WSOP Future Looks Bright

Clever planning by World Series of Poker owners should ensure survival of the game’s most prestigious tournament, despite federal crackdown

Its been two weeks after the indictment of three major online poker sites by U.S. Southern District of New York, and industry experts everywhere are trying to figure out just how much of an impact ‘Black Friday’ will have across the whole poker industry.


Whilst some of the casualties of the shutdown will appear obvious – namely the three online poker operators, PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker and the 12 executives charged under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act – it is likely that shockwaves will be felt in other areas too. Questions have now been raised regarding the future of poker’s most prestigious and well-known tournament, the World Series of Poker.


The WSOP is televised across the globe, as thousands of players compete over six weeks of tournaments with the hope of ultimately being crowned poker world champion and ESPN was scheduled to beam the 2011 tournament to fans worldwide. However, after the indictments on 15th April, ESPN temporarily suspended all poker programming - including new shows and re-runs - because of its previous business relationships with the targeted sites. This led to concerns over the future of the WSOP, which then prompted ESPN spokesperson Mike Soltysto to make a statement to the media reaffirming the channel’s commitment to the World Series of Poker and its intention to honour the 2011 contract.


So that’s the WSOP sorted for this year, but what about the long term impact the ban on online gaming will have on the tournament? The boom in online poker had a dramatic effect on the popularity of the tournament by giving players the chance to win a buy-in to the main event via online satellite tournaments. Suddenly, the prestigious world series was accessible for everyone, resulting in participation numbers swelling from 7,572 in 2003 to 72,966 in 2010. Now that sites can no longer offer online poker to American players, what will happen to the popularity of the event?.


Industry insiders believe that the future of the tournament looks far from bleak, thanks to careful planning back in 2006 when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was passed and steps were taken by executives to ensure WSOP complied with the new legislation..


“Nothing is going to change for us, because we affected change ourselves five years ago,” a Caesars executive said.