WSOPop Art

Maybe Caesars corporate has a greater sense of humor and love for irony than I give them credit for …

Visitors to the WSOP will likely notice this painting in the central dome area of the Rio convention center, near the entrance to the Pavillion room, by Shane McDowall, the artist from \”On Tilt\” who designs the WSOP bracelets. Supposedly this is just a place-holder for what will be a more dynamic installation, some sorta electrified Roy Lichetenstein meets Lite Brite display.

We love fine art as much as fine scandal here at Pokerati, of course … but I did find it rather curious that WSOP brand protectors would go for an Ace-up-a-sleeve so closely attached to images of their proprietary chips.

While this painting\’s narrative presumably tells the story of a cheater foiled, or one who just can\’t win (and thus is \”on tilt\”) … McDowall said he received no blowback from Caesars corporate about the Ace or any insinuations of crooked play or even violent outbursts. However there was a fair amount of concern, he said, about the altered font in the official World Series of Poker logo.

(Eventually proper suits agreed with the artist that cartoonified lettering was essential to the authenticity of this representation of the WSOP.)