Ugly Late Entry?
I’m not saying this is an example of favoritism … though as a former tourney director, I absolutely used to do favors for regulars and VIPs, and saw it as an important part of customer service … for all the greatness of twitter, it sure must make it difficult to “control the message” at times, or at least prevent plausible misinterpretations of it.
Joe Reitman’s time-logged WSOP main event Day 1d activities (as of 4:30ish):
Lots of action and loose play. 3 Europeans at my table…
39 minutes ago from TwittelatorJust got seated for main event.complete insanity today…..
about 1 hour ago from TwittelatorSigning up for the WSOP main event in the AM…..heeeeeeere we go……
about 16 hours ago from webLooks like I might being playing the main event of the WSOP on Monday…..oooh…..it is getting exciting 🙂
1:02 AM Jul 5th from web
via @melissalvla and @change100
BJ Nemeth says:
July 6th, 2009 at 6:40pm
May or may not be the case here, but my understanding is that some of the big-name players who have been at the Rio were able to “reserve” seats on a short-term basis (a day or two before the event) without having the money up front. Those seats were then taken out of the overall pool.
On one level, this would be a sign of favoritism, because the players would have to be known *and* trusted by the WSOP staff to actually show up with the money. (An average Joe would never get that kind of treatment, because none of the staff would be willing to vouch for him to the tune of $10,000.) It basically saves that player some level of hassle, meaning they don’t have to show up with the money until the day they play. (They’d still have to pay their money to get their registration card, of course.)
Favoritism? Yes. But a much different type of favoritism than letting people into the event off the street after declaring it a sellout. It’s more like a player making a reservation. More like VIP treatment.
BJ Nemeth says:
July 6th, 2009 at 6:42pm
Who is the former tournament director you’re talking about. You? That phrasing was a little confusing to me. (Maybe I’m just dense.)
DanM says:
July 6th, 2009 at 6:55pm
no, you were right, i had a misplaced modifier (or something like that — words and commas messed up). have rephrased, and yes, i was referring to myself. obviously a much smaller deal, but yeah … and i didn’t even feel dirty doing it.
frankly, i’d be kinda shocked/pissed if i were a diamond member and i didn’t get at least the same treatment at the wsop main event as i’d grown to expect at the Rio Carnival Buffet during dinner rush.