28
#150 – WSOP Preview #A – Media Credentials and the Thirteenth Amendment
If the 2006 World Series of Poker was like Woodstock, the 2007 Series threatens to be Altamont. Harrah’s barely had control of last year’s Series; add in lame-duck management and the company not just biting the hand that feeds (online poker) but vomiting on it as well. Throw in thirty to forty thousand desperate gamblers, most of whom are fighting to become or escape stereotypes or archtypes; pros; celebrities; good dealers and floor personnel; incompetent dealers and floor personnel; bureaucrats; promoters; doomsdayers; naysayers; and gawkers. All this adds up to an ugly panorama, and one I don’t dare miss.
But from what vantage point will I view this spectacle? I’m going to be in Vegas for the whole thing, except for some mid-week trips home to call dibs on my family’s affections. (Incidentally, every smart person I know who both writes and plays poker is showing up just for the last few events and the Main. Only yours truly has jumped forward into the maw, for better or worse.) I’m going to play several events but, mostly, I want to WATCH and REPORT.
It has always been a dicey business writing about institutionalized news events and if Harrah’s is no worse than any other similarly placed organization (e.g., Disney, the Pentagon), it sure isn’t any better. I expect to spend half my time at the World Series complaining how the REAL stories are the ones our handlers don’t want us to report – and the other half complaining that the Internet connection they gave me isn’t fast enough or the lights in the Media Room aren’t bright enough or the ice keeping the free bottled water cold melted hours ago.
If I’m lucky, that is. And, though it’s ominous to say this before going to Las Vegas for seven weeks, I don’t feel lucky.
The Binions, from what my pals Tony Holden and Peter Alson tell me, really knew how to treat the media. Comped rooms, airport limos, a lavish free buffet, a media tournament that paid MONEY to the top finishers.
On the one hand, despite the Binions so openly courting the media, some great reporting came out of that period, with Al Alvarez’s THE BIGGEST GAME IN TOWN being the seminal work. On the other hand, no one was looking into poker games that were clearly, through the lens of history and the lapsed statute of limitations, less honest than the poker found in today’s cardrooms. Nor was anyone looking for skeletons in the Binions’ closet, or following up the chatter about Ted Binion’s private life or how “justice” was meted out to those caught cheating or links between the poker community and the murder of a federal judge.
The skeletons in the closet with the World Series’ corporate owners, thankfully, don’t include the possibility of ACTUAL skeletons in a closet, but Harrah’s has been, if anything, a lot less anxious to keep good relations with the media. This is my fourth year as a member of the media at the Series and, despite the presence of media director Nolan Dalla, who I trust, admire, and respect (he and I were initially going to collaborate on a project that, after it didn’t pan out, spun off into a direction that became THE FULL TILT POKER STRATEGY GUIDE), each year it becomes more difficult.
Part of the problem, of course, is that no one wants potentially hostile scrutiny, especially in this big, sprawling, messy production that constantly threatens to spin out of control. The bigger part, however, and I understand the thinking (though I don’t agree with it) is the presence of television. ESPN will automatically give Harrah’s all the positive coverage it wants and needs – and they’ll pay for providing it! Therefore, Harrah’s could rationally conclude that if it kicked the media completely off the Rio property (not something their restrictions ever come close to doing), it won’t cost them anything, either in coverage, brand equity, or dollars.
And that’s okay if they think that. I don’t want to be beholden to them when it comes to writing what I want to write. I can find my stories without their access. It’s easier if they are civil about it – letting me in the room to talk with people who are willing to talk with me, recognizing that I understand how to behave during a poker tournament. All I’d want is a LITTLE MORE access than the general public gets. And even then, it’s just to talk to Mike Matusow if Mike Matusow expresses that he wants to talk with me. In fact, if I WASN’T in the media and was just a friend of Mike’s, which I am, it seems he should be allowed to get up and talk to me, which he is, and I should be allowed to talk back, which without media credentials I am not. (A place to plug in my computer and access the internet would be nice and so would a cold bottle of water, but Las Vegas used to be a desert and I’m willing to pretend that’s still the case.)
The thing that bugs me isn’t that as a member of the media I’m going to have find my own stories without their help, or I may be prevented from getting close to the action. My bone of contention is that the World Series of Poker is selling media access. It even bothers me when I’m affiliated with the biggest buyer.
