What is the future of the World Series of Poker?

Read Wild Bill's interview with an experienced poker tournament director covering his thoughts on the future of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the future of big poker tournaments in Las Vegas.

Simply go to the RX home page at www.theprescription.com

Also, check out Stephen Nover's story on the compromise between Don Best and Hollywood Sports Book.

Charlie

It's about time for Dante to get in on this annually. Lord knows he has the cash.

Interesting read...I question the director's comments regarding the profitability of large tournaments.

He never spoke about the profitability of WSOP so I'm not sure if he's lumping that tourney in with the others or not. I think there is a case that at least for the WSOP a property could make money.

1) Last year, Binion's took 6% of the fee for the main event which drew 800+ players. That is north of $500k for that event only.

2) The WSOP has tons of other events for which Binions also took a rake. They also have side action which as you can guess...they rake it!

3) Poker players like to gamble. They may give off the impression of not risking too much but it is well documented that a bunch of the big name players have other joneses like sports, blackjack, and craps. The average Joe sure likes to gamble and generally takes the worst of it so I bet the BJ, craps, and slots do fine.

4) Was Binions normally sold out so they end up offering rooms to the poker players at reduced rates? I'm not buying that one. BTW, are the rates less than Binions' cost?

There is not doubt in my mind that poker is probably one of the least profitable games for the house BUT I can't imagine that a WELL MANAGED WSOP is not profitable for any casino that chooses to host it.

They need to make space and hire extra dealers (who the players toke out of their winnings) but the costs just really aren't that high.

I thought the article did little to address the "future of the World Series of Poker" but did examine issues facing large poker tournaments.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by theswami:
Interesting read...I question the director's comments regarding the profitability of large tournaments.

He never spoke about the profitability of WSOP so I'm not sure if he's lumping that tourney in with the others or not. I think there is a case that at least for the WSOP a property could make money.

1) Last year, Binion's took 6% of the fee for the main event which drew 800+ players. That is north of $500k for that event only.

2) The WSOP has tons of other events for which Binions also took a rake. They also have side action which as you can guess...they rake it!

3) Poker players like to gamble. They may give off the impression of not risking too much but it is well documented that a bunch of the big name players have other joneses like sports, blackjack, and craps. The average Joe sure likes to gamble and generally takes the worst of it so I bet the BJ, craps, and slots do fine.

4) Was Binions normally sold out so they end up offering rooms to the poker players at reduced rates? I'm not buying that one. BTW, are the rates less than Binions' cost?

There is not doubt in my mind that poker is probably one of the least profitable games for the house BUT I can't imagine that a WELL MANAGED WSOP is not profitable for any casino that chooses to host it.

They need to make space and hire extra dealers (who the players toke out of their winnings) but the costs just really aren't that high.

I thought the article did little to address the "future of the World Series of Poker" but did examine issues facing large poker tournaments.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Agree, a lot of the WSOP players are in fact high rollers who like to play in the big event. They and there spouses and friends tag along and spend plenty of cash. The prestige and free advertizing that the WSOP brings alone should be worth it's weight in gold.

Poker directors are just poor shmucks that really know very little about "the big picture." Just a step up from a Poker Dealer sniffing around for a mid management job.

Yes I agree the advertising alone from hosting the WSOP is priceless.

The 3rd time my wife and I went to Vegas I told her we had to go visit Binions,"The" place to play poker, I thought. Let me tell you Binions is the biggest shit hole there is on the strip, what a DUMP! low lifes every where you look, I got the chills from this place.It reeked of BO and stunk so fawkin bad, how can anyone play poker there? We ended up staying for about 30 minutes and left. If it wasn't for the WSOP that play would have been reduced to rubble by now!

Binions does have a lotta BO no doubt,but it is a living relic, one that needs saving & not bulldozing..thanks Harrahs!

As far as the WSOP is concerned, no matter where it's held, it's future is like The Fifth Dimension hit(" UP, UP, AND AWAY, COME FLY..").

Who has the WSOP odds for this year up?..I want a 'lil Farha and Tiger Woods action..er make that Phil Ivey.

An excerpt from a recent article in Las Vegas Review Journal:


When the deal closes, Harrah's will pick up the brand name, the World Series of Poker and the Horseshoe's downtown casino-hotel, Harrah's spokesman Gary Thompson said Tuesday.

"We will take a look at all of these (assets). We've been very forthcoming that we like the brand and we definitely want the World Series of Poker. It's the largest event in the world of gaming, draws customers from all over the world, generates tremendous publicity and we will keep operating it," he said.


The full article:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Jan-14-Wed-2004/news/22991808.html

I guess I didn't make it clear, but his point was simply that getting another big tournament or moving the WSOP is very impractical. The future of the WSOP is definitely bright, as long as they can keep the venue open. In most opinions, that is precisely why Harrahs bought the casino, so it can be used as a marketing tool into the future.

I do have to disagree with the comment about a tournament director's job. The one I know is far different than most poker personnel. Top directors have to spend a lot of time on development issues, namely they have to sell properties on having tournaments. For this reason they are fully aware of the numbers and what exactly they have to use as selling points.

This matters because people wonder if poker is booming and has more interest than ever, why isn't it making much movement in the gambling capital of the world? If it is so strong why aren't new poker rooms opening? Why aren't there more new tournaments? It all gets back to the fact that poker tournaments aren't profitable except in certain situations. Of course Binion's is a great example, but the Bellagio isn't. Supposedly they will continue their poker tournaments simply to keep branding themselves worldwide, but there is clearly no short term return. Even more, there isn't a chance to grow their events. They limit their fields for a good reason...no space for it. They offset their capacity issues by having ultra-high limit tourneys to hold down the fields. Still obviously it isn't a growth strategy and further Las Vegas has little growth strategy from poker. That was the aim of my article, sorry if it seemed off that point.

Thanks for the clarification Wild Bill.

Charlie