Chip Counts and Commercial Backers

LAS VEGAS–Donkey Bomber is playing in the $1,000 7-stud Hi Lo and is hanging on by a thread as Day 1 nears a close. I\’m following via infrequent text as I am currently not at the Rio and PokerNews hasn\’t noticed he is in the tournament yet, which is fine, because really, Tom\’s bracelet was so early-June 2007 — like what has he done lately? — and his stack is small.

One thing I found kinda interesting is what I think is a new feature (it\’s possible journo types can miss something, ya know) on the chip-count leaderboard … check it out, and you\’ll see a column for \”sponsor.\” I like it … though all are currently blank, even though, indeed, there are a few folks playing with the backing of another company.

You know another reason why this is relevant — beyond the fact that so much of the 2007 WSOP has been about making the World Series sponsor-friendly? Because there\’s so much talk about backing deals … and whether or not these should be disclosed. At least one Pokerati journo believes they should be, for multiple reasons — most generally in the spirit of being fair, open, and honest.

The soon-to-be-poker-standard-setter WPA — whose black-and-yellow spade patches have become the red ribbons of the 2007 WSOP — hasn\’t had anything specific to say about the notion of sponsorial disclosure, but they probably should … as well as something about whether it should apply to just corporate backers or individuals as well.