Last year, CARD PLAYER paid to get some elevated access to the Series and become the official reporter of the Series. (I’m not sure if it was the magazine or the web site or what the actual designation was, and I don’t feel like looking back to find out.) BLUFF had some kind of preferred position because they bought radio broadcast rights. I’ve written for BLUFF and I continue to, though I’m not an employee.
This year, I understand BLUFF bought the whole thing and CARD PLAYER is somewhat on the outside. I don’t even know the whole story, but it’s probably nasty. Again, even though I’m not an employee of BLUFF, I should be in the catbird seat, right?
It doesn’t seem like it. I applied for media credentials three weeks ago. It was only a couple days ago that I received the following response:
“Welcome, and thank you Michael for signing up for media credentials for the 38th Annual World Series of Poker.”
“You have successfully registered and will be contacted in a few days with additional information about your media credentials. Thank you, The WSOP Support Team.”
The e-mail address was wsopsupport@bluffmedia.com. Clearly, these people are above reproach, as they’ve taken three weeks to give me an inconclusive form-letter response, even though I have been a columnist for BLUFF for over a year and written, unofficially, more words than any writer in the magazine’s history. (I’ll leave it to others to conclude whether those words were especially good but you know my opinion.)
I don’t even know what “media credentials” consist of. I’m afraid they don’t consist of much because of a memo I received from Gary Thompson at Harrah’s early in May offering me “priority access” if I joined the “World Series of Poker Media Pool.” This is the memo in its entirety:
- – - – - – - – -
TO: Michael Craig, Full Tilt Poker Blog
FROM: Gary Thompson
SUBJECT: Invitation to 2007 World Series of Poker Media Pool
Dear Michael,
I’m pleased to invite you to participate in the 2007 World Series of Poker Media Pool.
This special Media Pool is being created to give selected journalists from top poker media outlets priority access to the WSOP in exchange for providing content to www.worldseriesofpoker.com.
If you elect to participate in the Media Pool, here’s what you’ll receive:
1. One Media Pool press credential with enhanced access to the tournament floor for the entire term of the World Series of Poker from June 1 to July 17, 2007.
2. The ability to bring both a laptop computer and audio recorder on the tournament gaming floor. This privilege will be extended only to Media Pool members.
3. Reserved-section access for the Main Event Final Table.
In return for granting Media Pool credentials, we ask that Media Pool members provide to www.worldseriesofpoker.com:
1. For Columnists and Feature Writers—one story per day, each day you are in attendance at the World Series of Poker as a member of the Media Pool. Pool members will write bylined pieces for www.worldseriesofpoker.com, which will post a link back to their home publication.
2. For Bloggers — One blog per hour for each hour on the tournament floor. One blog per hour is the maximum allowed posting.
Stories and blogs should be simultaneously filed to your website and www.worldseriesofpoker.com. Details of exactly how to file stories for www.worldseriesofpoker.com will be provided at a later date.
The following guidelines will be in effect for Media Pool members:
1. Issued credentials are non-transferable unless pre-approved in writing by the World Series of Poker. Any infringement of this policy will result in forfeiture of the Media Pool credential.
2. Analysis of a particular hand is allowed, but Media Pool members are strictly prohibited from posting hand-by-hand updates.
3. No posting of audio clips from the World Series of Poker on your website or re-distributing to other partner sites is permitted. Audio recording devices are allowed solely for the purpose of transcription for print.
4. Harrah retains the right to post or not post your editorial content on www.worldseriesofpoker.com, in its sole discretion.
Should you have any questions regarding the Media Pool, please contact me at gthompson@harrahs.com or 702-407-6529.
To RSVP for the Media Pool, please sign, date and fax back this two-page letter to me at 702-880-6802. The deadline is May 15, 2007.
We look forward to seeing you at the 2007 WSOP.
Thank you,
Gary Thompson
Director, Communications & Operations
Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.
Agreed to:
_____________________________
Signature Date
________________________________
Print Name
________________________________
Title/Media Property
- – - – - – - – - – -
I sent Gary Thompson a polite note – I like Thompson personally, though he has been forced into the position of hatchet man to the media – declining, though I believe the Thirteenth Amendment outlawed this kind of arrangement.
So say what you will about the seemy underside of the Binion family’s time in Las Vegas and as stewards of the World Series of Poker. At least they never tried to make anyone into a slave.
