Poker News

2007 WSOP Critique

Although Harrah’s Entertainment owns them both, the WSOP tournament and the WSOP Lifestyle Show are run by two different entities. This editorial is directed at the management of the Lifestyle Show. Two and three years ago, Poker Player Newspaper took a booth at this show.

We gave away free newspapers but accomplished little else by having a booth, except making our presence known and meeting some nice people. When asked by show management to take a booth again this year, I would probably have done so, except for the outrageous 25 percent increase in the cost of the booths.

In 2006, there were more than 8,000 players in the WSOP. These players, who are required to pass through the exhibit area to enter and leave the tournament, are the main focus of vendors trying to introduce their goods, services, and newspapers to the poker playing public.

Harrah’s knows that the value of a booth is directly proportional to the amount of traffic generated. Early in 2007 and AFTER the UIGEA had been enacted, Harrah’s sent out solicitations to former vendors asking them to renew their commitment to exhibit at the Lifestyle Show. They stated that 10,000 players were expected for the 2007 WSOP main event.

Now anyone who knows anything about tournament promotion knew that the UIGEA would have a devastating effect upon the number of people playing, since most of the traffic came from internet satellite events. By not accepting entries directly from the internet satellites, many satellite winners were expected to take the cash, rather than play- and many did just that.

When asked, I personally projected 5,000 players and was not too far off. TheWSOP tournament staff knew they would have fewer players, although they were prepared for an increase. In light of this knowledge, I inquired of one of the truly nice people on the show staff as to whether Harrah’s would guarantee the 10,000 players that they based their rates on and issue a rebate if they did not materialize.

The answer I received was. “No Comment.” Therefore, I declined to participate again.

In addition to raising their prices without considering that some additional promotion would seem appropriate in light of the potential reduction in the number of players, Harrah’s actually reduced their advertising for this event.

In the world I live in, misrepresenting circulation, distribution, or attendance is characterized as “fraud,” a criminal offense. Something needs to be done about this. It’s not enough to sweep this under the rug because Harrah’s is such a giant organization-an 800 pound. gorilla, so to speak-that can push around and overcharge small and powerless businessmen and women.

The right and proper thing for Harrah’s to do would be to voluntarily grant a 40 percent rebate to all of the vendors at the lifestyle show, because attendance fell more than 40percent below their projections. At the least, they should rebate the extra 25 percent increase they added on in 2007. At future shows their prices should be based upon projected attendance, and, if they fail to measure up, proportionate rebates should be granted.

Lastly, the person responsible for the price increase should be carefully reviewed for suitability as an executive in a public corporation.

Filed under: Poker News