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POCKET ACES

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Maryann Guberman has been a writer and editor with many gaming publications, including Sports Form, Card Player, Poker World, Player's Panorama and Systems and Methods. She also has written and edited numerous books on gambling.

Aug 05, 2006

No Disrespect but ...

I've noticed that poker players as a group seem to be cheaper than other gamblers and maybe cheaper than the general population. They walk around with binder-clipped wads of cash and Š Unnamed Sales Clerk at WSOP Lifestyle Show

In my other life, I more or less manage a well-known book store that specializes in gambling books, software and videos. At that business the sales come from the Internet, via snail mail and through the front door of the retail outlet. Almost daily, I'm called to the store area to answer questions about various poker topics and at least half of those visits result in the potential buyer asking what kind of a discount I can give him. My standard answer has become a question. I ask in return: "How much of a discount did you get in the last game you got involved in? The cost of this book is about the same as a buy-in to a low-limit game." I'm not being a smartass, honestly, but these questions come from professionals -- doctors, lawyers, businessmen -- and when I used to ask what kind of a discount they'd give me if I needed their services, they usually laugh. Let's face it. If the guy who's going to operate on you tomorrow is a poker player and you ask him what kind of a discount he's going to give you for his services, what do you think he'll say?

No disrespect but, the price of a poker education is cheap when you don't get your lessons at the table.

I've noticed that the media coverage of the 2006 World Series of Poker has deteriorated this year. Yes, Harrah's has a website devoted to the event and yes, it does have a pull down menu for links to the results, and yes, I did mention this last week but it's worth repeating. When the Horseshoe owned the Series, they employed a full-time Public Relations and Marketing individual. (If memory serves me right, it was Mary Winter.) She, in turn, had two full-time assistants (during the event) and a full-time writer (Lynne Loomis) to cover each event. Lynne's job was to sit at the final table of each event, record the important hands, follow through to the end, interview the winner (when possible) and immediately write a press release. This release was available in the media room and was also faxed to various press outlets, including the hometown of the winner. What made the whole thing work was the no-frills detail -- who, what, where, when and why or how. It's hard to find this anywhere now. The official WSOP page gives credit to just one (Nolan Dalla) for tournament reporting, but honestly, with the size of the fields and the tiered structure, the event is too much for one person to handle, even if he is as super good at the job as Dalla. And the link to Card Player's live coverage seems really to be a giant ad for Full Tilt Poker.

No disrespect but, I know, these folks want to make money -- but this folk wants solid, up-to-date information, no frills.

The gaming industry was notorious for putting blackjack dealers at the bottom of the gene pool of casino employees because both sides of the table thought any monkey could deal cards. That said, I'm wondering if there is a problem getting name player sponsorship at Poker Share. Their big marketing icon this year was Mikey the Chimp, who was going to represent the online site at this year's big dance. Yep. Press conferences, introductions, and a release stating that this super intelligent, card-recognizing primate was discovered via a nationwide search were copied and reprinted all over the web. Which nation did the promoters scour to find this gem?

No disrespect but, it's embarrassing enough to think anybody can be successful at poker. Do we have to have a monkey prove that true?