Poker News

Pros unhappy over flatter payouts at 2009 WSOP

It's another story, however, if you go deep. You'll find that those coveted top spots don't pay out what they did in the past.

It's all a part of a flatter overall payout structure initiated by tournament organizers at the 2009 WSOP.

The goal was to give more players a better value for their money but it's raising the ire of several well-known pros who want that money to stay at the top.

"I don't like the flatter payouts at all," said 2008 WSOP Main Event third place finisher Dennis Phillips. "I'd much rather have it tip toward the top like it used to."

Phillips isn't the only one to disagree with the payout structure. Jimmy "gobboboy" Fricke called it "The dumbest thing I have ever heard" on twoplustwo.com.

Others, like former WSOP Player of the Year Daniel Negreanu, are not ecstatic about the new payouts but understand why they were put in place.

"As far as the payouts go, for me personally it's not good to flatten them out because I don't benefit in any way, shape or form, but you have to look at the bigger picture and realize that for the game and keeping people involved it's a good thing," said Negreanu. "It's a good thing from that perspective."

Online poker pro James "mig.com" Mackey, who a won a $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em event in 2007 for $730,740 echoed Negreanu's statements.

"I prefer it to be more top heavy but I understand the argument that if it's flatter it keeps more money in the poker economy. The fields should stay larger that way but personally I like the bigger payouts at the top."

WSOP organizers have a different opinion and tournament director Jack Effel went so far as to call it the "dream structure" earlier this year.

WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack said it's just a matter of listening to their customers.

"The goal there was to create more value for every player," said Pollack. "If you just make it into the money this year you're going to benefit more than previous years. We think that's a good thing."

Given the state of the global economy it would be easy to write off the flatter payout structures as the WSOP's response to the recession but Pollack was quick to dispel that notion.

"No I think we would have done it anyways," said Pollack. "The focus for us was really 'How to we improve on last year' and one way was to give more value to the customer. Giving more value to the customer is always a good strategy regardless of the economy."

WSOP payout structures have come a long way since the early days of the Series where first place took as much as 100% of the prize pool.

In 1977 Doyle Brunson won $340,000 for winning the WSOP Main Event while second place finisher Gary Berland received nothing.

Since then payout structures have been steadily flattening. Of course the best case for flatter payouts can be found online where first place usually pays out in the range of just 10-15%. It's that business model that has helped sustain a multi-billion dollar online poker industry.

In other words the players that make small cashes are willing to put more into their online poker accounts.

At any rate the flatter payouts appear to be here to stay and until there is a serious change to Harrah's strategy players like Negreanu, Phillips and Fricke will have to be content with the thousands of players that will keep buying into the WSOP because they made it into the money one time.

Visit PokerListings.com

Pros torn over flatter payouts at 2009 WSOP

It's another story, however, if you go deep. You'll find that those coveted top spots don't pay out what they did in the past.

It's all a part of a flatter overall payout structure initiated by tournament organizers at the 2009 WSOP.

The goal was to give more players better value for their money, but it's raising a few questions from pros who would prefer that money stays at the top.

"I don't like the flatter payouts at all," said 2008 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Dennis Phillips. "I'd much rather have it tip toward the top like it used to."

Phillips isn't the only one to disagree with the payout structure. Jimmy "gobboboy" Fricke called it "The dumbest thing I have ever heard" on twoplustwo.com.

Others, like former WSOP Player of the Year Daniel Negreanu, are not ecstatic about the new payouts but understand why they were put in place.

"As far as the payouts go, for me personally it's not good to flatten them out because I don't benefit in any way, shape or form.

"But you have to look at the bigger picture and realize that for the game and keeping people involved, it's a good thing," said Negreanu. "It's a good thing from that perspective."

Online poker pro James "mig.com" Mackey, who a won a $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em event in 2007 for $730,740, echoed Negreanu's statements.

"I prefer it to be more top heavy but I understand the argument that if it's flatter it keeps more money in the poker economy. The fields should stay larger that way, but personally I like the bigger payouts at the top."

WSOP organizers have a different opinion and tournament director Jack Effel went so far as to call it the "dream structure" earlier this year.

WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack said it's just a matter of listening to their customers.

"The goal there was to create more value for every player," said Pollack. "If you just make it into the money this year you're going to benefit more than previous years. We think that's a good thing."

Given the state of the global economy it would be easy to write off the flatter payout structures as the WSOP's response to the recession, but Pollack was quick to dispel that notion.

"No I think we would have done it anyways," said Pollack. "The focus for us was really 'How do we improve on last year' and one way was to give more value to the customer. Giving more value to the customer is always a good strategy regardless of the economy."

WSOP payout structures have come a long way since the early days of the Series where first place took as much as 100% of the prize pool.

In 1977 Doyle Brunson won $340,000 for winning the WSOP Main Event while second-place finisher Gary Berland received nothing.

Since then payout structures have been steadily flattening. Of course the best case for flatter payouts can be found online where first place usually pays out in the range of just 10-15%.

