fight for PokerNewsDaily, I can only imagine the joy “b***2″ felt upon binking the auction. No word on who that buyer really was. But they didn’t even play in the game for Pokerterms.com, a sister site to PND also put up for auction that went to “s***n” for $8,359.
This is the first time I’ve heard of an on-line auction for a poker site. It seems as if Protos Marketing, the site’s parent company, was trying to unload these domains (and related assets) pretty fast. I wonder if they are feeling the effects of Black Friday on affiliate-based poker media, or if the previous owners needed cash for WSOP Satellites something bigger and better yet to come.
I’ve overheard several people at the Rio talking about friendly wagers they had on the selling prices for these sites. Curious if people here participated in any prop bets … or the actual eBay auctions?
Spend enough time around the professional poker circuit and you’ll quickly realize that it’s a very small and incestuous group. Players and media members spend hours, days and sometimes weeks together in casinos and card rooms around the world and, as expected, the close quarters inevitably lead to friendships (and, sometimes, more) between the two groups.
This is perfectly normal and, quite frankly, not a big deal in most cases. A poker pro sharing a drink or a meal with a player can be beneficial for both parties. And, so long as clear lines are kept between professional and personal relationships, there’s no real issue. When the lines are blurred, however, things become less clear.
Whether or not friendships affect reporting is irrelevant, because it’s the perception of impartiality that matters. If people paid to report on poker can’t separate personal feelings and biases from the stories they’re covering, how can anyone trust what they say or write?
We’re only a couple of weeks into this year’s WSOP and I’ve already seen plenty of instances where the line hasn’t just been blurred, but erased completely. Specifically, I’m referring to the increasing and increasingly annoying practice of poker journalists openly rooting for their friends during individual events.
Hinted at it in the PAW post, but it probably deserves a hedline of its own, at least to note it for the record.
Tony G says he’s thinking of skipping the 2011 WSOP, too … but the reason he gives — not being able to keep up with the kids these days — seems questionably weak when one of the most influential men in poker has been throwing firebombs at Full Tilt and Howard Lederer specifically, as they relate to player monies and the WSOP.
I think the real question is: Is he looking to skip just the events, or skip out on Las Vegas and/or the US altogether? I mean shoot, I was hoping he’d at least show up to play the media event!
The news won’t stop breaking … and just because American online players may be crying in watered down beers … that’s not gonna stop one magnetic on-camera Croatian from signing a player sponsorship patch deal with Bodog, the original American-friendly online gambling operation to officially go rogue:
The DOJ dropped an A-bomb on the online poker industry Friday, and, as you’d expect, the impact was devastating. Within hours of the DOJ’s indictments, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker had shut down real money gaming in the US, effectively killing online poker and leaving millions of customers with nowhere to play.
And while the sites are scrambling to readjust to a world where approximately 40 percent or more of their business just disappeared and mount legal defenses for themselves and their executives, the fallout from Friday’s bombshells continues to spread far and wide from its epicenters in Dublin and the Isle of Man.
I could go on, but I’ll just end up depressing myself and that’s no fun.
While Full Tilt and Stars were certainly the two biggest poker sites operating in the states, their reach extends far beyond the virtual felt. Until Friday, these sites were the drivers of a whole industry that revolved around their players, television programs and live tournaments around the world. With the sites gone, the poker economy they supported is sure to follow.
As I write this, a number of my friends are getting trashed on Pisco Sours down in Peru, where they’re covering the end of an LAPT event for PokerStars and PokerNews. The sad fact is, though, this may be the end of poker reporting as we know it.
Providing live tournament coverage is expensive and resource-intensive, and sites like PokerNews can’t exist without financial underwriting provided by sites like Stars and Tilt. With those players now out of the US market, there’s no reason for them to be spending resources on tournament reporting when that money can be better spent on the high-priced legal teams they’re undoubtedly going to need to put in place. Bottom line – that WSOP coverage that everyone has been gearing up for next month probably isn’t going to happen.
A few interesting things have taken place since the implosion of online poker we’ve been warning you about here at Pokerati for about nine months became a reality.
We’ll save the 9/11 comparisons for later — because no one has died yet — and it’s just kinda coincidental that the DOJ has 9 charges against 11 defendants. But there seems to be a need for people to talk through these matters openly and honestly … and in kinda an organic way, the few truly independent operations (that don’t rely on Stars, Tilt, or UB for their existence) have come together to fill that void.
What began with appearances on an “EMERGENCY EPISODE!!!!” of Donkdown radio has migrated to a 24/7 live podcast put together by @AgentMarco from QuadJacks.
It’s been a rather loose-aggressive media emergence … with old-school cooperation in play. Pokerati has taken part … Tom Schneider, myself were on for the first few hours, Mark Gahagan is on now, and I’m about to rejoin to share some new information. Others that have been on have included Dutch Boyd, Scott Matusow, Micon-Brandon-and-Dandruff from Donkdown, The Maven, Kevmath, Pete the Blunt-smoker, Thomas the Rapper … as well as just regular ole online poker players sharing their stories about how a “little” government action has greatly affected their lives.
Anyhow, blah blah blah to infinity … the podcast that won’t stop is still going on — they’ve been going for 48 hours so far, with no sign of stopping, even if Marco eventually needs a nap. More than 1,000 listeners at this moment, so check out the chat room and keep it on for background music. Here’s the link:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/day-2-qj-live-show
Funny how once the concept of “conversions” stopped mattering, 24/7 poker radio could finally emerge.
This week’s show included a lengthy interview with featured guest Mike Sexton, a cameo from Daniel Negreanu to discuss PokerVT, MAXIM Hometown Hottie finalist and WPT Royal Flush Girl Melanie Iglesias, and a discussion with Matt Parvis about Poker News and the role of poker media.
All that plus the Tina Fey of Poker Jess Welman delivers this week’s big poker headlines.
First the good news: I’ve finally made my way into actually working in the “poker media” (not counting the two months I worked during the 2009 WSOP at PokerNews) by accepting a position working with Bluff magazine. The bad news is that one of the conditions is that I’m no longer able to write here at Pokerati. To be honest, I’m not thrilled by that particular condition, but those are the sacrifices one needs to make sometimes. You realize how fragile things can be in the poker media when someone as talented as Change100 was let go from PokerNews this week.
Dan is more than capable to handle things here at Pokerati, and there’s several possible things in the coming months that may make me regret this decision. I know the site will continue to grow and I hope for the best, and I’ll still make my appearance in the comments as needed. I appreciate Dan giving me my break in May of 2008 after enduring my hundreds of comments to his posts. Thanks again, and hopefully I can do with Bluff what I’ve done for Pokerati over the coming months.
FYI “@ArtisanVegas: Ready for that free birthday bottle? Hit us up at bday@artisanhotel.com for a bottle for you and at least 6 friends.”
Had a great session with Deus Ex. Then got to another boss. Contemplating giving up and moving on to something fun. Wish there were cheats.
RT @taxdood: RT @CKrafcik: A link to the newly amended #Illinois #Internet #gambling bill: http://t.co/6t3NYTRJ