It's that business model that has helped sustain a multi-billion dollar online poker industry. In other words, the players that make small cashes are willing to put more into their online poker accounts.

At any rate the flatter payouts appear to be here to stay and until there is a serious change to Harrah's strategy players like Negreanu, Phillips and Fricke will have to be content with the thousands of players that will keep buying into the WSOP because they made it into the money one time.

Visit PokerListings.com

Poker Players Alliance to Spend $3 Million for Lobbying Efforts

In a recent article by the Associated Press, it was revealed that the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the major lobbying force for the poker industry, plans to spend $3 million for lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill during the current Congressional session.

The online poker industry is on the cusp of seeing new internet gambling legislation introduced by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA). It will need to sway a Congress that is engulfed with a struggling economy and ongoing war in Iraq to address the need for internet gambling or online poker legislation. The PPA’s method will be to lay out $3 million during the 111th Congress, which began in January and runs through the end of 2010. According to the Associated Press, The group gets its money from the “Interactive Gaming Council (IGC), a Vancouver, British Columbia-based trade association for online casinos, as well as from its poker player members.”

The PPA has over one million members worldwide, a number that it reached last year, and offers premium versions for a one-time fee of $20. Many of its constituents, however, are of the free variety. Benefits of upgrading to a premium membership include access to the PPA’s extensive Litigation Network, which puts poker players in need of legal counsel in touch with local pre-screened lawyers, as well as a discount program that touts potential savings of over $2,000 per year. Other benefits of the $20 membership include a PPA card protector and window decal, discounts on PPA merchandise, and the ability to donate to the organization’s Poker Political Action Committee (PAC).

The National Football League (NFL) has been among the advocates of continuing the enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which was passed into law during the final minutes of the 2006 Congressional session. Last month, it was revealed that the NFL had hired lobbyist Jeff Miller, who will serve as its first in-house counsel and keep the pulse of Capitol Hill. In an interview with the Associated Press, when asked whether he would continue to support upholding the UIGEA and Wire Act, Miller responded, "We want to maintain the integrity of the game, and gambling threatens that."

The UIGEA does not clarify what is legal and illegal under it. Instead, the doctrine defers to existing federal, state, and tribal laws and charges the financial services industry with its enforcement. The Associated Press article notes that half of the $16 billion internet gambling industry is “fueled by bettors in the United States.” The entire industry underwent a makeover as a result of the 2006 law, which sent the largest online poker site at the time, PartyPoker, packing from the market. In addition, payment processors such as Neteller and Citadel Commerce fled. A subsidiary of a publicly traded company, PartyPoker is now the fourth largest site or network worldwide according to PokerScout.com. It has also rebounded to become the second largest that does not accept players from the United States.

NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told the Associated Press, “We understand that illegal gambling currently occurs, but there is little we can do about that. However, we can exercise our right to oppose Internet betting on our games. Gambling on our games – online or offline – threatens the integrity of our games and all the values they represent.” A recent study by U.S.-based PricewaterhouseCoopers noted that up to $52 billion could be raised by taxing and regulating the internet gambling industry over a ten year period. However, that figure relied heavily on professional sports leagues opening up betting on their games, a concept the NFL appears to be ardently opposed to.

Frank told the Associated Press in a previous interview that he plans to introduce internet gambling legislation before the end of April. Congress was on a recess for the Easter holiday last week. The Chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee had originally intended to submit a bill in March, but it was ultimately postponed due to the ongoing economic meltdown. What form the legislation will take is also not yet known.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from Capitol Hill.

Titan Poker Wins Award for Best Poker Support for the Third Consecutive Year

The online poker room TitanPoker.com that is located on the iPoker Network recently won the Gambling Online Magazine award for best poker support. This is the third year in a row that Titan Poker has won this award.

Titan Poker is one of the leading poker rooms on the iPoker Network and they are very proud to say that they have managed to put a “personal touch” on the support that they offer their players.

Gambling Online Magazine has been handing out awards to the best casino and poker rooms for the last 8 years and since Gambling Online Magazine is the biggest and most read magazine in Europe it is a lot of prestige in winning an award like this.

Titan Poker has a very good reputation in the online poker industry and they have been working very hard to achieve this. The main reason to why they have become so popular is their amazing customer support that is available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. You can always reach the Titan Poker support by either email or live chat.

As a VIP player at Titan Poker you will always have access to a dedicated support person, this is a very cool feature and many players like the fact that they have access to their very own support person. But even if you are not able to reach VIP status at Titan Poker you will always get great support in the regular live chat. After all, they have the awards to prove that they are the best when it comes to offering support for their poker players.

New Poker Training Site Rocks the Online Poker Industry

As a poker aficionado, perhaps someone who lives and breathes poker, wouldn't you love the opportunity to pick the brains of some of the poker greats that you  have encountered during your time as a player? A new poker training site has just launched, PokerSwat.com. It features some of the ...